Putin can't afford to leave the office because he will be in real danger of being prosecuted for things he and his people did during their stay in power.

The only successor to President Putin is President Putin himself and we could of course dream about President Putin stepping down voluntarily and picking out successor which would be probably as bad as him.

There are many facts showing that Putin's people enriched themselves by using power mechanisms so that's why for them losing power means losing their fortunes.

Garry Kasparov Quotes