- Russian President Vladimir Putin has reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as Prime Minister.
- Mishustin and other technocrats in his cabinet are credited with maintaining stable economic performance despite Western sanctions.
- Most of Russia’s ministers are expected to retain their posts.
Russian President Vladimir Putin reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as prime minister on Friday, a widely expected move to keep the politically unknown technocrat in the role.
Mr. Mishustin and other technocrats in his cabinet are credited with maintaining a relatively stable economic performance despite the blow from Western sanctions over Russia’s role in Ukraine. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s fate appears uncertain, but most other ministers are expected to keep their jobs.
Mishustin, 58, who has held the position for the past four years, submitted his resignation from the cabinet on Tuesday, as Putin began his fifth term as president with a glittering Kremlin inauguration ceremony, in accordance with Russian law.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin infected with coronavirus, Kremlin announced
Mishustin, a former head of Russia’s tax service, avoided political statements and avoided media interviews during his previous term.
Russian President Vladimir Putin reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as prime minister on Friday, a widely expected move to keep the politically unknown technocrat in the role. (Dmitry Astakhov, Sputnik, government pool photo, via AP)
Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin announced that President Putin has submitted Mishustin’s candidacy to the State Duma, which is scheduled to hold a deliberation later on Friday.
Under the constitutional reforms approved in 2020, the House of Commons approves the candidacy of the prime minister, who then submits his cabinet for approval. The changes were ostensibly aimed at giving parliament broader powers, but the process is widely seen as a formality given the Kremlin’s control of parliament.
Most ministers are expected to keep their jobs, but it was unclear whether they would be included in the Cabinet following the arrest of Defense Minister Timur Ivanov last month.
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Ivanov, who served as deputy defense minister in charge of major military construction projects, was arrested on suspicion of bribery and ordered to be detained pending an official investigation.
Ivanov’s arrest was widely interpreted as an attack on Shoigu and a possible precursor to his removal, despite his close personal relationship with Putin.
Shoigu was widely criticized for forcing Russian forces to retreat during the early stages of the fighting in Ukraine. He faced a scathing attack from mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who marched into Moscow nearly a year ago to demand the ouster of Shoigu and his chief of staff, General Valery Gerasimov.
Two months after the uprising, Shoigu appeared to strengthen his position after Prigozhin was killed in a suspicious plane crash that was seen as Kremlin retaliation. But Mr. Ivanov’s arrest, interpreted by many as part of political infighting in the Kremlin, has once again exposed Mr. Shoigu’s vulnerability.
