The full composition of the cabinet of ministers, announced on Friday by Dmitry Medvedev, did not add any revolutionary flair to the appearance of Putin’s next six years, but it did make it clear which personnel reserves and biographies the president considers the most promising: firstly, the gubernatorial corps, and secondly, the president’s inner circle.

The two most notable newcomers to the government, the so-called young blood, are the lieutenant general, deputy director of the FSB, who received ministerial posts, and the son of an army general, former director of the FSB. However, it is not only about the family department: high positions in the government have been awarded to the son of a person close to the president and a person who was called the former adjutant of Vladimir Putin. The feeling of elbow is important, Vladimir Putin said about people close to him in an interview for the book "First Person. Conversations with Vladimir Putin" in 2000 - now this feeling of elbow and a protected back is in demand in the government of President Putin's fourth term.

Nikolai Patrushev, the father of Dmitry Patrushev, Chairman of the Board of Rosselkhozbank, who was appointed Minister of Agriculture, was one of those who evokes the president's "feeling of camaraderie" - in addition to Dmitry Medvedev and Sergei Ivanov. Children of people from the inner circle often make a quick career "in civilian life" - for example, the son of the former head of the presidential administration Ivanov, Sergei Ivanov Jr., was appointed head of Alrosa in 2017 by government directive, and before that he managed to work in the management of Gazprombank, Sberbank and Sogaz. But this is the first time that the ministerial chair has gone to the son of a person close to the president.

Executors of the fourth term

Opinions / From the editors

Another unexpected appointee from Putin's inner circle is FSB Deputy Director Yevgeny Zinichev, who became Minister of Emergency Situations instead of Vladimir Puchkov. This is not the first time that the FSB lieutenant general, who was called Putin's former bodyguard or adjutant (this is not reflected in his official biography), has entered public politics: before becoming FSB Deputy Director in 2016, Zinichev served as Acting Governor of the Kaliningrad Region for 70 days. However, he resigned as unexpectedly as he was appointed. The president's persistence in promoting a completely non-public person to public positions should be considered a sign that Vladimir Putin has serious plans for his close friend. And the post of head of the most heroic ministry in the public consciousness should, one would think, add to his confidence in public politics.

Three ministerial posts were given to governors – this is a fairly large quota, which should demonstrate career growth prospects to the heads of regions. Vladimir Yakushev, governor of Tyumen Oblast, an acquaintance of Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, became the Minister of Construction (his predecessor Mikhail Men managed to work in the team of Sobyanin’s predecessor Yuri Luzhkov), the head of Amur Oblast Alexander Kozlov now heads the Ministry for the Affairs of the entire Far East, and the governor of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Dmitry Kobylkin – the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology. But whether these are springboards or career dead ends is not clear.

Putin's New Scary and Comfortable Russia

Opinions / From the editors

It is symbolic that in the government of the "breakthrough" declared by the president, two ministers who embody conservatism retained their posts: Olga Vasilyeva, who will continue to manage education, separated from science and higher education (this configuration, combined with the minister's reputation, brings back the name of the department from two hundred years ago - the Ministry of Spiritual Affairs and Public Education), and Vladimir Medinsky, who was left to manage culture. The new minister of higher education and science is the director of the abolished Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations (FANO), which in fact became part of the new ministry, Mikhail Kotyukov. The scientific community was counting on the appointment to this position not of an official like Kotyukov, but of someone from their own circle. Partially, the scientists may be compensated by the experience Kotyukov gained in interacting with the Academy of Sciences as the head of FANO, notes Askold Ivanchik, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Deputy Chairman of the Science Council under the old Ministry of Education and Science.

This is also a kind of protected rear – only on the humanitarian fronts.

Medvedev's New Government 1 / 31

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov / Evgeny Razumny / Vedomosti

Government of backs and elbows