His comments come ahead of the funeral of late Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Saturday. Putin, who paid his respects to Gorbachev at the Moscow hospital where the 91-year-old died on Tuesday, will not attend the service. Putin is known to have strained relations with Gorbachev, who launched sweeping reforms that eventually led to the fall of the Soviet Union. Speaking to CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy, Guriev said it was extremely difficult to predict what might happen when Putin is eventually replaced as president. “Regimes like this change in very unpredictable ways,” Guriev said. “It is very difficult to predict what will come after Putin. The reason for this is that Putin has built his regime in such a way that no one can replace him.” “He built the regime in such a way that without him, the system will not work. People around him do not trust each other, sometimes hate each other, so if he leaves, the system will change somewhat,” he said. “Well, probably initially it will be some kind of ultra-nationalist or military junta, but it won’t last long precisely because the system is built around Putin. And eventually, I think the system will collapse,” Guriev said. “It could be months, it could be several years, it could be North Korea on steroids, who knows? But it could also be a situation where the system collapses and someone who wants to rebuild the economy reaches out to the West,” he said. . added. The Russian Embassy in London and the Russian Foreign Ministry were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC on Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held talks in 2019. Alexander Zemlianichenko Afp | Getty Images
