The new Russian Government

www.rt.com
May 18, 2018
Putin signs decree on new government with all candidates proposed by Medvedev

President Vladimir Putin has approved all candidates for senior positions in the new Russian government, who were proposed earlier today by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Most key positions in the new cabinet remain with the same outgoing ministers, such as the experienced and popular Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.

However, there are new faces in several portfolios, including the Communications Ministry, Emergencies Ministry, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Transport, Ministry for Open Government, Ministry for Development of the Caucasus Region, and the Ministry for Development of the Far East Region.

“These are all known people with good working experience who have performed well in previous posts,” Putin said, after discussing the new government with Medvedev. The president also asked the prime minister to personally oversee the process of replacing several officials as quickly as possible. “Yes, we will definitely do this. In the nearest future, we will introduce all of the new ministers to their ministries’ collectives,” Medvedev replied.

President Putin signed a decree detailing the new government structure last Tuesday. The new cabinet has 22 ministerial posts instead of 21, as the Ministry of Education and Science was split into its two constituent parts. The Ministry of Telecoms and Mass Communications, which oversees the digital sector of the economy and the mass media, will be transformed into the Ministry of Digital Development. In addition, Russian trade missions abroad were transferred from the Ministry of Economic Development to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in a bid to boost exports.

The number of deputy prime ministers, who oversee the execution of major national programs and whole sectors of the economy, increased from nine to 10. However, this did not change the overall size of the cabinet, as the additional deputy PM will combine the post with that of the finance minister.

Shortly after the presentation, Russian news agencies reported that Vladimir Putin had approved all ministerial candidates and signed a decree on the new Russian government. At the talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which also took place on Friday, Medvedev said that the new cabinet had been formed and was able to function.

The following is a list of the ministers in the new Russian new government:

Prime Minister
Dmitry Medvedev – 52. Was reappointed to the position he has held since 2012. Served as Russian president from 2008 to 2012.

Deputy Prime Ministers
Konstantin Chuyuchenko – 52, Government Chief of Staff and Deputy Prime Minister. Was Kremlin aide from 2008.
Anton Siluanov – 55, First Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister. Held the finance minister position since the end of 2011.
Dmitry Kobak – 59, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for energy and industry sectors. Has been a deputy prime minister from 2008.
Vitaly Mutko – 59, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for construction and regional development. From 2012 to 2016 was Sports Minister than was appointment to Deputy Prime Minister position later.
Yuri Borisov – 61, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for defense industry complex. Was Deputy Defense Minister since 2012.
Maxim Akimov – 48, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for transport and communications. Was First Deputy Government Chief of Staff in previous government.
Alexei Gordeyev – 63, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for agro-industrial complex. He was Agriculture Minister from 1999 to 2009. After this was governor of Voronezh Region and Putin’s Envoy in the Central Russian region.
Tatiana Golikova – 52, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for welfare. Was the head of Russia’s Audit Chamber since 2013, also a former Minister of Health and Social Development.
Olga Golodets – 56, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for culture and sport. Was Deputy Prime Minister in the previous government since 2012.
Oleg Trutnev – 62, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for Russian Far East development. Was Deputy Prime Minister since 2013.

Ministers
Finance Minister – Anton Siluanov
Energy Minister – Alexander Novak, 46. Held this position since 2012.
Foreign Minister – Sergei Lavrov, 68. Held this position from 2004.
Defense Minister – Sergei Shoigu, 62. Held this position since 2012.
Economy Minister – Maxim Oreshkin, 35. Held this position since 2016.
Industry and Trade Minister – Denis Manturov, 49. Held this position since 2012.
Agriculture Minister – Dmitry Patrushev, 40 years. Held the position of Chairman of the board of directors of Russian Agricultural Bank.
Sport Minister – Pavel Kolobkov, 48. Held this position from 2016.
Minister of Internal Affairs – Vladimir Kolokoltsev, 57. Held this position from 2012.
Emergencies Minister – Yevgeny Zinichev, 51. Held the position of Deputy Director of Federal Security Service.
Transport Minister – Yevgeny Ditrikh, 45. Held the position of Deputy Transport Minister since 2015. Education Minister – Olga Vasilieva, 58. Held this position from 2016.
Science and Higher Education Minister – Mikhail Kotukov, 41. Held the position of the head of Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations.
Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology – Dmitry Kobylkin, 46. Held the position of governor of Yamalo-Nenets district since 2010. Minister of Health – Veronika Skvortsova, 57. Held this position from 2016. Minister of Labor and Social Development – Maxim Topilin, 51. Held this position since 2012.
Justice Minister – Alexander Konovalov, 49. Held this position from 2008.
Culture Minister – Vladimir Medinskiy, 48. Held this position from 2012.
Minister of Construction – Vladimir Yakushev, 49. Held the position of governor of the Tyumen Region since 2005.
Minister of Communications – Konstantin Noskov, 39. Held the position of head of Government Analytical Centre since 2012. Minister for development of the Far East – Alexander Kozlov, 36. Held the position of governor of Amur Region since 2015.
Minister for development of the North Caucasus – Sergey Chebotarev. According to publicly-available information, he held the position of Deputy Head of Presidential administration’s department of trans-regional and cultural ties with foreign countries.

Lavrov is one of the most experienced ministers in the Russian government, which stepped down on May 7. He has served as the foreign minister since March 9, 2004.
Shoigu is the most experienced member of the Cabinet, which stepped down on May 7. He headed the Ministry of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Disaster Relief from 1994 to 2012 and briefly served as Moscow Region Governor. In November 2012, Putin appointed him Russia’s Defense Minister. Konovalov was appointed as Russia’s justice minister in 2008 and reappointed to the position in 2012.