Leader Watch: How Medvedev Got More Popular Than His Boss, Putin.(Periscope)(Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin)

Byline: Owen Matthews with Anna Nemtsova; Arlene Getz; Quindlen Krovatin; Katie Baker; Jacqui Goddard

It could be called the vodka index, and it is perhaps as reliable an indicator of the popularity of Russian leaders as any opinion poll. In 2003, Moscow's Kristall distillery began producing Putinka vodka, and it shot up in popularity almost as quickly as its near-namesake, Vladimir Putin. By the end of 2007, it was the country's second-best-selling brand, with 2.7 percent of the $11 billion vodka market. But within weeks of Putin's endorsement of Dmitry Medvedev as his successor, the Perekrestok supermarket chain cut Putinka prices by 25 percent. At the same time, Rospatent, Russia's trademark registry, was swamped with applications to register brand names containing the word "Medved"--Russian for "bear"--for vodka and other products.

Chances are good Russians will take to them with the same enthusiasm as the Putin paraphernalia. A poll last month by the Moscow-based Levada Center showed Medvedev's approval rating at a staggering 82 percent--up from around 24 percent when he was anointed in early December, and well ahead of Putin's 71.3 percent rating when he was re-elected president in 2004. This surge is partly a reflection of Putin's enormous appeal. Russians who like the president have taken to his choice of successor, and see Medvedev's ascension as a sign of continued stability. Those who don't like Putin and his authoritarian ways still view Medvedev favorably because he lacks Putin's KGB baggage and is seen as a potentially more liberal leader. Moreover, as a first deputy prime minister, Medvedev's brief was to look after social-welfare programs, which has meant plenty of positive media coverage as he visited hospitals and the like.

Medvedev mania is already fueling demand for things like posters and framed portraits of the president in waiting. They aren't yet available in Moscow stationery and book stores, but merchants are now putting in their orders with manufacturers. "We're expecting them to be big sellers," says Lyubov Kuznetsova, a manager at the giant Dom Knigi bookstore on Moscow's New Arbat street. Meanwhile, official portraits of Putin, in a variety of poses and sizes, languish on the shelf. Dom Knigi doesn't plan to discount them--"that would be disrespectful," says Kuznetsova--but no one has bought one for weeks. Still, brand Putin, like the politician, isn't through quite yet. Putin has said he plans to stay on as Russia's prime minister after the March 2 presidential election. But Russia's consumers will soon be toasting the start of a new era with a Medvedev-brand vodka.

--Owen Matthews with Anna Nemtsova

Diamond Trade: Into Africa

Since colonial times, Africa's diamonds have been mined and shipped abroad, where the real money was made on cutting and polishing. Now, De Beers executive director Stephen Lussier says the diamond giant plans to bring much of its sorting and prepping work back to South Africa, Namibia and particularly Botswana, where the government partners with De Beers to mine about $2.6 billion worth of the world's yearly diamond output. Next month De Beers will open an $83 million sorting building in Gaborone that by 2010 could become the source of 10 percent of all manufacturing jobs in Botswana. Why now? Botswana, analysts say, may have pushed DeBeers to help it industrialize before its diamond reserves are used up. Nobel economist and globalization critic Joseph Stiglitz calls the deal "an important move" with "real value" for both parties. It's a clear turning point for an industry once accused of exploiting Africa's mineral riches.