Government officials including Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, a close ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, will have to leave their posts as board chairmen of state companies, Presidential Economic Aide Arkady Dvorkovich said on Thursday.
On Wednesday, President Dmitry Medvedev suggested removing specialized government officials from boards of state companies which operate on competitive markets.
The suggestion of Sechin’s resignation from Russia’s oil giant Rosneft may indicate division in Putin and Medvedev’s power-sharing tandem on the issude, and a struggle for the presidency ahead of March 2012 elections.
“The issue is that in many cases board chairmen are first of all government chiefs, deputy prime ministers and ministers who are responsible for regulating such activities,” …