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May
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Meet the New (Old) Ministers
May 13, 2008 |
(Top down, left to right: Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister; Viktor Zubkov, First Vice-Prime Minister; Igor Shubalov, First Vice-Prime Minister; Igor Sechin, Vice-Prime Minister; Sergei Sobyanin, Vice-Prime Minister; Sergei Ivanov, Vice-Prime Minister; Aleksei Kurdrin, Vice-Prime Minister; Aleksandr Zhukov, Vice-Prime Minister; Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister; Rashid Nuraliev, Minister of Internal Affairs; Aleksei Kudrin, MInister of Finance; Sergei Shoigy, Minister of Public Safety; Dmitri Kozak, Minister of Regional Development; Tatiana Golkova, Minister of Health and Social Development; Elvira Nabiullina, Minister of Economic Development; Anatolii Serdiukov, Minister of Defense; Igor Shchegolev, Minister of Communications; Andrei Fursenko, Minister of Education; Iurii Trutnev, Minister of Natural Resources; Aleksei Gordeev, Minister of Agriculture; Sergei Shmatko, Minister of Energy; Viktor Khistenko, Minister of Industry, Vitalii Mutko, Minister of Sport; Aleksandr Avdeev, Minister of Culture; Igor Levitin, Minister of Transportation; and Aleksandr Konovalov, Minister of Justice.)
Things to note are:
Putin basically brought his tail from the Kremlin into the White House. The top faces should be familiar to anyone paying attention. The number of Vice Prime Ministers was raised from five to seven. Shubalov’s promotion and Kurdin’s double role as Finance Minister and Vice-Premier is being viewed as a liberal bulwark to hawkish Sechin and Ivanov. Dmitri Babich notes that all seven men owe their careers to Putin and four of them (Ivanov, Sechin, Zubkov and Shuvalov) are his personal friends.
Two big figures in the “siloviki war” Vikor Cherkesov and Nikolai Patrushev have been removed from their respective positions as the head of the Federal Drug Control Service and the FSB. The former will now head the federal agency for buying military hardware. The latter will become the head of Medvedev’s Security Council.
The Moscow Times sees this shuffle as an overall blow to the siloviki. So does Yevgenia Albats, who told the Indepdenent’s Shaun Walker that “The appointments suggest that the warriors have lost and the traders have won.”
Despite the fact that the government looks stable, Jonas Bernstein evaluates the expectation that the Medvedev-Putin tandem will at some point collapse.
The New York Times’ C. J. Chivers predictably sees the appointments as yet another move to “retain a grip on power and the direction of policy in Russia.” Like the Moscow Times he makes much of the fact that Putin sat in the same seat as he did as President, while Medvedev sat in a seat “viewers have come to regard as one for subordinates.” Reuters is also making much of the chair. Lyndon over at Scraps of Moscow simply calls the chair thing “stability.”
Equally predictable, RFE/RL sees the cabinet with so many familiar faces as the “preservation of power.” Wasn’t that the point all along?
Not all are winners though. Sergei Ivanov, who was once a presidential hopeful was demoted from a First Vice Primer to a simple Vice Premier. Communications Minister Leonid Reiman and Justice Minister Vladimir Ustinov have to hit the pavement and find new jobs. I doubt the revolving door between the Russian government and Russian corporations will make job hunting difficult.
Medvedev has appointed former Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Naryshkin to be his chief of staff. He also promoted Head Putin ideologist Vladislav Surkov to first deputy chief of staff and elevated another Putinite, Alexei Gromov, to be deputy chief of staff.
Few new faces were brought into the Putin’s government or Medvedev’s administration. For the most part things look like they did before. Economic liberals are balanced with security minded conservatives.
I don’t imagine any major conflicts, or at least no more than usual among the elite. The board of Kremlin Inc. is continuing with business as usual. Let the plundering resume!
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Man I wish I had that chair.
“Let the plundering resume!”
What’s being plundered?
So does Yevgenia Albats,
I didn’t expect you, Sean, will go so low as to quote Albats. From this point better to quote Novodvorskaya who has better understanding of what’s going on (though - rather specific understanding).
are his personal friends.
Cold you point out any PM or president who brought his enemies or strangers to his cabinet? :))
But “chair” remarks are the best for sure.
Really deep understanding of the reality…
Communications Minister Leonid Reiman and Justice Minister Vladimir Ustinov have to hit the pavement and find new jobs.
Already appointed as Medevedev’s Advisers. But many people were glad to hear these two as….s hit the pavement.
Sean, did you really expected CHANGES? Why? All combination was just “to stay within the constitution”.
“I didn’t expect you, Sean, will go so low as to quote Albats.”
Beware of any mainstreaming for the elites. On the other hand, all of us are capable of making valid points. On Albats, see number 9:
http://action-ukraine-report.blogspot.com/search?q=Mike+Averko#a7
ivanov,
Settle down. I’m not endorsing Albats. I’m just putting what she and others said about the appointments. If you read closely, you’ll get answers to your question about what I expected. Or just to make sure you don’t misinterpret: I expected exactly what happened. Хвостизм is a fact of political life.
As for what is being plundered, Chirs, I’m sure you know the answer to that question just as well as I do. No better way to get super rich than controlling stakes in corporations and the levers of government.
“No better way to get super rich than controlling stakes in corporations and the levers of government.
That’s not plundering, that’s controlling states and levers, unless the word is being used in the round-about Marxian context of stealing surplus labor (which doesn’t really work since Marx poo-pooed Proudhon and “Property is Theft”). The plundering happened in the 1990s.
“I didn’t expect you, Sean, will go so low as to quote Albats.”
What’s next, murder?
I guess this should appear under the Consequences for Caricatures post, but that thread lost its way yonks ago…
Anyway, my wife pointed out to me this morning that there are far more funny photoshopped pictures of Medvedev on sites like trinixy.ru already than there ever were of Putin, suggesting that the Russian public - or at least those who can use photoshop - have a lot less respect for Medvedev, or they don’t fear him as much.
It may just be that the mood in Russia is a lot more light-hearted than it was when Putin came to power. Ecnomic collapse, war in the Caucasus, and exploded apartment buildings don’t lend themselves to levity.
It may just be that the mood in Russia is a lot more light-hearted than it was when Putin came to power.
She wasn’t comparing what pictures of Medvedev now with pictures of Putin when he came to power; she was comparing pictures of Medvedev now with pictures of Putin 6 months ago.
Sure, but the context of “What Putin Means” in the popular mind is still framed in the context of his rise.
Now, keep in mind that I am only tossing out an idea here. I’m not addicted to the notion.
I don’t think you are too far out, actually.
It’s Rashid Nurgaliev as opposed to Nuraliev.
Some role reversal.
What’s being plundered?
Are you being serious Chris? Surely not. Plunder doesn’t even begin to describe what motivates these guys. What do you think they’re in it for, nation-building?
Tim: …the Russian public - or at least those who can use photoshop - have a lot less respect for Medvedev, or they don’t fear him as much.
I think your wife is right actually. It’s similarly anecdotal, but my own extended family-in-law reflects the same feeling. Maybe it’s a good thing. It’s not vindictive. By and large, they sense someone a bit more human.
Ivanov: I didn’t expect you, Sean, will go so low as to quote Albats.”
Sigh.
Ok, I accept that some/most of these interpretations are predictable. It’s equally predictable what Ivanov will say about them. That invalidates neither what he says — nor what these commentators say.