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- They entered the office: why did Mishustin propose a large-scale renewal of the government
They entered the office: why did Mishustin propose a large-scale renewal of the government
The Russian government is facing the most extensive personnel and structural restructuring in recent years. Its draft was presented to the President by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The most important innovation is the return of Anton Siluanov's powers as deputy Prime Minister. The leadership of the Cabinet office will also be transferred to the financial block — it will be headed by First Deputy Siluanova Irina Okladnikova. All this should make it possible to control costs more strictly, coordinate budget amendments faster and control its balance, experts believe. The posts of deputy prime ministers will also be occupied by the current Minister of Transport Andrey Nikitin and the Governor of Primorsky Krai Oleg Kozhemyako. This demonstrates the special attention paid to the modernization of transport infrastructure and the development of the Far East and the Arctic. What other conclusions can be drawn from the proposed government changes can be found in the Izvestia article.
What changes have taken place in the government
On October 19, it became known about the large-scale reshuffle in the government of Mikhail Mishustin. The Prime Minister proposed to Vladimir Putin a whole series of changes in the composition of the Cabinet of Ministers, and some turned out to be far from obvious.
"The Prime Minister continues to work and initiates those changes that he considers necessary to continue the effective work of the Cabinet of Ministers," explained presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Mishustin's proposals touched upon several notable cabinet ministers at once.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin during a meeting
Anton Siluanov, at the suggestion of the Prime Minister, will become Deputy Prime Minister, but at the same time will retain the post of finance minister.
There has not been such a combination of positions in the Cabinet of Ministers for more than five years. However, the current Finance Minister already has similar experience: he combined these duties from 2018 to 2020.
Irina Okladnikova, First Deputy Finance Minister, has been nominated for the post of Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff of the Government of the Russian Federation.
This is one of the key positions in the state apparatus, which Dmitry Grigorenko held for about six years. Now he is resigning of his own accord.
Oleg Kozhemyako, Governor of Primorsky Krai, will become Deputy Prime Minister and presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District.
Oleg Kozhemyako
In this position, he will replace Yuri Trutnev, who is leaving the government after 13 years of work and, according to media reports, may become an assistant to the president. Kozhemyako has been in charge of Primorsky Krai for many years, and he knows it thoroughly. Experts note that he has established himself as a highly effective manager who has repeatedly proven his ability to work in crisis situations. Now he has to extend this experience to the entire Far East.
Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin will move to the Deputy Prime Minister's chair, but will continue, among other things, to oversee the development of the transport complex.
This is a logical step for the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects. Nikitin has been tasked with building high—speed highways and building a strategic North-South corridor for Russia. Dmitry Yadrov, the current head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, will take over the vacant post of Minister of Transport.
Over the past six years, Mikhail Mishustin's government has carried out a serious transformation of public administration, brought it to a high level of efficiency and proved its ability to cope with crises and unexpected challenges, political analyst Dmitry Yelovsky told Izvestia. In his opinion, the current reshuffle only confirms the correctness of the chosen course, but the changing priorities in economics and politics have required new personnel. Yelovsky stressed that the current system is working smoothly, but now it needs to be slightly redirected, for which other managers are needed. At the same time, there are no complaints about the former team.
Andrey Nikitin
Now, according to the Constitution, the State Duma will consider the candidacies of four deputy prime ministers and the Minister of Transport. The meeting is scheduled for October 21, and on October 19 and 20, the candidates will hold meetings with representatives of all political factions. After their approval by the State Duma, the president will issue relevant personnel decrees — Vladimir Putin himself has already supported the proposed changes. Until then, all Deputy prime ministers and ministers will continue to perform their duties.
Why did they strengthen the financial block?
Strengthening the powers of the financial and economic block of the government has become the main vector of the proposed changes. Anton Siluanov's promotion to Deputy Prime Minister while retaining the post of finance Minister is primarily due to the need to strengthen budget policy coordination in order to achieve the revenue and expenditure targets set out in the new draft three-year budget, said Oleg Abelev, head of the analytical department at the Rikom-Trust investment company. According to him, due to volatile oil prices, revenues from raw materials are currently unstable, and in order to cover the costs of social obligations and defense, it is necessary to expand the base of non-oil and gas revenues and set budget priorities more strictly.
The government is facing an urgent task to resolve issues related to financial stability, budget balance and removing it from the deficit, believes the financial adviser, founder of Rodin.Capital Alexey Rodin. In addition, the Cabinet needs to reduce costs without prejudice to social guarantees — this is exactly what the new position was introduced for.
— The Ministry of Finance in any country is a critically important department, a critically important ministry. Especially now. You understand what period we are going through with our economy. The task of continuing to ensure macroeconomic stability, of course, once again enhances the role of the Ministry of Finance. This is budget discipline and everything else," Dmitry Peskov said.
Now that budget and financing issues are coming to the fore, a return to this format of work will help unite efforts to revive investment in the Russian economy, said economist Andrey Barkhota. The new status will allow the Finance Minister to participate directly in interdepartmental negotiations at the level of deputy prime ministers and promote decisions on budget policy and cost allocation. The moment for personnel reinforcement was also chosen for a reason: the budget for next year is at the final approval stage, and the Prime Minister needs to share responsibility for complex financial decisions, Oleg Abelev believes.
According to him, at the same time, the appointment of First Deputy Finance Minister Irina Okladnikova as head of the government staff will help strengthen control over the implementation of budget decisions. She has worked at the Ministry of Finance for about 14 years, participated in the preparation of the draft budget and the control of its execution, so she is well acquainted with the mechanism of allocation of funds and budget constraints. This experience will be useful in the office that organizes the work of the government, coordinates documents and monitors the execution of orders. In addition, the long-term joint work of Siluanov and Okladnikova will strengthen the interaction of the Ministry of Finance with the government staff.
Most importantly, such personnel changes strengthen the role of the financial sector in government decision-making: with a continuing budget deficit, the Cabinet will need to more closely monitor spending and seek additional income. According to the expert, such changes will now be able to move forward more decisively.
Attention to the transport industry
Special attention within the framework of personnel reconfiguration is paid to the transport unit. Boris Belyakov, the Prime Minister's press secretary, explained that this decision was due to Andrey Nikitin's extensive managerial experience. He performed well as the head of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, as the governor of Novgorod, and as the head of the Ministry of Transport.
According to Belyakov, the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Dmitry Yadrov, who will take the post of Minister of Transport, was able to maintain and stabilize the aviation industry even under the pressure of tough daily challenges.
Thus, the rotation in the management of the transport complex is extremely pragmatic and dictated by large-scale industry tasks. In the new personnel configuration, Nikitin and Yadrov will have to respond to the key challenges facing the sector — to strengthen import substitution in civil aviation and accelerate the modernization of the country's basic transport infrastructure, which is especially important in the context of Western sanctions policy.
What is the reason for the resignations of Grigorenko and Trutnev?
As for the outgoing deputy prime ministers, it's more about changing the front of work than demoting, says political analyst Dmitry Yelovsky. In his opinion, Yuri Trutnev and Dmitry Grigorenko will be transferred to other important government areas. In particular, according to some sources, Trutnev may get a position in the Presidential Administration, where he will oversee issues of patriotic education.
In turn, Dmitry Grigorenko's future career may be associated with the private corporate sector or large state corporations, where his experience is also in demand. According to a number of media reports, Grigorenko's most likely place of work will be the Savings Bank.
Dmitry Yelovsky stressed that Grigorenko's key task of digitalizing public administration has been successfully completed, and the current regrouping of forces in the government apparatus is due to the need to reconfigure work processes to optimize the budget, strict discipline and increase tax revenues.
The natural personnel cycle is added to the task change factor. As Evgeny Minchenko, president of the Minchenko Consulting communications holding, noted in an interview with Izvestia, there is also elementary fatigue in such appointments, when professional burnout accumulates over many years of intensive work. At the same time, the groundwork created in the Far East and in public administration will remain, and the likely transition of Yuri Trutnev to the AP and Dmitry Grigorenko to business will make it possible to effectively use their experience in new positions, the expert believes.
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