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Putin signs decrees on appointing new Russian cabinet members

Earlier in the day, Putin met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who presented the candidates for the new cabinet

© Mikhail Klementiev/Russian Presidential press service/TASS

MOSCOW, May 18. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the decrees on Friday on appointing the new members of the Russian cabinet, the Kremlin press service said.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the decrees on the appointments to the Russian government," the statement said. The Russian president approved 10 deputy prime ministers and 22 ministers in separate decrees.

Earlier in the day, Putin met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who presented the candidates for the new cabinet.

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Russian PM Medvedev presents candidates for new cabinet

Putin said he would sign the decrees on Friday noting that the candidates are people who are "well-known, they have good work experience and they have proved themselves to be good in other areas of work."

The prime minister assured the president that everything will be fulfilled and the new ministers will be presented to their ministries soon.

The new Russian cabinet will have 10 deputy prime ministers and 22 ministries. Two new ministries - the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education - were established in accordance with the relevant decree issued by Putin instead of the former Ministry of Education and Science.

Thirteen ministers from the previous cabinet will retain their posts, including Olga Vasilyeva, who will serve as the Minister of Education.

Among the Russian ministers who also kept their jobs is Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who also became the First Deputy Prime Minister, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov, Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin (who was appointed in late 2016), Energy Minister Alexander Novak, Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov, Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova and Labor Minister Maxim Topilin.

New appointments

The new Russian ministers will be Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev, who replaced Vladimir Puchkov, Minister of Transport Evgeny Ditrikh, who replaced Maxim Sokolov, Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Konstantin Noskov (instead of Nikolai Nikiforov), Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev (instead of Alexander Tkachev), Russia’s Far East Development Minister Alexander Kozlov (instead of Alexander Galushka), Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Vladimir Yakushev (instead of Mikhail Men), Minister of Natural Resources Dmitry Kobylkin (instead of Sergey Donskoy), and Minister of the North Caucasus Affairs Sergey Chebotarev (instead of Lev Kuznetsov). Mikhail Kotyukov will head the new Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

Mikhail Abyzov, who served as the minister responsible for the Open Government Affairs in Russia, won’t be part of the new cabinet. There is no such position in the new government.

Vitaly Mutko, the former sports minister who was appointed in October 2016 as a deputy prime minister overseeing sports, tourism and youth affairs, will now be responsible for construction issues. Olga Golodets, the deputy prime minister for social affairs, will now oversee culture and sports.

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