The Prime Minister Gives Himself Warning
// And promises a shakeup in the administration
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has unexpectedly followed up on the questions pose to Russian President Vladimir Putin about his cabinet on live television this week. The prime minister hinted at coming dismissals in the administration and ministries. The president voiced his displeasure mainly with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Natural Resources and with the prime minister himself. Fradkov's televised statements garnered very high ratings.
Yesterday's cabinet meeting began with a discussion by the prime minister of the president's question-and-answer session on live TV. In spite of the fact that no serious claims were made against the administration, the president's words in that regard were the harshest since 2004, and the prime minister took them very literally. The prime minister called the cabinet “helpless,” “irresponsible” and “undisciplined” and promised harsh demands of the members in the future. He explicitly included himself in their number. Fradkov did not say exactly who would be held responsible for the president's encounter with popular dissatisfaction, but mentioned the specific weak points in question: “commodity markets, the analytical balance of resources, the information system of accounting for alcohol, the forestry complex, construction, diversification of the economy, the infrastructure and registration of dacha lots.”
Judging by that list, most of the displeasure seems to be heaped on Economics Minister German Gref. The prime minister spent the most time on alcohol accounting and the forest industry, however, pointing to Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin, Agriculture Minister Alexey Gordeev and Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev as well. The prime minister emphasized that his alarm was caused by personal conversations with the president as well as the president's televised statements. It will be seen in the coming weeks whether Fradkov's harsh statements (after the president's relatively calm ones) will lead to real personnel changes. Fradkov also handed out assignments to the ministers in the name of the president and gave them a deadline of November 10. Therefore, changes are unlikely before that date.
Petr Netreba, Dmitry Butrin
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 27, 2006
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