Premier Vladimir Putin (1952-) (left) with President Dmitri Medvedev (1965-) (right)
President Dmitri Medvedev approved a new government under Vladimir Putin. In the words of Mr Medvedev, “The two months we’ve been working together is enough time to arrive at full agreement on who does what in the new Cabinet. Decisions on the matter are going to be easy and quick”.
All key ministers keep their posts. There are new federal ministries for sport, tourism, and youth affairs, and a new federal agency for relations with countries in the former Soviet Union. The Natural Resources Ministry shall receive additional powers to protect the environment. There shall be seven Deputy Prime Ministers, including Cabinet staff head Sergei Sobyanin, former Premier Viktor Zubkov and the new Russian negotiator with the World Trade Organisation Igor Shuvalov. The latter two men are First Deputy Premiers.
Facing the line-up, Mr Putin spoke about tasks before it, “The overwhelming support for this government in the legislature means that all these tasks can and must be addressed in close cooperation with law-makers. Most importantly, all factions are welcome, regardless of how they voted on my candidacy for Premier”. Mr Putin told his government that new challenges ahead call for intensified work in all fields. He ordered the ministers to work to raise the minimum legal wage, reform pensions, upgrade education, and radically improve the standard of public health care. He also announced that the next plenary meeting of his Cabinet in a few days’ time shall discuss legislative proposals for a three-year national development plan, for streamlining taxation, and for significantly improving retirement benefits.
12 May 2008
Aleksei Dyakonov
Voice of Russia World Service
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=26923&cid=56&p=12.05.2008 (in English)
