In 2008, Kasyanov was a candidate in the election of President of Russia but in the middle of the campaign was denied participation on political grounds.

[3] In 1976–1978, he served in the Soviet Army in the guard of honour at the Office of the Commandant of Moscow, which is today the Kremlin Regiment of the Federal Protective Service.

For nine years after graduation Kasyanov worked at the State Planning Committee (GosPlan) as an engineer, economist, leading specialist and chief of sector.

[5] In 1996 Kasyanov gave the road show of Russia's economy development prospects at various International finance centers.

Kasyanov was the head of the working team for restructuring Russian government external debts and of the private banks of the country.

Kasyanov negotiated with the International Monetary Fund which granted favorable perspectives for reaching profitable agreements for Russia.

As a result of this, the ruble rate was stabilised, which in its own turn helped reduce the inflation and restored production and services parts of Russian economy.

[11] As a result of non-deficit budget and prudent financial policy in general the multi-month delays in salary payments and pensions were overcome.

The situation was such that effectively Kasyanov was in charge of the government, serving as its chairman, as Putin was the Acting President at the time.

[17] As a result, the budget revenue stream from this sector has increased and the Stabilization Fund has started accumulating significant amounts of foreign exchange, creating a financial airbag for the country.

[18] It was during Mikhail Kasyanov's time as Russian Prime Minister that the transfer of agricultural lands to private property began.

Additionally to that credit support mechanism for agricultural production was introduced and Russia very rapidly again became one of the leading exporters of grain after decades of huge annual import of wheat.

In April 2006, Mikhail Kasyanov was elected Chairman of the People's Democratic Union (PDU), a newly launched NGO.

Kasyanov and the PDU were actively involved in the coalition's work and took part in the Dissenters' Marches[25] in Moscow and St. Petersburg – the first protest manifestations in many years.

In September 2007 the new political party People for Democracy and Justice (Народ за демократию и справедливость [ru]) was established on the basis of the PDU, and Kasyanov was elected its chairman.

[31] In July 2005, State Duma deputy from the United Russia faction Alexander Khinshtein made accusations against Mikhail Kasyanov; according to Khinshtein, Kasyanov, when he was prime minister, privatized Sosnovka-1, the former state dacha of Mikhail Suslov, a former member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in 2003 at a reduced price.

[32] The Prosecutor General's Office [ru] used the published materials as a reason to initiate a criminal case on 1 July 2005 against the general director of FSUE VPK Invest Ramil Gaisin under Article 165 Part 3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("causing property damage on an especially large scale by deception or abuse of trust").

[33] The publication of the materials and the message from the Prosecutor General's Office about the initiation of a criminal case coincided with Kasyanov's stay on vacation abroad:[34] I returned to Moscow despite the threats made against me.

I have no doubt that the systematically launched slanderous campaign to discredit me, based on lies and distortion of facts, is part of the general strategy of the authorities to completely cleanse the political field.

The results of the implementation of such a strategy are obvious - growing social alienation and uncertainty among citizens about their future, a slowdown in economic growth against the backdrop of record export prices, and a steady decline in Russia's international authority.

Creating conditions for a real, non-sham political process involving public discussion of different points of view about the situation in the country and freedom to choose between them is a task that I will continue to work on.On 11 July 2005, the Russian Office of Public Prosecutor started investigating the privatization of two houses formerly owned by the government.

According to the court verdict of 16 March 2007, Kasyanov was to return a house and pay 108,135,000 rubles in damages to the government for using the property illegally (approx.

In 2006, the Moscow Arbitration Court recognized Kasyanov as a bona fide purchaser and refused to return the property to the state.

[36] A Der Spiegel article from 2007 notes that Kasyanov insists that his only earnings as a public servant were his government salary, and he has only been involved in private business ventures for "one year" since leaving the post of prime minister.

[48] The presentation of Kasyanov's book Without Putin in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on 18 December 2009 was cancelled merely minutes before its planned opening.

The aim of the "anti-Putin summit" was to develop a strategy on how to "de-Putinise" Russia and "slay the Russian bear", meaning Vladimir Putin.