(Dan Tri) – Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed replacing Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and nominated Andrei Belousov to succeed him.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (Photo: AFP).
The Russian Federation Council (Senate) announced on the evening of May 12 that President Putin has nominated acting Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the economy Andrei Belousov to replace Sergei Shoigu to become Minister of Defense.
The Kremlin said President Putin wanted Mr. Shoigu to become Secretary of the Security Council, replacing incumbent Nikolai Patrushev, and also be responsible for the military industrial complex.
The Russian Senate is expected to hold consultations regarding the candidates nominated by the President during committee sessions on May 13 and the Senate meeting on May 14.
These are the most important changes that President Putin has made to the Military Command since Russia launched a special military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022.
In addition, there were no changes to the list of candidates that Mr. Putin nominated for cabinet positions.
Explaining President Putin’s decision to nominate a new Defense Minister, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: `The current battlefield is decided by those who are more open to innovations and willing to innovate.`
Talking about Mr. Belousov, the Kremlin spokesman said that Mr. Belousov proved to be `quite successful in leading the Ministry of Economic Development` and then worked as an economic assistant to the President for a long time.
`The Ministry of Defense must be absolutely open to innovations, introduce the most advanced ideas and create favorable conditions for economic competitiveness,` Mr. Peskov emphasized.
He also emphasized, `integrating the military’s economy into the national economy is very important.`
According to Mr. Peskov, Russia’s military budget has increased from 3% to 6.7% of national GDP since the start of the Ukraine conflict.
This is not `serious` for the Russian economy, he added, but the situation is still starting to resemble the late Soviet period, when Soviet military spending amounted to 7.4% of GDP.
Mr. Shoigu, 68 years old, has been Russia’s Defense Minister since 2012. Meanwhile, Mr. Belousov, 65 years old, is the Minister of Economy and has a very close relationship with President Putin.
Mr. Belousov shares President Putin’s vision of rebuilding a strong state and has also worked with the Russian leader’s top technocrats, who want greater innovation and openness.
Mr. Belousov plays an important role in overseeing Russia’s drone program.
