Crucial appointment: The State Duma has approved candidates for the renewed government

The State Duma has unanimously approved all five candidates for the new government. Oleg Kozhemyako, Andrey Nikitin, Irina Okladnikova and Anton Siluanov will take the positions of deputy prime ministers, and Dmitry Yadrov will take the post of Minister of Transport. Strengthening the positions of representatives of the financial bloc will lead to the fact that the government will more often block the initiatives of deputies for which additional budget funds are needed, experts believe. At the same time, the Cabinet of Ministers itself will also tighten control over government spending. What experts expect from the work of the renewed government and what impression they made on the deputies is in the Izvestia article.

How will the State Duma work with the updated Cabinet

The plenary session of the newly elected State Duma on October 21 was different from all previous ones. Candidates for the renewed government came to visit the deputies. Earlier, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin proposed Oleg Kozhemyako, Andrey Nikitin, Irina Okladnikov and Anton Siluanov as deputy prime ministers, and Dmitry Yadrov as Minister of Transport. Vladimir Putin supported the candidates.

Each of the future deputy heads of government made a report and answered questions from representatives of the factions. After that, the candidates were evaluated by the head of the relevant committee. They, as well as the leaders of the factions, unanimously supported all the proposals of Mikhail Mishustin. This was also the result of the general vote of the parliament. Now the decree on their appointment must be signed by the president.

— We will work together with you. I hope this work will be constructive. Colleagues, good luck to you. Because your success is the success of our country," said Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma.

He positively assessed all the candidates, but separately highlighted the promotion of Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and the appointment of his former deputy for the department, Irina Okladnikova, to the post of deputy prime Minister. The chairman of the State Duma called Siluanov a patriot and a professional, who, according to him, changed the attitude of society towards the Ministry of Finance.

It is symbolic that the strengthening of the financial block in the government coincided with the work on the new state budget for 2027-2029. The first reading of the bill is scheduled for October 29. Traditionally, budget debates in parliament cause a lot of noise, controversy and criticism of the course of the Ministry of Finance and the government as a whole.

Before adopting the budget, the deputies will try to find a compromise with the strengthened financial block of the Cabinet. All discussions will focus on three topics — assistance to the participants of the SVR and their families, social obligations and stability of the financial and economic system, suggested Artur Zabbarov, deputy head of the Department of political Projects of the Polylog Group, in an interview with Izvestia.

According to him, the increases of Siluanov and Okladnikova emphasize the demand for strict control of government spending. At the same time, the State Duma is known for its bills, which often require the allocation of additional funds from the budget. The strengthening of financiers will lead to the government blocking and rejecting more such initiatives, according to political analyst Dmitry Zhuravlev. In addition, deputies will have to answer even tougher questions about the source of funding, the effect and the possibilities of redistributing funds, Zabbarov sums up.

How will the work of the renewed government change

The Cabinet's personnel changes have clearly outlined the priorities of the executive branch. The future tandem in the person of two new deputy prime ministers is striking - Anton Siluanov, who retains the post of finance minister, and Irina Okladnikova, who is moving from the post of first deputy finance minister to the post of Deputy Prime Minister and head of the government staff.

The financial block in the government has always been strong, so the current reshuffle will not fundamentally change the nature of the work of the updated cabinet, Dmitry Zhuravlev notes. At the same time, approaches to controlling budget funds will become tougher and more pragmatic, and Siluanov will now find it technically easier to defend his position.

It is likely that the strengthening of the positions of finalists is caused by harsh macroeconomic realities. The federal budget deficit, according to government data, reached 5.186 trillion rubles (2.2% of GDP), exceeding the initial annual target of 3.786 trillion, and the annual forecast has been adjusted to 3.2% of GDP.

In the transport sector, Andrey Nikitin will take the post of deputy prime minister, and the minister's chair, which he vacates, will go to Dmitry Yadrov, who previously headed the Federal Air Transport Agency. Nikitin is one of the managers whom the president personally relies on and trusts, which guarantees him a high level of hardware stability, Zhuravlev believes. His interaction with the new head of the Ministry of Transport should also bring no surprises.

Finally, Oleg Kozhemyako accepts the Far Eastern direction in the status of Deputy Prime Minister and presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District. For the macroregion, he is considered an absolutely understandable and iconic figure, being the only governor in the history of Russia who managed to consistently lead four Far Eastern regions. His managerial experience in managing the Koryak Autonomous Okrug, the Amur and Sakhalin regions, as well as the Primorsky Territory allows him to thoroughly know the specifics and acute problems of the territories entrusted to him.

Mikhail Mishustin expects discipline in execution, interdepartmental coordination and results in achieving national development goals from the new ministers, Artur Zabbarov believes. The effectiveness of the personnel decision can be judged by whether the new deputy prime ministers will be able to maintain budget discipline and at the same time ensure economic growth.