From 1998 to 2001, funds from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) were used to allot grants to villagers for ecological forest management and to compensate them for the loss of therighttoexploitthe forest.
But Putin was also concerned about the fact that as a candidate, Yavlinsky would have the legal right, which he was well prepared toexploit, to deploy election monitors throughout the country and thereby question the legitimacy of a Putin victory.