The man who helped make ex-KGB officer Vladimir Putin a president

Through the ages, Russian rulers have gained power in different ways.

For tsars it was by birth; Vladimir Lenin through revolution; general secretaries of the Soviet Communist Party by climbing up the party ladder to the politburo and awaiting their turn for the top job.

But 20 years ago, Vladimir Putin was handed power on a Kremlin plate. The former officer of the KGB - the Soviet security service - was handpicked by President Boris Yeltsin and his inner circle to lead Russia into the 21st Century.

But why Mr Putin?

Valentin Yumashev played a key role in Vladimir Putin becoming president of Russia. The former journalist turned Kremlin official rarely gives interviews, but he agreed to meet me and tell his story.

Mr Yumashev was one of Boris Yeltsin's most trusted aides - he went on to marry Mr Yeltsin's daughter, Tatyana. As Mr Yeltsin's chief of staff, in 1997 he gave Mr Putin his first job in the Kremlin.

"Yeltsin's outgoing istration chief, Anatoly Chubais, told me he knew a strong manager who'd make a good deputy for me," Mr Yumashev recalls.

"He introduced me to Vladimir Putin and we began working together. I noticed immediately Putin's fantastic work. He was brilliant at formulating ideas, at analysing and arguing his case."

Was there a moment, I ask, when you thought this man could be president?

"Yeltsin had several candidates in mind, like Boris Nemtsov, Sergei Stepashin and Nikolai Aksenenko. Yeltsin and I talked a lot about possible successors. At one point we discussed Putin.

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