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Main page > Products > Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts - The weekly bulletin > Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts. Issue No (43) 731 Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts. Issue No (43) 731October 13 - 19, 2008 Main tendencies of political weekLast week the ruling tandem members kept showing their interchangeability and alternating media activity. Like a week before, at the beginning of last week Dmitry Medvedev took the lead in the media field and Vladimir Putin increased his informational presence by the end of the week. The president continued getting accustomed to the role of supreme commander-in-chief, which to a great extent was reflected in the media coverage of his participation in the Stability-2008 war games. At the same time both tandem members paid considerable attention to the economic situation. In particular, the head of state quite sharply expressed his discontent about high prices of aviation fuel. Defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov declared last week about further development of military reforms. He indicated large-scale plans of changing the structure of the armed forces and decreasing the personnel, first of all the officer corps. According to the minister, it is planned to switch from the division-regiment to a brigade level system of the armed forces structure, which in general corresponds to modern requirements. Compared to divisions, brigades are more mobile and are capable of solving similar tasks in short-term modern conflicts. The second measure also seems justified but it may be opposed by generals. It fact this is similar to sending military specialists into retirement. The vector and dynamics of the reshuffle in the government do not provide a clear answer to the question whether this is the beginning of the previously planned large-scale reform in the government or continuation of its fine-tuning. If the last week staff changes were fine-tuning they were of quite a large-scale character. From the point of view of the first variant, they were too specific and did not affect the structure of inside-government interaction. Dmitry Kozak’s promotion to Olympic deputy PM is unlikely to mean weakening of his positions. This is likely to be Vladimir Putin’s desire to use the big guns, because the pace of preparations for this event leaves much to be desired. The appointment of Russia’s former Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Farit Mukhametshin, chief of the federal agency for CIS affairs does not seem unambiguous. In general, considering previous leakages, foreign minister Sergey Lavrov may be considered beneficiary of this HR decision having a predictable officer from the diplomatic community as head of the agency. However, the new appointment exposes another interesting tendency. Besides diplomatic or similar service, the official had another job in his career: in the late 1990s he represented the Republic of Tatarstan’s interests in Moscow. The recently appointed regional development minister Viktor Basargin is also from the Urals. Thus, one may suppose that a new wave of recruitment of elites not bound with Moscow or St. Petersburg but with the Urals and Volga region, into the government is beginning. Major events October 13 - October 19, 2008
Volume: 16 pages
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