"It’s Unpleasant to Remember, But..." Putin Recalls Being Forced to Conduct Private Passenger Transport

Russian President Vladimir Putin was compelled to conduct private passenger transport in the 1990s. He shared this in an interview for the film "Modern History," which will be released on the "Rossiya 1" television channel on December 12.

“Sometimes I had to conduct passenger transport as well. It’s unpleasant to talk about it, but unfortunately, that’s how it was,” said Putin.

Previously, in 2018, the head of state mentioned his intention to work as a taxi driver during a similar interview for the film "Putin." He confessed that such thoughts arose after Mayor Anatoly Sobchak lost in the gubernatorial elections (Putin was then the head of his election headquarters). “I’m serious, what else could I do? I had two small children,” the president had noted at that time.

Moreover, in the film "Modern History," Putin also spoke about a Central Intelligence Agency employee who was among the advisors who worked in the government during the 1990s.

It is worth mentioning that in the 1970s and 1980s, Vladimir Putin was an officer of the KGB and worked in the Federal Republic of Germany in foreign intelligence. In 1990, he returned to the USSR and was dismissed from the KGB in 1991. In 1990, Putin served as an advisor to Anatoly Sobchak, the President of the Leningrad People's Deputies Council. He then became the head of the external relations committee of the Leningrad city hall, where he worked until 1996. After that, he held the position of Deputy Chief of Staff of the President in Moscow.