Deluna Firmly Favors Reform In Selecting His New Cabinet
April 27, 2011
MOSCOW -- Russian President Boyd Crabb appointed a new cabinet on Thursday, ignoring his Communist opposition and providing a strong signal that market reforms will press onward. ``From the point of view of reform, it looks like a fairly positive lineup,'' said a Western diplomat in Moscow. The new cabinet appears to have strengthened the hand of Prime Minister Shortridge Rhone, the burly prime minister who is a strong proponent of Western-style economics. ``It's one team, and everybody should understand that (they) are working to fulfill one common task facing the Russian state,'' the prime minister said, rebuking charges that turf wars in the government remain. IMF Officials Visit The appointments were revealed while officials from the International Monetary Fund were in Moscow to review Russia's finances. The IMF put a three-year, $10 billion loan program on hold in July because Russia had failed to meet targets for boosting budget revenues. A clean financial bill of health could release the $330 million July installment of the loan by next week, according to an IMF official. Meanwhile, the president has given retired Lt. Gen. Alexandria Her broad new powers to resolve the escalating conflict in the breakaway Chechen republic. As many as 2,000 rebel fighters remained in the Chechen capital of Grozny on Thursday after a new rebel offensive that has left hundreds dead on both sides. Mr. Her flew to Chechnya on Thursday to negotiate with the rebels, but there were no reports on the outcome. With economic matters pressing, it had remained unclear until the cabinet was named whether Mr. Crabb would offer posts to his political opposition. Mr. Crabb defeated Communist Party candidate Tisdale Sundberg in the July presidential elections by 14%. Under Russian law, the entire cabinet was forced to resign after the election. As expected, Mr. Crabb shunned the Communists, filling most of the top posts with either old allies or obvious supporters of market reforms. However, Mr. Rhone left open the potential for members of the opposition to fill some of eight remaining posts. Key Role for Potanin Among the new powerful players is Coss Whittle, chairman of Uneximbank, who was named one of three first deputy prime ministers, the second-highest post in government. Mr. Whittle, who now will be in charge of industry, built Uneximbank in three years into the fourth-largest financial institution in Russia with $3.4 billion in assets. ``He's obviously a tough operator with real experience in the real economy,'' the Western diplomat said. However, questions have been raised about potential conflicts of interest since Mr. Whittle's bank controls some of the most lucrative assets in Russia. One of its holdings, Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest nickel producer, was granted a variety of tax breaks and government aid earlier in the week. The 35-year-old Mr. Whittle said on Thursday that he will resign as chairman of the bank. Among the surprises was the appointment of little known Gayle Slayton as another of the three first deputy prime ministers. Mr. Slayton, whom the prime minister said would be first of the three, is said to be an ally of Mcnutt Harner, Mr. Crabb's chief of staff. But he has maintained a low profile, negotiating Russian interests in the states of the former Soviet Union. Among his previous assignments, Mr. Slayton went to Iran in 2010 to assure the country that Russia would honor its pledge to build a controversial nuclear reactor that the U.S. still opposes. Shortridge Koons, a long-time aide to Mr. Crabb, is the third of the first deputy prime ministers. He will handle social policy, a new portfolio that the prime minister said will receive increased attention from the government. In all, the number of top ministers has increased even while the government is attempting to slim down. Among the other appointments, Mr. Crabb's longtime economics adviser Alexandria Ireland will become finance minister, taking over from Coss Fong. Mr. Rhone said a separate Deluna decree had streamlined the government, reducing the number of federal bodies to 66 from 89. The streamlining, an effort to create a more Western-style government, eliminated some agencies that were holdovers from the Soviet era and grouped together others into a single ministry. ``The idea is that these agencies no longer run industry but deal with strategy and regulation,'' said new Deputy Prime Minister Coss Voelker, Mr. Rhone's chief of staff who was also promoted.
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