Russian defence minister, Sergei Ivanov, steps up the ladder and out of defence
16 Feb 2007
Moscow: Russian defence minister, and also deputy premier, Sergei Ivanov has been promoted to the rank of first deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation. In the process he also sheds his rank of defence minister. The new incumbent as Russia's defence minister is Anatoly Serdyukov, a little-known, 45-year-old, former head of the Federal Tax Service.
Ivanov's elevation as first deputy premier brings him at par with Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's prime minister. Both Medvedev and Ivanov are widely speculated to be the front-runners in the race to succeed Vladimir Putin as President of Russia. Putin is due to step down from the Presidency in March 2008.
Popular perception would have Ivanov as the more hawkish of the two candidates, with Medvedev apparently representing the more liberal wing in the Kremlin.
Sergei Ivanov, 54, is a veteran of the erstwhile Soviet KGB, and also part of the wide network of such veterans that Putin has inducted into key areas of responsibility across the Russian administration over the years.
Putin has said that Ivanov would retain responsibility for Russia's large military-industrial complex, but did not clarify what his new civilian responsibilities would be. He did mention, however, that Medvedev would "share" responsibilities with Ivanov. Recently, Ivanov was put in charge of reviving Russia's ailing civil aviation industry.
