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Moscow: Russia's next president will start off in a double act with his predecessor and mentor Vladimir Putin, but over time Dmitry Medvedev may evolve into a different leader.
Medvedev, after winning in Sunday's election lost no time in appearing on stage together with his boss at a victory rock concert in Red Square, pledging a "direct continuation" of his policies.
Analysts say it remains to be seen whether that will be the case once Medvedev gets his hands on the levers of power and his fingers on Russia's nuclear trigger.
Though Putin has said he will serve as Medvedev's prime minister, some analysts believe this could be more to help his protege find his feet than to control him as a puppetmaster.
Georgy Satarov, an adviser to Boris Yeltsin and head of the INDEM think tank, said: "I do not think that if this scheme [of Putin as PM under Medvedev] is implemented, it is intended for any long period of functioning."
"If in the beginning Putin heads the government, after... they are convinced that everything is stable, Putin will give that post to someone else." Although both men have heavily emphasised continuity, their declarations of unity mask big differences of style.
Often dubbed the most liberal member of Putin's inner circle, Medvedev has no known security service background, enjoyed forbidden Western rock music during his youth and worked as a corporate lawyer before entering the government.
Putin, by contrast, was a career KGB official who served in East Germany and has never worked in the private sector.
But Medvedev faces different challenges to Putin, who first came to power amid an economic crisis, a strong separatist rebel challenge and the risk of the country disintegrating altogether.
"Today's president is not faced with wrenching the country out of the rubble of the 1998 financial crisis and the Chechen war, but rather with the challenge to shift the economy's growth away from natural resources," said investment bank Renaissance Capital in a note.
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