Should Vladimir Putin be concerned about the Russian economy? (Sergey Aleksashenko, Brookings)

In March 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin will likely be running in the country’s next presidential election. Putin has been in power for 16 years, and by March of 2018, he will have become the second-longest serving head of state in post-imperial Russian history, after Joseph Stalin and ahead of Leonid Brezhnev. Although the 2018 elections will certainly not be entirely free or fair, for Putin, they will be of great importance as a national referendum on the popularity of his policies.

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2016/02/09-vladimir-putin-russian-economy-aleksashenko