Vladislav Surkov, on Friday, September 20, appointed to the post of assistant to the president, will bring two of his longtime associates to the Kremlin administration - Ivan Demidov, who now holds the post of Deputy Minister of Culture, and Senator Nikita Ivanov, writes the Izvestia newspaper, citing sources in the Kremlin in Monday.

According to the publication’s interlocutors, Demidov and Ivanov may receive positions in the department for socio-economic cooperation with the CIS member countries, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It is this unit that Surkov will supervise. Ivan Demidov may become the head of the department, Nikita Ivanov - his deputy or the director of one of the departments of the department, the source says. The post of head of the department is now occupied by former deputy head of the Ministry of Health and Social Development Yuri Voronin, who moved to the Kremlin following his boss Tatyana Golikova. According to sources, he will most likely move to the Accounts Chamber, which is headed by Golikova.

Demidov refused to comment on his possible appointment to the Kremlin, and Ivanov could not be reached for comment, the publication writes.

In 2005, Ivan Demidov became the coordinator of the pro-Kremlin movement “Young Guard of United Russia” for ideology and political work. In 2008, he headed the Department of Humanitarian Policy and Public Relations of the Presidential Administration for Domestic Policy. From May 2009 to January 2010, he was the executive secretary of the commission to counter the falsification of history to the detriment of the interests of Russia. After Surkov joined the government, Demidov took the post of Deputy Minister of Culture in charge of cinematography.

Nikita Ivanov has worked at the Effective Policy Foundation since 1999, where he headed the analytical department. He worked as an adviser to the deputy head of the Kremlin administration for foreign policy, deputy head of the department for relations with foreign countries, and reported not to the head of the department, but directly to Surkov. In particular, he oversaw work with pro-Kremlin youth organizations. At the end of 2011, he was appointed a member of the Federation Council from Ingushetia.

Rumors that Vladislav Surkov, who resigned from the post of Deputy Prime Minister in May, could receive the post of assistant to the president, appeared in early September. The media reported that he could replace Tatyana Golikova, who was assigned the position of chairman of the Accounts Chamber. On Friday, September 20, President Vladimir Putin relieved Golikova of the duties of his assistant in connection with her appointment as head of the Accounts Chamber and appointed Surkov to the vacated post.

Surkov may bring his associates to the Kremlin