1. Contrary to the Soviet times, when the state leader's every major public speech would become the agenda of the humdrum "support-and-favor" party and trade-union conferences for many months, in modern Russia, it took the media and public couple of days to switch their attention to something else. That was the case with the Russian President Vladimir Putin's press conference of the February 1st. On the one hand, this proves the great changes occurred in our political system. On the other hand, there is some grudge feeling: the President's answers give ample food to assess and reflect on various issues of the country's domestic and foreign policy.
2. The giant federal bureaucracy is not counterbalanced by strong legislative and judicial branches, the local self-government bodies, independent media and civic organizations. In Soviet Union, the bureaucracy that had been somehow controlled by the Party apparat - it has become self-governing force in modern Russia. It easily and imperceptibly substitutes the national objectives with its own group interests and submits to the top political power only when the latter's policy does not contradict these interests.
3. To deeply transform the Russian economy, it is, primarily, needed to thoroughly correct the legislation and change the current informal way of the political inter-relations that have penetrated all the government institutions. It is a matter of the clear and firm property rights which might be guaranteed  just by the clear division of power, independent and impartial court, arbitration and law and order. It is also a matter of the transparent and legalized relations between the government and business, of the antimonopoly law and curbing the natural monopolies.
4. While being rightly proud of the economic rise in the recent years, it cannot be forgotten, that the Russian GDP is still just twice as big as the American military budget. At that, Russia does not need to double the GDP at any cost. If it is the case due to the further aggravation of the "gumboil" export-raw economy, the fatal consequences for the country can be comparable to results of the Soviet military "overburden" economy in 1970-80s.