Putin appoints a trusted economist as Defense Minister: Belousov will monitor spending

65 years old, he was Minister of Economic Development of Russia from 2012 to 2013 and assistant to the president from 2013 to 2020. In addition to serving -although briefly- as deputy prime minister Russian between April and May 2020, after Mikhail Mishustin contracted COVID-19.

From a business point of view, Belousov holds the position of co-president of Russian Railways, Russian railway network and one of the most important in the world. He is also part of the board of directors of the Development Bank and Foreign Economic Affairsof the Russian Direct Investment Fund and of Russian Export Center JSC. His resume also includes his position as a director at Rosneft Oil CO and the Department of Economy and Finance of the Russian Government.

Andrey Removich Belousov was born in the Russian capital in 1959 and studied economics at Moscow State University. In 1981 he graduated with honors, in 2000 he managed to serve as an external advisor to the prime minister until 2006, and until 2008 as deputy minister of economic development and trade.

Since then was gaining popularity in different positions within the government, becoming first deputy prime minister of Russia in Mikhail Mishustin’s cabinet in 2020.

Belousov has been subject to Ukraine sanctions since 2022 – being part of Putin’s inner circle and being a senior Kremlin official -; by the European Union, by calling on Russian oligarchs to continue cooperating with sanctioned Russian banks and support the occupation of Crimea; by USA and added to the sanctions lists in Japan, Canadahe United Kingdom and Australia.

Putin renewal

The Federation Council (upper house of the Russian parliament) received a list of candidates proposed by Putin to head various federal ministries and agencies.

Among the changes was the appointment of the now former Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu as secretary of the Russian Security Councildefending that it is “a charge with greater weight.”

The spokesman for the Russian ruler, Dmitry Peskovsaid that the reason for the change by Belousov was based on Putin’s decision to put a civilian in charge of Defense, “open to innovation and advanced ideas”.

Shoigu will supervise the work of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation of Russia to integrate the economy of the security bloc into the country’s economy, according to Peskov. He also assured that the head of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, will continue with his work: “So far no changes are expected.”

The acting heads of Russia’s other security agencies (the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the National Guard) will retain their positions. positions.

Goodbye to the ‘war minister’

Shoigu, 68, was appointed Defense Minister in November 2012, months after Putin returned to the Kremlin after four years as prime minister. His replacement comes after 27 months of war, and after much criticism from hawks and experts about the lack of results of the Russian Army on the battlefield.

One of his biggest critics was Wagner’s late founder, Yevgeny Prigozhinwho last year several times accused Shoigu of negligence and publicly demanded his dismissal.

Shoigu’s departure from the Ministry of Defense also occurs a few weeks after the arrest of one of his deputies -Timur Ivanov- for accusations of large scale corruption.

In the absence of knowing the punishment for Ivanov, the arrest of vice minister Considered Shoigu’s right-hand man, he was already for many an indicator of the winds of change that began to blow in one of the most secretive ministries in the country.

At the same time, in his new position Shoigu will control the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation of Russiawhich after recent changes is no longer subordinated to the Ministry of Defense.