Konstantin Kalachev: Alexey Kudrin "In the clip"

Konstantin Kalachev Alexey Kudrin Alexander Drozdov / Foundation "Roscongress"

Alexey Kudrin, Chairman of the Council of the Center for Strategic Development and the former Minister of Finance of Russia, intensified contacts with the Presidential Administration, says the Vedomosti newspaper . According to its sources, Kudrin participates in the work of the Putin’s informal headquarters, and the former minister is invited to discuss not only economic, but also political issues.

The source of the publication said that the relationship between Kudrin and the first deputy head of the presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, is generally noticeably better than with his predecessor, Vyacheslav Volodin. According to the source, starting in September, Kudrin often began to attend meetings with Kiriyenko and the head of the presidential administration Anton Vaino.

“He is invited not only to discuss the strategy [economic development of Russia], but also to discuss political issues. In fact, the election headquarters of Vladimir Putin is already working, and Kudrin is actively involved in his work, based on the development of the CSR, ”the newspaper quoted the source as saying.

Anton Vaino and Sergey Kirienko Kremlin.ru

Experts surveyed by the publication believe that the most significant issue for Kudrin can be the promotion of his program, the development of which he has been engaged in several years. Dmitry Badovsky did not exclude the producer of the Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Research, that Kudrin may be interested in returning to power, namely, coming to the post of head of government.

“It is clear that the post of prime minister is an important landmark for him. And because it is a lever for the implementation of his program, and because from the point of view of a personal career it is a response to a well -known situation with the retirement of the president [Dmitry] Medvedev, ”Badovsky explained.

Alexey Kudrin and Dmitry Medvedev during the meeting. 2011 Kremlin.ru

At the same time, the representative of Kudrin Pavel Kuznetsov told Vedomosti that we are not talking about Kudrin’s attempt to “promote” the country's economic development strategy. According to Kuznetsov, the proposals for the economic strategy are presented to the president, and only he can decide whether this program is promoting.

Kuznetsov confirmed that Kudrin is working with the presidential administration on the finalization of the strategy, but he assured the journalists that the ex-minister was not part of the president’s informal headquarters.

Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev, the head of the Political Expert Group, agreed to comment on the situation for Polit.ru. In his opinion, it is quite clear that Kudrin did not actually leave politics, but only fell out of the executive branch. In its current place, the political scientist believes, Kudrin can be useful to President Putin; At the same time, under certain conditions, he could return to power.

“It is quite obvious that Kudrin remained in politics. Another question is that he fell out of the executive branch. But for the politician, in the end, the main capital is not his position, but his rating, the attitude of the target audience towards him.

Kudrin, of course, has an audience. The Committee of Civil Initiatives he head has been working for a long time and quite efficiently, nourishing, directing and collecting part of the Russian civil society. And, in principle, it is clear that Kudrin for a certain audience is a significant figure.

Alexey Kudrin - moderator of the "Forum of Strategists". 2017 kgi

That is, if we talk about taking into account public opinion by the organizers of the elections, in the conditions when it is clear that during the campaign the audience is supposed to be targeting, it is clear that they will need to work with the audience of Kudrin.

This can give some groups of the population in an elected campaign - apparently on the side of President Putin, although I did not previously exclude the possibility of nomination of Kudrin himself (to accumulate votes and subsequent embedding him into the system already as a person who has a support of part of society). But, in essence, he can be a confidant of the president, why not?

That is, in principle, we can say that in this plot there are two key concepts: it is the targeting of the audience and legitimization of the result. In this sense, Kudrin is needed for the presidential election campaign: our president claims to be a nationality, and if we recall, Putin spoke of himself as a real liberal. And, I think, it is important for him that he is supported, including progressive forces, and not just supporters of archaic.

So in such a situation I do not see any problems: Kudrin was “in the clip”, he did not fall out of it, he was the president’s man - and I think he remained. As for the return directly to power ... Well, if someone does not like the growth of 2%, which we were promised at the end of the year, if this indicator is not satisfied and if these people are ready to take unpopular measures, if there is a desire to change the economic course from the inertial for some innovative, Kudrin may come in handy in power.

"Direct line with Vladimir Putin." 2013 kremlin.ru

That is, in principle, it is on a “spare bench” and at any moment can be in demand simply because he has a credit of trust in Russia and in the West. But this will not happen earlier than the conditions for this. In the meantime, it seems to me that they have not yet matured, ”says Konstantin Kalachev.

Speaking about the program of economic development of Russia until 2024, which the CSR developed and offers Kudrin, Kalachev expressed the opinion that the president may not use the entire program, but some of its elements.

“In fact, the president has repeatedly made it clear that for the country's development program it would be necessary to take the best from everyone who offers options. So this program is unlikely to be holistic in nature-most likely, it will be compilation, it will contain a little from each of the proposed programs. And yes, some elements of the Kudrin program can be used in it-including in order to show that the president hears everyone, understands everyone, but makes decisions himself.

But what will be some sharp economic turn, I doubt. It can only be forced to happen when there is no other option. There is still a hope that everything will suck by itself, ”said Konstantin Kalachev.

See also: Ilya Karpyuk Kudrin proposes to increase budget experts experts KGI called the regions of “increased tension” the Kudrin Center prepared the education reform for Putin