Rock & Rovki

Correspondent: Footage from yesterday's meeting of the security forces in the Kremlin. On the right hand of the president is the new Minister of Defense Sergei Ivanov. Now he is not just the head of the military department, but the architect and foreman of reforming the Russian army. As it became clear at the time of the announcement of new personnel decisions, it was Ivanov who was entrusted with implementing the restructuring of the military organization of the state. Moreover, as the president said, this will affect not only the Ministry of Defense itself.

Vladimir Putin: For a year and a half, we had a commission on military reform. And she was involved not only with the Ministry of Defense. This commission dealt with the entire military organization of the state and all sectors that are associated with this area. And the time has come when it is necessary, the time has come to make appropriate personnel decisions, they have been made today. Sergei Borisovich Ivanov headed the working group to prepare the reform project. I think his appointment to the post of Minister of Defense is also justified. And if he headed the group that developed the basic parameters of the reform, then, apparently, it would be fair to entrust him with carrying it out.

Correspondent: From the above, it is clear that Sergei Ivanov should now be considered the country’s main security officer. And it was this appointment that became the main personnel decision that was announced last Wednesday. Simultaneously with Sergei Ivanov, new appointments were received by the leader of the Unity faction, Boris Gryzlov, who became Minister of Internal Affairs, Mikhail Fradkov, who replaced Vyacheslav Soltaganov as head of the tax police, and Alexander Rumyantsev, who headed the Ministry of Atomic Energy instead of Yevgeny Adamov. Former Interior Ministry chief Vladimir Rushailo became Secretary of the Security Council. Soltaganov was sent there to the Security Council apparatus, and ex-Minister of Defense Marshal Sergeev received the post of Assistant to the President for Strategic Stability. In addition, in the department, which is now headed by Sergei Ivanov and Boris Gryzlov, several of Ivanov’s former deputies for work in the Security Council were appointed to key positions as deputies - Alexey Moskovsky in the Ministry of Defense and Vladimir Vasiliev in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

These almost symmetrical castlings highlighted the role of the Security Council as a personnel reserve and a personnel sink at the same time. On the other hand, the style of personnel policy of Vladimir Putin himself was clearly demonstrated. The new appointees came to their departments with reinforcements, and the president tried not to remove the retirees too far from power. Putin especially and warmly thanked the latter. Meanwhile, the president, in his own words, also pursued the goal of demilitarizing the political field.

Vladimir Putin: As you can see, we have civilians in key positions in the military departments. This was also done deliberately. This is a step towards the demilitarization of Russian public life. And along with the fact that civilians come to the fore in these departments, along with them professionals come to each of these departments.

Correspondent: However, if retired FSB Lieutenant General Sergei Ivanov is a civilian, very conditionally, then the demilitarization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs by appointing Duma functionary Boris Gryzlov as the head of this department surprised many.

Vladimir Putin called this appointment political, which, perhaps, exhaustively answered all the questions related to this decision. Gryzlov must exercise political supervision over the activities of law enforcement agencies, on the one hand, and on the other, correct the image of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with his civilian image. The operational management of the Ministry will most likely be carried out by Vladimir Vasilyev, appointed by Gryzlov as Deputy Secretary of State. Thus, control over the Ministry of Internal Affairs is now concentrated in the hands of the same Ivanov, for whom Vasiliev was recently deputy in the Security Council and personally the president through Gryzlov. Ultimately, all changes in the security bloc, upon closer examination, look like an attempt by Vladimir Putin to maximize his personal influence on the work of security agencies. In addition, almost all observers associate the president’s latest decisions with his desire to localize the political power of the former power elite, the so-called “family.” At the same time, Vladimir Putin, as his steps taken this week show, does not seek to modernize the very approach to personnel decisions. As before, he supports the scheme of parallel existence of the formal official hierarchy and the informal system of close associates created under Yeltsin. In combination they give a certain bias. So, if Sergei Ivanov, as many claim, is truly Putin’s right hand, then his appointment to the Ministry of Defense makes this department key in the process of strengthening and restructuring the power structure. Just as Ivanov's existence as Secretary of the Security Council made this body disproportionately influential. A systematic approach in this situation would be to appoint Sergei Ivanov, for example, to the post of head of the administration, since he is really so close to the president. In this case, his high status as a trustee would be properly and adequately formalized. Moreover, according to the laws of the political genre, every new leader, coming to power, regardless of how loyal he is to the previous leadership, must change the chief of his apparatus - Putin did not do this in his time. Perhaps he will now. But the personnel reserve appears to be quite meager. “There are few of them, the chosen ones, the happy idle ones,” and even more so the effective ones.

Alim Yusupov, NTV, Moscow.