Translated material
The office of its ministers
What clans and groups of influence helped Putin and Medvedev choose 14 new officials in the Government-2018 and convinced to save 18 old
Photo: Flickr / Photos of Moscow Moscow-live.ru
If you believe Vladimir Putin, then the disputes around the new government went to the last. “Today, in the morning, some (candidates for ministers) were discussed,” President Dmitry Medvedev said last Friday when the prime minister came to announce the composition of the government. Although almost a week and a half before, May 8, Putin himself told Duma that the new government should be formed quickly. According to the results of the discussions, the government formally renewed more than 40% - it has 14 new people out of 32. These are representatives of different groups of influence, but almost always balanced by Putin’s personal proteges, and in rare cases, Medvedev’s people.
Working meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev,
Kremlin, Moscow, May 18, 2018 Photo: Kremlin.ru
Medvedev reservation
When Medvedev offered Putin the name of the members of the Cabinet of Ministers, everyone drew attention to his reservation - he accidentally called the Minister of Defense Shoigu “Sergey Konstantinovich” instead of “Sergey Kuzhegetovich”. But much more importantly, Medvedev should not have called the surname either Shoigu or the new-old foreign minister Sergei Lavrov -they are appointed by the president without taking into account the opinion of the head of government. Another detail is also important - after the announcement of the government of the Government, Medvedev was somewhat lingered in the Sochi residence of the president, and as a result, in fact, together with Putin, he met German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was pleased to briefly talked with the Russian prime minister.
Thus, the common background looked as if Putin allows his old comrade to formally demonstrate the existence of an already forgotten tandem, in the framework of which Putin and Medvedev took part in solving the main issues.
In fact, the team of Medvedev in the new government Putin noticeably cut. The closest person in the last composition of the Cabinet of Ministers was considered to be Arkady Dvorkovich , the most serious powers were assigned to him, including curators over the fuel and energy complex, transport, agriculture and even the World Cup. In total, the government had at least three associates of the prime minister - in addition to Dvorkovich, comrade MDEDEVEVA in LSU LSU , Alexander Konovalov and Minister for Open Government Mikhail Abyzov .
In the new government of Dvorkovich and Abyzov, the prime minister lost, Konovalov remained. The preservation of Konovalov may mean lowering the bets of the presidential assistant and his comrade -in -arms in the KGB Yevgeny Shkolov . Before the election, the official Oleg Blory, who was close to him, was transferred from an important position of the head of the Kremlin anti -corruption administration to the deputies of Konovalov. Analysts then believed that the bad is formally lowered with a distant sight - to replace Konovalov as a minister. Now it’s clear that this will not happen.
Medvedev’s personal team in the government decreased, and compensation does not look complete - the formal powers of Dvorkovich in the previous government were much wider than those that Chuychenko now have
As a compensation for the departure of Dvorkovich, Medvedev received another associate in the government: his former classmate Konstantin Chuychenko headed the government apparatus in the rank of Deputy Prime Minister. However, at the same time, this means that Medvedev lost his man in the Kremlin - still Chuychenko headed the influential control department of the presidential administration. Compensation could be the appointment of Arkady Dvorkovich as an assistant to the president - the probability of such a scenario was previously reported by the Davydov. Index channel, close to the Kremlin of political strategist Leonid Davydov. However, a NT source familiar with Dvorkovich says that this will not happen - Dvorkovich will really receive a post, but not in the Kremlin (where exactly, it is not specified). Thus, so far the compensation of Medvedev does not look complete - the formal powers of Dvorkovich in the previous government were much wider than those that Chuychenko now have, the interlocutor in the apparatus of the Cabinet of Ministers notes.
NT sources diverge in assessing whether someone else can be considered in the government close to Medvedev. However, many of them believe that a new deputy prime minister is weighing to the prime minister, who oversees the digital economy and transport, is Maxim Akimov . He worked as deputy head of the apparatus in the previous government of Medvedev and, according to NT interlocutors, established himself as an effective manager. Akimov had long been increased by the increase, the sources of Gazeta.ru called him a candidate for governors of the Nizhny Novgorod region, and NT interlocutors said that he participated in the appointment of his acquaintance by Nikolai Lyubimov by the Ryazan governor (previously worked together in the Kaluga region).
Now, Akimov managed to lobby for the post of minister of digital development of Konstantin Noskov - NT sources call officials friends. Most likely, Akimov and socks will actively work in this area, suggest the interlocutors of NT, this can weaken the position of the presidential assistant Igor Schegovlev . Schchegolev did not take into account the former minister Nikolai Nikiforov and often made decisions independently, the source in the Kremlin says. Now this situation is hardly possible.
Rotenberg protege
Russia Vladimir Putin at the ceremony
The opening of the road unit of the Crimean
bridge, May 15, 2018 photo: kremlin.ru
However, Akimov could not take full control of full control. The Minister of Transport was the former deputy head of the department Evgeny Dietrich . He was lobby for the businessman and friend of the President Arkady Rotenberg in the industry, say several sources close to the Kremlin. Akimov did not expect to take full control of the department - Vladimir Putin delegates many industries to his friends, and the organizer of the construction of the Crimean bridge Arkady Rotenberg is responsible for the coordinate system for transport, the NT interlocutors note.
However, the interlocutors do not exclude that Akimov will also be able to influence the transport industry. But, of course, the not to the extent that the influence close to Medvedev Dvorkovich (who, being, was the deputy prime minister, chairman of the board of directors of Russian Railways) had an impact on her).
But not all the positions of Medvedev in losing. NT sources urge him to consider him a victory that he managed to prevent the appointment of such influential officials as Alexey Kudrin and Andrey Belousov . The appointment of the latter was almost agreed on the first deputy prime minister, but it was Medvedev who did not allow this, achieving a more convenient official for him, says a source close to the White House. According to him, Anton Siluanov was quite arranged as the first deputy Medvedev, although he is not his man.
The interlocutors close to the government notes that free or involuntarily this unexpected decision hit the Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin , whom Bloomberg has recently called Putin's "favorite". The Ministry of Economics traditionally argues with the Ministry of Finance on the issue of spending funds, but if Siluanov becomes the head of Oreshkin, then the position of the Ministry of Economs will be taken into account to a much lesser extent, one of the interlocutors argues.
From Patrushev, Ivanova and Zolotov
In the book “From the First Person”, Vladimir Putin said that he has a “elbow feeling” with three people: Dmitry Medvedev, Nikolai Patrushev and Sergey Ivanov . The president still takes into account the interests and opinions of the last two, the next May appointments showed.
The son of Nikolai Patrushev (he himself is now the Secretary of the Security Council, before that, the shifter of Vladimir Putin at the posts of the director of the FSB and the head of the Main Control Department of the Kremlin), Dmitry Patrushev became Minister of Agriculture. Previously, he headed the Rosselkhozbank, and, as noted by Vedomosti , the results of his leadership are “ambiguous” - the bank is lost.
However, Patrushev will not be the sole leader of the industry: the Deputy Prime Minister, which was responsible precisely for agriculture, has appeared in the government, Alexei Gordeev . Earlier, he was the Minister of Agriculture in the government of Vladimir Putin and carried out many important reforms for the industry. In 2009, Gordeev asked Putin to lead the Voronezh region, but now he wanted to go back. The president trusts him and therefore returned to the government, says a source in the White House.
The biography of the new Minister for Development of the North Caucasus Sergei Chebotarev speaks of his possible connection with Ivanov. It is officially reported about him that he has served for many years in the border worships of the FSB of Russia, and in recent years he was the deputy head of the Kremlin Directorate for Interregional and Cultural Relations with foreign countries. His boss there was Vladimir Chernov , a long -term associate of Ivanov: Chernov led his secretariat to the Ministry of Defense, and then moved to the Kremlin when Ivanov headed the presidential administration.
Zinichev belongs to the group of security forces, who are associated with the head of the Russian Guard Viktor Zolotov, who has been responsible for the safety of the president for many years. However, Zinichev interlocutors call relatives and personally to Putin
Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Finally, the most striking purpose among the security forces is Evgenia Zinichev to the post of head of the Ministry of Emergencies. Zinichev’s media and NT sources previously called the adult of Vladimir Putin. It belongs to the group of security forces, who are associated with the head of the Russian Guard Viktor Zolotov , who has been responsible for the safety of the president for many years. However, Zinichev interlocutors call relatives and personally to Putin. In 2016, Putin appointed him the governor of the Kaliningrad region, but Zinichev did not like this work, and the president quickly offered him a new worthy place - the deputy director of the FSB. The fact that he has now raised his former aditant to the minister speaks of unconditional personal trust, notes a source close to the Kremlin.
The appointment of Zinichev means the loss of positions by Sergey Shoigu - the former head of the Ministry of Emergencies Vladimir Puchkov was his protege. However, NT sources say that in recent years, the relations of Puchkov and Shoigu were stretched, so that the Minister of Defense did not stand up for his protege.
From friends from business
Putin returned his subordinate to the White House in the government of 2008–2012. Tatyana Golikova , who, as the interlocutors of NT, is very trusting. But that will be subordinate to ministers representing other influence groups important for Putin.
The new Ministry of Science and Higher Education NT interlocutors are classified as businessmen close to Putin Yuri and Mikhail Kovalchukov (Mikhail Kovalchuk heads the Kurchatov Institute). The new Minister of Science, Mikhail Kotyukov , until recently, headed the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations. This agency was specially created in 2013 for the reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which was carried out precisely in the interests and at the insistence of Kovalchuk, the NT sources say. At the same time, Kotyukov cannot only be called a man of Kovalchukov-he worked for a long time in the Krasnoyarsk Territory under the leadership of Alexander Khloponin , then the governor, and later the Deputy Prime Minister, now resigned.
She retained positions at the head of the Ministry of Health and Veronika Skvortsova. It is associated with the influential head of Rostec Sergei Chemezov. The Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov is also traditionally associated with Chemezov
Another department that has to oversee Golikova is a new Ministry of Education. Olga Vasilieva , previously former the head of the Unified Ministry of Education and Science, will continue to be headed. Vasilyeva’s appointment was lobbyed by Tikhon Shevkunov (the media called him the confessor of Putin), appointed by Metropolitan Pskov last week, says the person who participated in the discussion of the appointment of Vasilyeva Minister in 2016. Many Vasilyeva are unhappy, which is why its ministry was divided, but it did not work out completely, a source in the State Duma notes: perhaps Shevkunov did not afford to influence.
She retained positions at the head of the Ministry of Health and Veronika Skvortsova . She is associated with the influential head of Rostec Sergei Chemezov , says political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya.
Photo: Flickr / Federation Council
But basically, another Deputy Prime Minister, Putin’s ally from the time of the St. Petersburg City Hall, Dmitry Kozak , will work in the Cheyzov direction. He was instructed to oversee industry, and the Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov is also traditionally associated with Chemezov.
The goat will be responsible for the fuel and energy complex. Dmitry Kobylkin, a new businessman of natural resources, turned out to be a business protege in this area. He was the governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and before that he worked in the structures of Novate for many years-the shareholders of this company are Leonid Michelson and Putin's friend Gennady Timchenko .
Drushes and counterweights
Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
For a long time in the government and the Kremlin, against the backdrop of numerous scandals and arrests of subordinates, the resignation of Minister Vladimir Medinsky was discussed , the interlocutors in Old Square said. But another president’s friend, director Nikita Mikhalkov , intervened in the situation, says one of the interlocutors. Other sources close to the Kremlin confirm that Mikhalkov now has such a great influence on Putin that he managed to convince him to preserve the Minister of Culture. This is for the liberal public Medinsky -a negative character, for the president he is a good minister, says a person in the White House.
Finally, Vitaly Mutko , like Kozak, is now responsible for the construction of the Deputy Prime Minister, a native of the St. Petersburg City Hall. True, Mutko will have a subordinate more sophisticated in construction matters: Putin appointed Vladimir Yakushev as Minister of Construction, transferring to Moscow to the post of Tyumen governor. Yakushev is a longtime associate of Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin (when Sobyanin was the Tyumen governor, Yakushev was his deputy), it was the capital's mayor who lobbied his appointment, Knit NT sources.
In addition to the construction of Mutko, another area is fixed - Russian regions. Earlier, Dmitry Kozak was responsible for it, who was immersed in the topic, but Mutko has no experience here, the interlocutors note. They suggest that the Kremlin curator of domestic policy Sergey Kiriyenko will be more engaged in this area. It was not for nothing that rumors about the creation of a separate department in the Kremlin in the Kremlin, which can be allocated from the administration of domestic policy, have become aggravated, sources in the presidential administration noted.
However, the presidential administration, as well as the security council will be finally formed only next week, then it will become clear how Putin finally formed a system of retractions and counterweights. It may always turn out that the dismissed person is actually increased, the interlocutor, close to the Kremlin, or, at least left in power. The last vivid example is how they did with the former head of the government apparatus Sergey Prikhodko. Immediately after the resignation, he was appointed first deputy head of the apparatus, retaining the majority of authority and privileges.