MOSCOW – Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced the formation of a new Russian government yesterday, reappointing several top ministers and maintaining the power and prominent roles of members of his inner circle.
Putin, who was barred by the constitution from a third consecutive term as president, became prime minister last week, one day after yielding the presidency to Dmitri Medvedev, a longtime aide and protégé.
Putin presented the names of his team to the president, who promptly approved them.
The announcements reinforced the image that Putin will retain a grip on power and the direction of policy in Russia. Official Russian business is often presented to Russia's citizens by the state-controlled news media, taking the form of scripted conversations between Putin and other government officials.
In announcing the Cabinet, Putin sat at the same place at a table he used as president for these performances. Medvedev sat in a chair that viewers have come to regard as for subordinates.
The team that had governed during Putin's final term was left largely intact. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov kept their posts.
Sergey Ivanov, a former KGB officer and former front-runner for the presidency, remained in a prominent role but was demoted to deputy prime minister from first deputy prime minister.
Putin stressed continuity, saying his Cabinet would promptly pursue an agenda of legislative change that he has set out in several speeches this year.
The proposed changes include tax cuts and as yet undefined programs for infrastructure development and diversifying Russia's economy in part by reviving agriculture and developing a high-technology sector.
“We can confidently move ahead in tight cooperation with parliamentarians,” Putin said, while releasing no new details on the shape of his plans.
The appointments seemed to reward many of the most prominent members of Putin's long-standing team, with a mixed emphasis on former intelligence officers and advisers who have been with Putin since he worked in city government in St. Petersburg in the 1990s.
Igor Sechin, one of Putin's closest advisers and one of the Kremlin's most influential insiders, was appointed a deputy prime minister. Sechin was formerly a deputy chief of administration.
Sechin, chairman of the Russian oil giant Rosneft, had remained in the background during Putin's presidency, but is a source of the Kremlin's wariness of the West. He is also widely regarded as being at odds with Medvedev.
President Bush placed separate calls yesterday to Medvedev and Putin. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the calls “lasted a few minutes each.”
