Shuvalov wants to leave the government. Will Putin let him go?

There are less than two weeks left before Vladimir Putin's inauguration, and now the main question is who will work in the new government. The first candidate to leave is First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. The fact that the country's leadership is discussing his possible resignation was reported by the Dozhd TV channel and confirmed by Vedomosti sources.

Details

• Sources of publications claim that the first deputy prime minister himself wants to resign, and one of them told Dozhd that he has already “received the go-ahead.”
• Two of his acquaintances also told The Bell that Shuvalov would like to leave: 10 years in the government is too long, and there are six more years ahead. Shuvalov is a lawyer by training and would like to return to business; he himself has many ideas about what to do. But the president has not yet made a final decision on his account, says another Bell source.
• As a rule, Vladimir Putin decides on the new composition of the government after the inauguration - it is scheduled for May 7. On the same day, the president usually submits a candidacy for the post of prime minister to the Duma.
• Shuvalov wanted to leave back in 2012, hoping for the post of head of the presidential administration, recalls Vedomosti’s source in the government. According to the publication, his place in the government may be taken by presidential assistant and former Minister of Economic Development Andrei Belousov (Dozhd has the same information).
• For Shuvalov himself, interlocutors of the publications name business or leadership positions at Moscow State University or the Central Bank as possible employment options.
• Shuvalov is one of the most experienced apparatchiks. A cautious liberal and a reliable lobbyist for big business, that’s how Vedomosti’s interlocutors describe him. He played a major role in the development of anti-crisis measures in 2008-2009, but failed to accelerate the economy and launch reforms. He was also a supporter of the “big privatization”, which did not happen, represented Russia in Davos, was involved in foreign economic affairs, the mortgage market and housing construction. Shuvalov had close ties with representatives of big business; he did not hide the fact that he was friends with Roman Abramovich, Alisher Usmanov and Suleiman Kerimov, but he was very sensitive to issues of conflicts of interest, his friends say.

What's in it for me?

Shuvalov's powers are too great, and if he does leave the government, it is important who takes his place. This could be either a new moderate liberal or a zealous statist. The new composition of the government will say a lot about Putin’s plans for the next presidential term, as well as about the prospects for the Russian economy and relations with the world.