The Versia newspaper on 01.18-21.2000 wrote that from Dresden Putin was sent for some time to the city of Leipzig, where he supposedly directed the House of soviet-German friendship (according to other sources: the Soviet Army Club). However the Germans correctly point out that the House of soviet science and culture was not in Leipzig but Berlin. So this is a hoax. Nevertheless, some Russian mass media were so carried away that they affirmed that supposedly from Leipzig Putin controlled the whole net of soviet special services in West Germany. Well, naturally the media want the future president to have done something heroic in the past. The rumors category exaggerating lieutenant colonel Putin’s service in Germany also contains Putin’s supposed participation in the operation “Beam”. The operation consisted of recruiting leading functionaries of the ruling Socialist United Party of Germany and GDR functionaries in the expectation of GDR’s surrender to the West organized by Gorbachev. Beside this, during the operation it was supposedly planned to guarantee the safety of the soviet secret services and local security staff.
Putin’s leadership in the “Beam” operation was not confirmed by KGB’s leader at that time Vladimir Kryuchkov.
According to German newspapers Putin was not sticking out among the other soviet officers. In his free time he studied German literature, he was especially interested in Goethe and Shiller. In Germany he joined the fishermen’s club where he surprised even the Germans with his pedantry. When Putin’s bosses were arriving in Dresden he was taking them for a beer and local sightseeing. German sources deny that Putin was permanently stationed in Leipzig and affirm that his permanent workplace was still Dresden. And the fact that some servile media want to see Putin in Leipzig during that period is easily explained: in 1989 Leipzig was visited by Mikhail Gorbachev after what the GDR started its surrender to the West. Some Putin’s fans would like to see him actively participating in this activity.
There is a stable opinion in Germany and in Russia among professionals of journalistic investigations that Putin has not done any spying activity as such, meaning illegal work, but has directed the human resources and economic part in general.
In 1987 in the summer Putin left Dresden for Leningrad because he was going to receive a new apartment, since the house, in which he lived was being resettled.
In the beginning of 1990 Putin was called back from his foreign service. Yuri Shutov, Sobchak’s former assistant who has been detained for several years now affirms that Putin was returned to Leningrad because “he was noted in an unsanctioned contact with a representative of the enemy’s special services net”. However Shutov does not provide evidence. More convincing is the version of KGB’s former head Vladimir Kryuchkov that “Putin was directed to work in the GDR for a planned five years and after the end of this term he went back because he did not prove his worth in anyway in order to stay for executing additional projects. ” (Moskovskie Novosti 2000 issue 3). Kryuchkov’s version about the mediocrity of Putin’s work in Germany was confirmed by Markus Wolf, Stasi's former head. Putin leaves the KGB in 1991.
Putin himself explained his resignation by his disappointment during the collapse of the USSR and the security bodies. In his words “he felt that the country no longer needs him”. Possibly both versions are right: Putin was disappointed with the KGB and the KGB was disappointed with Putin, there was no need to promote an average officer. And if the rumors about Putin’s early failure in Bonn in 1975 are true, then the unmasked and arrested agent was rejected from the start, he could not be used in capitalist countries, he could work only in socialist countries and therefore was not worth much from the beginning.
So, in the beginning of 1990 Putin is in Leningrad again. The rector of Leningrad’s State University Stanislav Merkuriev hires him on an insignificant post, as the prorector’s assistant on international matters. Through Merkuriev Putin has resumed his relationship with Anatoly Sobchak, elected in May 1990 as Lensovet’s chairman. Supposedly, Merkuriev recommended Putin as an efficient worker. Sobchak, supposedly, recalled his student and hired him. There exists however a likely version that Putin was appointed to look after Sobchak by the KGB. There is also a version that Sobchak has asked for Putin because he knew him personally and trusted him more. Still, according to the Novy Petersburg Newspaper version (December 24th 1998) Sobchak, supposedly was a KGB informer in the University in the past and as such could have even been Putin’s subordinate. Whatever it was, from May 1990 till May 1991 Putin really executed the functions of Lensovet’s chairman A. Sobchak’s assistant, reviewer, secretary and proxy.
Although there is information that Sobchak’s democratic circle was in shock when they heard whom Sobchak had made his retainer, in reality Putin was insignificant and hardly known to anyone. In June 12th 1991, after the mayor’s elections on which Sobchak won Putin was appointed chairman of the Committee on the mayor’s external relations. He occupied this post during six years. Many people who have become famous in the country now worked with him in the Committee. Alexey Kudrin was the deputy chairman of the Committee on economic development. Dmitry Medvedev was the Committee’s expert. Alexey Miller was a Committee member. Besides, German Gref was working as the chairman of the Committee on property management. Dmitry Kozak was the chairman of the Law Committee, Viktor Ivanov headed the Department of administrative bodies of the city hall, Igor Sechin was the staff head of the chairman of the Committee on V. V. Putin’s external relations. Anatoly Chubais was around; he was the mayor’s senior adviser on economic matters.
With the exception of Chubais who advanced early, this whole gang of Sobchak’s nestlings would have probably stayed unknown in Russia, if it were not for V. V. Putin’s luck. After all there is a lot of functionaries in Russia. And although today Putin’s supporters assure us that this was a very important Committee, it is hardly believable that the external relations of Saint Petersburg’s city hall were so important for the Russian Federation. This was the usual sinecure for functionaries. Kudrin’s post during that time sounds especially dumb: deputy chairman of the Committee of external relations of Saint Petersburg’s city hall on economic development. What is that, he developed external relations economically? Did he try to get the maximum financing for reception dinners for the city hall’s foreign guests? But as we will see, Saint Petersburg city hall interpreted external relations quite broadly and made them a lucrative business.
In the end of 1991 and the start of 1992 Putin initiated Saint Petersburg’s food supply from outside the border in exchange for exportations. On December 4th 1991 he signed a letter with such a proposition to the Committee on external economic relations of the Ministry of economy. In relation to this Putin asked to give Saint Petersburg’s city hall a quota of $124 million for the export of raw materials (wood, oil products, color metal scrap and also 14 tons of rare metals) and “a right to distribute the quotas and give out licenses” to the Committee he was heading. On February 1st 1992 Petr Aven who was then the chairman of the Committee on external economic relations stamped Putin’s letter and on March 25th 1992 the Ministry of Economy gave Saint Petersburg’s CER the right to sign export licenses. Actually, Putin’s CER did not wait the Ministry’s permission to sign thirteen licenses. Most often it was not V. V. Putin himself who signed these important documents but his deputy Alexandr Anikin. What did they sign? A few examples: the Nevsky Dom company received a license to export oil products, Leningrad’s Krasny Krest society received a license to export aluminum and rare metals. The international commercial center of a certain Grigory Miroshnik received the “task” to export 150 tons of oil products in exchange fore meat, potatoes and sugar. The joint stock company Fyvekor received the “task” to export 50 thousand meter cubes of wood in exchange for powder milk.