Don't know why you say до свидания, I say привет

In a meeting Saturday with the likes of IBM, Intel, and Citigroup, Russian President Vladimir Putin "assured U.S. business leaders that his government remains committed to free-market principles and welcomes foreign investment."

Well, I believe one of those assertions.

Citigroup’s chairman, Sanford Weill, told reporters after Saturday’s meeting with Putin that the conversation was “very productive and long.”

I believe one of those two characterizations too.

The country has seen rapid capital flight since Putin (it's said) had the head of Russia's Yukos oil company, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a man with lofty political ambitions, jailed on ostensible fraud and tax evasion.

Add to that his December move migrating the selection of Russia's 89 local governors from a democratic process to one of presidential appointment, and the fleeing capital starts to seem like the smart money.

Unless Putin undergoes a genuine free market change of heart, this seems like a tough sell, so long as he's in office.  Putin bumps up against a term limit in 2008, but the World Peace Herald, who Friday pondered possible successors, suggests he will be able effectively to hand pick one.