MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/. The departure of Anatoly Chubais from the top leadership post of the Rusnano company is a natural rotation process in staff turnover, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
"Anatoly Borisovich [Chubais] has been heading Rusnano for a long time, he created Rusnano. This is more of a natural rotation process," Peskov said.
The Kremlin spokesman found it difficult to comment on Chubais's future career plans.
"I can’t say anything, I don’t have such information," he said.
The Kremlin spokesman recalled that President Vladimir Putin defined Rusnano as a vital institution for promoting new technologies and innovations. Nevertheless, like many other companies, Rusnano has its own problems, he noted. As an example, he pointed to the company’s risky investments in startups.
"Of course, when there is stepped-up investment in new enterprises with a high level of risk, not all investments pay off," Peskov said, adding that the company had accumulated some debts. But he also stressed that Rusnano "has many important achievements."
When asked why Putin decided not to hold a separate meeting with Chubais in connection with his dismissal, the Kremlin spokesman said that "there were no such plans on the agenda."
"Not that someone would refuse to meet, there were simply no such plans," he said.
Peskov assumed that the activities of Rusnano would not change with the arrival of the new boss. He stressed that "the company's profile is obvious, so there are no changes here."
"As far as the style of work goes, then of course, each manager has his own style," the Kremlin official said.
On December 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Military-Industrial Commission First Deputy Chairman Sergei Kulikov to head Rusnano. On December 3, the Russian government approved a directive on Kulikov’s appointment to the post of chairman of the board of Rusnano. Anatoly Chubais had been in charge of the Russian innovation development institution since 2008.