| Kremlin officials were lined up on three floors After the shockingly unexpected appearance of Mikhail Fradkov at the head of the government, all forecasts regarding the pre-announced reorganization of the presidential administration did not look very convincing. It seemed that this metamorphosis would take place in a special operation mode and with an unpredictable ending. Kremlin officials did not even try to pretend that they were aware of the coming changes, but, on the contrary, speculated whether they would only get away with layoffs in their subordinate structures, or would look for a new job themselves.
Yesterday, the head of the presidential administration, Dmitry Medvedev, flew to Sochi, where Vladimir Putin is, and by evening the structure and partly the personnel composition of the new administration ceased to be a secret. At the same time, so far there have been no extravagances in personnel matters, and the long-rumored rumors about the transfer of a large group of deputy heads of administration to the rank of presidential assistants have been fully confirmed.
Structurally, the presidential administration is modeled after the government and has three levels. Under the chief of staff are nine presidential aides, two of whom are also Mr Medvedev's deputies - Vladislav Surkov and Igor Sechin. Alexander Abramov, Viktor Ivanov, Dzhakhan Pollyeva, Sergei Prikhodko and Igor Shuvalov, who held the positions of deputy heads of administration, were appointed assistants to the president yesterday. The powers of two more assistants were confirmed - presidential press secretary Alexei Gromov and head of protocol Igor Shchegolev. At the next level are presidential advisers and the departments that support their work.
Presenting the structure of the administration to Vladimir Putin yesterday, Mr. Medvedev said: “It has become more compact and meets modern requirements. Independent divisions have been enlarged and the number of management units has been reduced. The structure will fit better with the new government structure and better meet new requirements, it will be more efficient.”
Two fundamentally important conclusions can be drawn from the presidential decree. The first concerns changes of a functional nature. The economic department, headed by Anton Danilov-Danilyan, was abolished. It so happened that this department did not at all develop the economic policy of the state, but rather carried out an examination of government decisions. Given the current nature of the management of the cabinet of ministers from the Kremlin, it would be strange to examine its decisions. Another important function of economic management - overseeing the expenditure of funds from the presidential fund - apparently can be easily handled by some other structure, for example, the presidential affairs department. In addition, a new department has appeared in the structure of the administration with as yet unannounced functions - on civil service issues. Other structural changes were carried out through mergers and are not of a fundamental nature.
The second conclusion concerns the balance of power in the Putin administration. With the appearance of Dmitry Medvedev only two deputies in the person of Messrs. Surkov and Sechin finally clearly formalized the presence of two political-apparatus “wings” in the Kremlin. Moreover, the structure is skillfully given balance: the neutral “St. Petersburg lawyer” Medvedev relies on the personification of the “family” Mr. Surkov and the representative of the “St. Petersburg security officers” Mr. Sechin. By the way, it is they, as stated in the decree, who can perform the duties of the head of the administration in the event of his temporary absence from office. And the next absence of Mr. Medvedev will make it clear which of his two deputies is “the very first.”
The heroes of yesterday were Alexander Abramov and former press minister Mikhail Lesin. The first one happened to be in Sochi and, apparently, therefore was the first whose appointment was announced. And, according to the ITAR-TASS agency, after a meeting with the president and a minute of communication with journalists, Dmitry Medvedev turned to Mr. Abramov with the words: “Well, shall we go share the portfolios?”
And Mr. Lesin, as it turned out, is still looking for a good briefcase. Answering a question from journalists about whether the former head of the Ministry of Press will appear in the new administration (rumors about this have been circulating since the resignation of the government), Mr. Medvedev said: “We will find Lesin a good job.”
All other appointments are promised to be completed within 10 days. It is likely that, despite Mr Medvedev's promise to bring “new faces” to the Kremlin, there will be no fundamental changes. The only concrete information that Mr. Medvedev shared yesterday is that it has not yet been decided who will head the department, formed by merging the press service department (headed by Natalya Timakova) and the information department (headed by Igor Porshnev).
In addition to the creation of a new department of the press service and information and the abolition of the economic department: the territorial department was attached to the internal policy department, a single structure of the personnel and state awards departments, as well as the protocol and organizational departments were merged, and the departments for citizenship and pardon issues were transformed into a department to ensure the constitutional rights of citizens. Ivan GORDEEV |
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