Putin Makes More Appointments, Streamlines CabinetRussian President Vladimir Putin continued his appointment of government members Thursday, eliminating the post of the first prime minister and scrapping some ministries and agencies.Valentina Matviyenko, Ilya Klebanov and Viktor Khristenko were reappointed as deputy prime ministers, the Kremlin press service said. Other cabinet members appointed included: German Gref as economic development and trade minister, Alexander Pochinok as labor and social development minister, Gennady Bukayev as tax and duties minister and Farit Gazizullin as property relations minister, the Interfax news agency reported. Putin also named Igor Shuvalov government chief of staff of ministerial rank, Vladimir Filippov education minister, Yevgeny Adamov nuclear power minister and Sergei Frank transportation minister. Nikolai Aksyonenko was named railways minister, Mikhail Shvydkoi culture minister, Boris Yatskevich natural resources minister, Yuri Shevchenko health minister, Leonid Reiman communications minister,Mikhail Lesin press minister, Ilya Yuzhanov minister for anti-monopoly policy, Alexander Blokhin minister for federation affairs and Alexander Dondukov science, industry and technology minister. Under the decrees signed by Putin, there will no longer be the ministries for the Economics, Trade, Science and CIS Affairs. Instead, a new Economic Development and Trade Ministry will assume certain functions of these ministries as well as the Federal Currency and Export Control Service and the State Committee for the North, the Interfax news agency reported. A new Science, Industry and Technologies Ministry will take over some of the functions of the former Science Ministry, Trade Ministry and Economics Ministry. The Fuel and Energy Ministry will be transformed into an Energy Ministry, and the Culture Ministry will take over the functions of the Cinematography Committee. |
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