President Vladimir Putin has approved a reshuffle of Russia's government that replaces nearly half its deputy prime ministers and promotes Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to First Deputy Prime Minister, The Moscow Times reported on October 19.
The most unexpected change is the departure of Dmitry Grigorenko as chief of government staff. Independent journalist Farida Rustamova called Grigorenko Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin's "right-hand man" and his post one of "the most important in the government". Mishustin's spokesman said Grigorenko had himself asked to be moved to another job.
Mishustin has nominated First Deputy Finance Minister Irina Okladnikova to replace him. If the State Duma confirms her, she will be the first woman to run the government's staff. Okladnikova told deputies in August that the cabinet needed "room to manoeuvre" as it pushed through a bill that lifted its own spending ceiling, saying pressure on the budget now arrived every day.
Russian political analysts described the changes as "a major strengthening of the fiscal leadership". The promotions put the Finance Ministry's people at the centre of government just as the budget comes under its heaviest strain of the war. The federal deficit reached 2.2% of GDP in the first nine months, and the ministry expects 3.2% for the full year, almost double the target written into the budget law. It is also pushing a contested excess profits tax on miners and metals producers.
Siluanov, finance minister since 2011, will keep the ministry and serve as deputy prime minister as well, a double role he last held from 2018 to 2020 under then prime minister Dmitry Medvedev.
Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin has been nominated as a deputy prime minister overseeing transport, filling the seat left empty when Vitaly Savelyev resigned after winning a Duma seat in September. Dmitry Yadrov, head of the civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia, is in line to succeed Nikitin. Yadrov warned the Federation Council last year that sanctions and an ageing fleet could ground up to a third of Russia's airliners by 2030.
Primorye Governor Oleg Kozhemyako has been nominated as deputy prime minister and presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, replacing Yury Trutnev. Sources told Vedomosti that Trutnev could be given another Kremlin post.
The reshuffle follows September's State Duma elections, in which the ruling United Russia party was projected to take 355 of the 450 seats, a record majority. Duma leaders were told over the weekend to prepare for last-minute meetings, and Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said deputies will vote on the nominations on October 21.