Sergei Shoigu is already a former Minister of Defense, he was appointed Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation

The Federation Council has received candidates proposed by Vladimir Putin for the positions of heads of a number of federal ministries and departments. Andrei Removich Belousov, first deputy prime minister of the previous government, is proposed for the post of Minister of Defense.

The following candidates have also been proposed for consultation:

for the post of Minister of Internal Affairs – Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kolokoltsev;

for the post of Minister for Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief – Alexander Vyacheslavovich Kurenkov;

for the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs – Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov;

for the post of Minister of Defense – Andrey Removich Belousov;

for the post of Minister of Justice – Konstantin Anatolyevich Chuychenko;

for the position of Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service – Sergey Evgenievich Naryshkin;

for the position of Director of the Federal Security Service – Alexander Vasilievich Bortnikov;

for the position of Director of the Federal Service of National Guard Troops – Viktor Vasilievich Zolotov;

for the position of Director of the Federal Security Service – Dmitry Viktorovich Kochnev;

for the post of head of the Main Directorate of Special Programs of the President – Linets Alexander Leonidovich.

Senators will hold consultations on the candidates proposed by the president at committee meetings on May 13 and at a meeting of the Federation Council on May 14. This is stated in message in the Telegram channel of the Federation Council.

How reminds TASS, 65-year-old Belousov at various times held the positions of Assistant to the Head of State for Economic Affairs, Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Director of the Department of Economics and Finance of the Government of the Russian Federation, General Director of the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting, in 1981-2006 he worked at the Russian Academy Sciences (until 1991 – USSR Academy of Sciences). From April 30 to May 19, 2020, during Mishustin’s hospitalization with coronavirus infection, Belousov served as acting head of the Cabinet.

The Russian ruler's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said that Putin decided to have a civilian head the Russian Defense Ministry because “the department should be open to innovation and advanced ideas.”

Sergei Shoigu was appointed Secretary of the Russian Security Council, President signed decree on his appointment. Nikolai Patrushev, Putin’s long-time associate in the KGB/FSB, was relieved of this position during the war. he was called the second most influential man in the state. It was believed that he was one of the initiators of the SVO. Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Nikolai Patrushev from the post of Secretary of the Russian Security Council in connection with his transfer to another job, and the head of state signed a corresponding decree. Patrushev’s new position has not been specified. The Kremlin press service reports: “Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the Decree “On the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation”1. Appoint Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu as Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.” Since 2012, Shoigu has served as Russia's Minister of Defense.

According to Peskov, Shoigu will oversee the work of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation of Russia in order to integrate the economy of the security bloc into the country’s economy. The Kremlin press secretary also said that Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov will continue his activities, “no changes are envisaged here for now.”

Experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) considerthat Putin is making leadership changes, particularly in the Russian Defense Ministry, stepping up preparations for a protracted war in Ukraine and possibly preparing for a future confrontation with NATO.

Experts add: Belousov's nearly decade-long tenure as economics minister in the Russian federal government and his recent involvement in managing various domestic innovation projects in the defense industry and drones have prepared him well to lead the apparatus of Russia's embattled Defense Ministry.

“Belousov has a strong reputation as an effective technocrat, and insider sources say he also has a positive relationship with Putin,” the report said. Experts add that replacing Shoigu with Patrushev as Security Council secretary is in line with Putin's overall policy of quietly ousting senior security officials by giving them peripheral roles in the Russian security sphere rather than simply firing them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5bAvIkuPek

Source link