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Oleg Deripaska had no time for empty formalities. By his 40th birthday he had risen to be the wealthiest man in Russia, with a $44 billion global empire and 290,000 employees.

A few weeks ago Deripaska met again with Medvedev—this time as a humbled man. His empire was lost unless the Russian president got its creditors to hold off foreclosing $7.4 billion in urgent overdue loans—less than half of Deripaska's total indebtedness. Medvedev reluctantly agreed.

A few days later, the former multibillionaire arrived unshaven and in jeans for a meeting with Russia's finance minister, Alexei Kudrin

it all rested on a bubble: in just two months last fall, aluminum prices plunged from $3,500 a ton to $1,350. Demand also went off a cliff, with more than 10 million tons—a full quarter of RusAl's 2008 production—lying unsold.

Deripaska was dangerously exposed. In March 2008, at the very top of the metals market, he had bought 25 percent of the metals giant Norilsk Nickel for $4.5 billion from his fellow plutocrat Mikhail Pro-khorov. By late October, foreign creditors were threatening to seize Deripaska's piece of the company. National pride forced Russia's finance minister to order a $4.5 billion credit line so Deripaska could refinance his piece of Norilsk.

Putin now has two options, says Dorenko: "He can nationalize everything Deripaska used to own—or he can throw Deripaska onto the people's pitchforks, like they did with barons here in the Middle Ages." That's bad news for Deripaska: cash is too tight these days for the government to bail him out. The Kremlin's sole priority is to avoid mass layoffs, possibly by letting foreign investors step in. Medvedev seems sincere in his desire to end the culture of oligarchy, says Kirill Kabanov, head of the National Anti-Corruption Committee, a Moscow-based NGO. But like it or not, the president's only choice may be to have another oligarch take over Deripaska's empire, despite the old system's flaws.

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been raising eyebrows by telling one of the country's most famous artists how to paint better.Visiting 79-year-old artist Ilya Glazunov, Mr Putin stopped in front of a large painting of a medieval knight. "The sword is too short," he is reputed to have said. "It's only good enough for cutting sausage." Not wishing to displease his powerful guest, Mr Glazunov immediately agreed to correct his mistake.

In North Korea, they call it "on the spot guidance". It is when an all powerful-ruler drops by to give soldiers, scientists, farmers even artists advice on how to do their jobs properly.

Last week, he humiliated one of Russia's richest men on live television. He forced the billionaire businessman Oleg Deripaska to reopen an aluminium plant after protests by laid-off workers. As the cameras rolled, Mr Putin threw his pen on the table and ordered Mr Deripaska to sign the paperwork. It was a brilliant piece of political theatre, which went down extremely well with Russia's public who were delighted to see Mr Putin bringing the hated oligarch to heel.