MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/. President Vladimir Putin has approved the composition of the Russian State Council Presidium through a decree published on the official legal information portal.

The presidium will now include 26 people, namely Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration Sergey Kiriyenko, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Maxim Oreshkin, and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, who also chairs the State Council Commission on State and Municipal Administration.

Alexey Dyumin, aide to the Russian president, will remain the Secretary of the State Council.

The presidium now also includes Tatarstan head Rustam Minnikhanov, who also chairs the Infrastructure for Life Commission, Novgorod Region Governor Andrey Nikitin, who chairs the Commission on Family, Krasnoyarsk Region Governor and Chairman of the Commission on Technology Leadership Mikhail Kotyukov, Kaluga Region Governor and Chairman of the Commission on Human Resources Vladislav Shapsha, Ivanovo Region Governor Stanislav Voskresensky and others.

Several people from the previous State Council presidium were not included in the newest composition, including acting Kursk Region governor Alexander Khinshtein and the head of the Crimean republic, Sergey Aksyonov.

Russia's State Council is a constitutional government body formed by the president. At present, it has 21 commissions for different areas of socio-economic development. These boards assess state and municipal government bodies and then propose improvements. They also evaluate the implementation of federal and regional projects, coordinate activities related to research and development and preparation of specific programs.