Russian Minister of Regional Development Oleg Govorun wrote a letter of resignation after criticism from President Vladimir Putin, Forbes website reported citing an unnamed federal official.
Last week, Putin filed a decree demanding a reprimand for Govorun as well as for Education and Science Minister Dmitry Livanov and Labor Minister Maxim Topilin saying they were not implementing presidential decrees.
Forbes said citing its source that Govorun was disappointed by Putin’s accusations, which he called ‘groundless.” A source in the Regional Development Ministry said that after Putin’s criticism Govorun did not come to work for almost a week.
Vladimir Zhelonkin, a spokesman for Govorun, neither confirmed nor rejected the information about minister’s letter of resignation.
Last week Putin criticized the preparation of the 2013-2015 budget for not taking into account the cost of pension reform. He also asked Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to reprimand certain ministers.