Marshal Sergeev hid behind the president
The Minister of Defense submitted a report on extending the service life
Defense Minister Igor Sergeev, who turns 63 on April 20, wrote a report to President Putin on extending his service life for another year. ITAR-TASS agency reported this yesterday. Thus, the marshal, whose resignation until recently seemed a done deal, showed that he did not intend to voluntarily leave his post.

According to the law “On Military Duty and Military Service”, after 60 years of age, military personnel with the rank of “Marshal of the Russian Federation” have the right to an annual extension of their service until they reach 65 years of age. Sergeev’s service life was extended twice by the first Russian President, Boris Yeltsin, and last year by the second, Vladimir Putin.
Until recently, it seemed that Marshal Sergeev would no longer serve. During the formation of the military reform plan, he lost the apparatus war to his first deputy, Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin; the marshal was publicly criticized by President Putin for omissions in Chechnya; In the military department itself, the minister was considered a role-playing figure, and there was talk about his poor health.
But Marshal Sergeev, in spite of everything, continued to lead the ministry. Kommersant's sources in the presidential administration explained this strange fact this way: “Putin just wants to quietly and peacefully, with honor, send him off to a well-deserved retirement.”
And yesterday Igor Sergeev submitted a report on extending his service life. This fundamentally changes the situation. If the president refuses to sign the report, the minister’s resignation will no longer look quiet and peaceful. This will be a real high-profile dismissal, which Mr. Putin does not like at all. If he signs the report, the marshal will continue to serve his homeland.
However, a high-ranking official of the Kremlin administration, in a conversation with a Kommersant correspondent, made it clear that the issue of Sergeev’s resignation or, conversely, the continuation of his service has not yet been finally resolved. The Kremlin simply does not have a worthy candidate for the post of Minister of Defense. The president considers Security Council Secretary Sergei Ivanov to be such, but Vladimir Putin needs him much more in his current position.
Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov is still considered the main contender for the ministerial post. But the army is facing massive layoffs, and a civilian official, who is also not particularly popular with the military, is unlikely to be able to earn authority among the officer corps in such a situation.
Understanding all this, Igor Sergeev decided in advance to declare his claims to retain the ministerial chair. After all, the search for a successor may take a long time. Meanwhile, the marshal can break the record of Pavel Grachev, who led the Russian Ministry of Defense for 49 months. To do this, Sergeev only needs to hold out until July.

ILYA B-BULAVINOV

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 49 dated March 21, 2001, p. 1