  |
|
|
|
With Premier Victor Chernomyrdin, when it rains, it pours.
Then on the 16th he dropped a bombshell. He stripped Chubais and fellow First Deputy Premier Boris Nemtsov of many of their powers. He took away most of Chubais' economic portfolio, taking direct responsibility for the Finance Ministry, the budget and monetary policy. Even more ominous for Chubais' political future, Chernomyrdin's also taken over banking (not too surprisingly in light of Yeltsin's previous calls for more central control of the banks) and coordination of all media-related issues. (Some cynics may wonder if it's a matter of six vs. half a dozen...) Deputy Premier Vladimir Bulgak, who had just (on January 15) been appointed chair of the government's representatives on the board of ORT (Russian Public TV, 51% state-owned), will handle media matters. Indeed, in this he replaces Maxim Boiko, former State Property Minister and close Chubais ally. The Finance Minister, Mikhail Zadornov, who took over Chubais' finance portfolio in November, now answers directly to Chernomyrdin instead of going through Chubais. (It is said that Zadornov insisted on that as a condition of taking the job.) Chubais still has overall economic responsibilities, such as coordinating the various economic departments. He shares with Interior Minister and Deputy Premier Anatoly Kulikov most of the tax collection responsibilities - no small affair in Russia, where tax arrears are a national joke. So Chubais' role is definitely lesser, but still ambiguous...especially as President Boris Yeltsin reportedly has recently given the Cabinet a strong mandate to make the economy grow and improve the tax code. But make no mistake about it - he's in trouble, at least for now. Nemtsov was quoted as saying that his opinion on whether Chubais will end up resigning changes from day to day. From Nemtsov, Chernomyrdin has taken most of the energy responsibilities (Nemtsov was Energy Minister as well as First Deputy Premier until November, when he lost the energy portfolio). Nemtsov is expected to concentrate on reform programs, especially in the energy and housing sectors. Of his political future, he is much more confident: he says that when he came on board last March, Yelstin promised him two years in the government. (Chernomyrdin was Gas Industry Minister under Gorbachev, and is considered close to many major Russian energy companies, especially Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly, so his takeover of energy matters specifically has some grounds of
The copyright of the article The Centre's Holding...For Now in Russian Politics is owned by Jeffrey Deutsch. Permission to republish The Centre's Holding...For Now in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
|
|
|
