Russia's State Duma approved all of the candidates Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin put forward in a government reshuffle, including four new deputy prime ministers, Meduza reported on October 21, citing the business outlet RBC.
Mishustin announced the personnel changes on October 19, and President Vladimir Putin backed the move, according to Meduza. The Moscow Times reported that Putin approved the reshuffle that Monday. Independent journalist Farida Rustamova reported that the overhaul would replace nearly half of Mishustin's deputy prime ministers.
First Deputy Finance Minister Irina Okladnikova replaces Dmitry Grigorenko as deputy prime minister and chief of government staff. Rustamova said Okladnikova had been responsible for the budget at the Finance Ministry, and The Moscow Times reported that she would become the first woman to hold the chief-of-staff post.
Rustamova called Grigorenko's replacement the most notable change in bureaucratic terms, describing him as a longtime ally and "right-hand man" of the prime minister and the chief-of-staff job as among the most important in the government. Experts cited by Meduza likewise consider Grigorenko one of the officials closest to Mishustin. Mishustin's spokesman, however, said Grigorenko himself had asked to be moved to another post.
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov becomes a deputy prime minister while keeping the finance portfolio, which The Moscow Times says he has led since 2011. It is not his first stint in the dual role: he served as deputy prime minister from 2018 to 2020 under Dmitry Medvedev, a period in which, Rustamova noted, he was first deputy to the then-prime minister.
Analysts have read the changes as a boost for the finance bloc. Russian political analysts cited by The Moscow Times described the reshuffle as a major strengthening of the fiscal leadership, while experts cited by Meduza said Siluanov's position is reinforced both by his new title and by the promotion of his first deputy, Okladnikova.
In the Far East, Primorye Governor Oleg Kozhemyako replaces Yury Trutnev as deputy prime minister and presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District. Accounts of Trutnev's exit differ: Rustamova's government sources said he is leaving for health reasons, while sources quoted by the newspaper Vedomosti said he could be appointed to another Kremlin post. The two explanations are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin becomes deputy prime minister overseeing the transport sector, and Dmitry Yadrov, head of the civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia, succeeds him at the ministry. According to The Moscow Times, the transport deputy premier post had been vacant since Vitaly Savelyev resigned after his election to the State Duma in late September.
The Moscow Times placed the reshuffle in the wake of September's Duma elections, which it said gave the ruling United Russia party its largest-ever majority, and against a backdrop of strained government finances, rising taxes and high interest rates. Duma leaders were reportedly told over the weekend to hold last-minute meetings on Monday to process the nominations, and Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin announced that confirmation votes would be held on Wednesday.