The former Russian president, Mr Boris Yeltsin, begins the first week of the new year immune from prosecution for corruption.
Allegations of massive corruption have been made against Mr Yeltsin, his family and a number of close associates, but a decree issued by acting President Vladimir Putin immediately after Mr Yeltsin's resignation on Friday provides comprehensive protection for the ex-president and those close to him.
Not only will Mr Yeltsin be immune from arrest, trial, interrogation and body searches, but the immunity will extend to his home, his office, his car, his phones, his correspondence and even his baggage.
As all the Yeltsins live at the same address, the presidential immunity would appear to extend to members of his family, including his younger daughter, Ms Tatyana Dyachenko, who has consistently been the target of allegations of corruption.
Under the decree, Mr Yeltsin will receive a pension equal to 75 per cent of his presidential salary. He will be provided with bodyguards, special telecommunications services and a fleet of cars will be put at his disposal while after his death his family would, according to the decree, receive a monthly payment from the state equal to six times the average old age pension.
In return, Mr Putin has received a boost that makes it almost impossible for him not to be elected president when Russians go to the polls, most probably on March 26th.
With the presidential election originally scheduled for June, there was enough time either for a reverse in Russia's fortunes in the Chechen war or strong campaigning by the opposition to put a dent in Mr Putin's hopes. A shorter campaign makes this less likely.
At a media briefing in Moscow, the Kremlin's deputy chief of staff, Mr Igor Shabdurasulov, told journalists he thought the chances of one of Mr Putin's opponents being elected were now "unrealistic". He said the best result would be for Mr Putin to win outright in a first round because holding a second round run-off would "waste time".
Mr Shabdurasulov said he did not expect Mr Putin would carry out any special election campaigning, but would prove himself through his work as acting President and Prime Minister.
However, Mr Putin appeared to be getting down to business quickly. The presidential press office said he had given final assent to about 40 laws. His election machine also appeared to be getting quickly into gear, with the creation of a local group of activists in the Volga city of Nizhny Novgorod to work towards his victory.
The group is made up of officials from three broadly pro-government parties, led by Unity (Yedinstvo), a recently created party supporting Mr Putin, which secured second place in last month's general election.
The short campaign will also hinder the setting up of opposition electoral organisations. Potential candidates have until February 10th to collect the one million signatures necessary to get their names on the ballot if the March 26th date is confirmed by the new Duma.
Mr Putin's first act as the Kremlin leader was to fly to Chechnya to present hunting knives to Russian troops as a reward for bravery. He told them their job was to prevent the break-up of the Russian Federation. Mr Putin's popularity in Russia has depended completely on military successes in Chechnya.
Although he said in a policy statement last week that a western-style liberal democracy is not suitable for Russia, Mr Putin in his new year's address to Russians said that he would guarantee "freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, freedom of the mass media and the right to private property."
Following a 10-minute conversation with Mr Putin, who is a former KGB spy, President Clinton said that the new US-Russia relationship was off to a good start.
