MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/. The Russian government will step down in full following the inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin and will continue its work in the ‘acting’ status, as envisaged by the legislation.
Vladimir Putin’s inauguration ceremony will begin at noon on Tuesday, May 7, 2024.
The prime minister, his deputies and cabinet ministers will continue their work as acting officials and will retain the status until the new cabinet is approved.
Besides, the tenure of key presidential administration officials, appointed by the president himself, will also expire automatically. This includes the Kremlin chief of staff and his deputies, presidential press secretary, aides and advisers, the chief of protocol, the National Security Council secretary and presidential envoys to federal districts.
Notable results
Traditionally, Putin met with members of the outgoing cabinet on the eve of the inauguration ceremony, thanking the government for its work and recalling past challenges. Among them, he made a specific mention of the novel coronavirus pandemic and the West’s "blatant economic aggression against Russia in the truest sense of the word."
In his words, the government managed to cope with those challenges. The Russian economy grew faster than the global economy in terms of annual growth and the government managed to ensure decent growth in people’s wages and real incomes.
"Tangible results have been achieved in all the main areas, and the momentum gained and the groundwork done are extremely important to successfully addressing today’s and future challenges and implementing our long-term development plans," Putin said.
He underscored that while the new government is being formed, there should be no pauses in the Russian government’s work. "I expect the colleagues at all levels of the executive branch to stay concentrated, composed, and work toward a results. We need continuity in the work to achieve national development goals. And I am confident that all this will certainly be ensured," he said.
At the same time, Putin is convinced that experience, knowledge, personal authority, and business skills of the cabinet’s former members will certainly be in demand.
New cabinet
The outgoing cabinet was the 17th in the history of modern Russia. It was approved in January 2020, following the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev’s second government, appointed after Putin’s inauguration in 2018.
The 18th government will be the first to be formed in accordance with the new procedure, stipulated by the 2020 amendments to the Russian constitution. Previously, all cabinet members were appointed by presidential decrees, with parliamentary approval required only for the prime minister.
From now on, all cabinet members will require tentative approval from the Russian parliament. The president will have to propose the candidacy of the new prime minister within two weeks after his inauguration, and the parliament’s lower chamber, the State Duma, will have seven days to consider it.
Parliamentary approval is required for the majority of federal prime ministers and deputy premiers, but their candidacies will be submitted by the premier. If the nominations are approved by the parliament, the president has no authority to reject them.
The exceptions to this rule are the ministers of interior, emergency situations, defense, foreign affairs and justice. They are to be appointed by the president after consultations with the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council.
The parliament said it is ready to promptly finalize all these procedures.