Putin's new government

The Russian Prime Minister made his first appointments

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin presented proposals on the structure of the new government to President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday in the Kremlin.

“Dear Dmitry Anatolyevich, as we agreed, the necessary documents have been prepared regarding the structure of the government and personal appointments, deputy prime ministers and federal ministers,” Putin said. “I ask you to consider and, if necessary, once again go through together mainly the structure, but also the personalities, because there are, we discussed this for a long time, new names,” he said.

After this, Medvedev approved the new structure and composition of the cabinet, then Vladimir Putin went to the White House, where at a government meeting he named key ministers and deputy prime ministers of the government.

In the new government, the number of deputy prime ministers increased from five to seven, with key positions taken by former heads of the presidential administration: former presidential assistant Igor Shuvalov, along with ex-prime minister Viktor Zubkov, became first deputy prime minister, former head of the presidential administration Sergei Sobyanin became head government apparatus with the rank of deputy prime minister, and former deputy head of administration Igor Sechin became deputy prime minister responsible for industry.

Deputy Prime Ministers Alexander Zhukov and Alexei Kudrin, who will head the Ministry of Finance, as he has been for the previous eight years, retained their positions in the government. Zhukov, according to Putin, will oversee national projects. Sergei Ivanov lost the status of first deputy prime minister, remaining a “simple” deputy head of the cabinet of ministers.

The new members of the government were former presidential envoy to the Volga region Alexander Konovalov, ex-chief of presidential protocol Igor Shchegolev, and ex-ambassador to France Viktor Avdeev.

Alexander Konovalov became Minister of Justice instead of Vladimir Ustinov. Igor Shchegolev became Minister of Communications and Mass Communications. Previously, these functions were divided between the Minister of Communications Leonid Reiman and the Minister of Culture and Mass Communications Alexander Sokolov. Viktor Avdeev became Minister of Culture.

The Minister of Education and Science Andrei Fursenko, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture Alexei Gordeev, the Minister of Regional Development Dmitry Kozak, the head of the Ministry of Natural Resources Yuri Trutnev, and the Minister of Transport Igor Levitin retained their posts in the government. Elvira Nabiullina, who previously headed the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, became the head of the Ministry of Economic Development.

According to the new structure of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Industry and Energy is divided into two ministries - the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Industry.

The functions of state policy in the field of trade were transferred to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, headed by former Minister of Industry and Energy Viktor Khristenko. State policy in the energy sector will be handled by the Ministry of Energy, headed by ex-president of Atomstroyexport Sergei Shmatko.

From the old government, the new cabinet did not include Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Naryshkin, Minister of Communications of the Russian Federation Leonid Reiman and Minister of Culture Alexander Sokolov.

As for structural changes, a new federal agency has been created in Russia - for CIS affairs. In addition, the country has a Ministry of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy. Vitaly Mutko, who previously served as head of the Russian Football Union (RFU), has been appointed Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Affairs of the Russian Federation, RBC reports.