Kesköised päevikud - Boriss Jeltsin

Russia's transformation over the past decade has been both thorough and laborious. As the first democratically elected president of Russia, I was responsible for ensuring that the country survives these difficult years. My most important task was to destroy the powerful one-party totalitarianism and replace it with democracy and a market economy. Did it work? We managed to get a lot done, but we should not forget the saying that the city of Rome was not built in a day. But one thing I know for sure -- that we are never going back.

And now I ask you, dear reader, to reminisce with me through these midnight diaries of the stormy years that have just passed -- the triumphs of days gone by, but also the defeats.