Vladimir Putin can change many government officials of the terrorist country of the russian federation after the so-called elections, which are held on March 15-17. The changes may turn out to be significant, but although the final list has not yet been prepared, it is not worth waiting for a change of course, writes Bloomberg with reference to people close to the presidential administration and the government of russia.
Putin, who rewrote the Constitution of the russian federation in order to be able to take the presidency for the fifth (and even sixth) time, surrounds himself with loyalists to continue the war in Ukraine.
Putin made the previous major reshuffle of the government in 2020, transferring Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to the post of Deputy Secretary of the Security Council and appointing Mikhail Mishustin in his place.
The latter previously headed the Federal Tax Service; now, according to three Bloomberg sources, he will continue to serve as prime minister and carry out the Kremlin's planned tax reform. To replenish the budget, almost a third of which will go to the war this year, the authorities want to increase the income tax and the corporate income tax.
"There is, however, a slight chance that Mishustin will be replaced by the deputy head of the presidential administration, Sergey Kiriyenko," says a person familiar with the situation.
Officials are waiting to see what position Vice Prime Minister Alexander Novak will receive and whether Sergey Lavrov will continue to hold the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs for three dozen years. The role of negotiator with the OPEC+ countries may pass from Novak to Boris Kovalchuk, the son of putin's friend Yury Kovalchuk.
"Boris, who is expected to leave the position of director general of Inter RAO this week, can also replace the 72-year-old Minister of Energy Nikolai Shulginov. Or get one of the leading state-owned energy companies," Bloomberg sources say.
As Kommersant reported last week, citing people familiar with the situation, Kovalchuk may head Gazprom or Rosneft.
A new chair, possibly with a higher rank, awaits Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev, the son of Security Council Chairman Nikolai Patrushev, Bloomberg writes.
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