Russia: Strategic developments in Russia
A month after the State Duma elections, the Russian authorities decided to shake up the Cabinet of Ministers a little. On October 19, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin proposed five candidates to Vladimir Putin for reshuffles in the government - mainly, four new deputy prime ministers. The president accepted the proposal. 'New Europe' studied the brightest moments in the biography of each. Irina Oklandikova. Nano-apparatchik New Deputy Prime Minister - Head of the Government Apparatus 41-year-old Irina Oklandikova was born in Krasnoyarsk, graduated from Krasnoyarsk State University with a degree in World Economy, then received a legal education at RANEPA. Her civil service career began in the regional Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Complex (2005–2012). In the federal Ministry of Finance, she rose from an employee of the industry department to director of the department of budget policy in the economy. A protege of Anton Siluanov, in June 2024, she became his first deputy, in this position she oversaw the preparation and execution of the federal budget. A notable detail in Oklandikova's biography is her participation in the management of Rosnano; she was a member of the board of directors as a representative of the Ministry of Finance. In May 2022, the government proposed to keep her on the board. At that time, Rosnano had serious debt problems, and in October 2023, the company announced that it would not be able to fully pay off its creditors with its own funds. Politically, it is important that in her new position Oklandikova will replace Dmitry Grigorenko, who worked with Mishustin back in the Federal Tax Service, notes political scientist Abbas Gallyamov in an interview with 'New Europe'. According to his assessment, the replacement of the prime minister's closest associate with a person from Siluanov's team means 'a very noticeable weakening of Mishustin's apparatus.' Gallyamov notes that even if Grigorenko himself really wanted to leave, the prime minister could have found a replacement for him from his own circle. 'Control over the apparatus is one of the key sources of the prime minister's power,' explains Gallyamov. He believes that the reshuffles are being made precisely for this purpose - to weaken Mishustin's influence and strengthen Siluanov's. Governor of Primorsky Krai Oleg Kozhemyako. Photo: Valery Sharifulin / TASS / kremlin.ru Oleg Kozhemyako. From a fishing magnate to deputy prime minister New Deputy Prime Minister - Plenipotentiary Representative in the Far Eastern Federal District 64-year-old Oleg Kozhemyako is the only politician in Russia who has managed to head four subjects of the federation. Kozhemyako headed the Koryak Autonomous Okrug (2005–2007), Amur Region (2008–2015), Sakhalin Region (2015–2018), and since 2018, Primorsky Krai. Before politics, Kozhemyako was involved in the fishing business; in 1990, he became one of the leaders of the Preobrazhenskaya Trawl Fleet Base. He was also involved in alcohol production; one of the plants produced the vodka 'Nikita Kozhemyako' (in honor of his son). After moving to public service, the businessman transferred his assets to relatives. Kozhemyako has a trail of scandals dating back to his fishing business days. In the late 1990s, he and other entrepreneurs were accused of corruption and poaching. His return to Primorye in 2018 was also quite scandalous. Then, in the gubernatorial elections, the United Russia candidate Andrey Tarasenko barely managed to defeat the communist Andrey Ishchenko in the second round (49.55% against 48.05%). The authorities decided to completely annul these results and hold new elections, where Kozhemyako was nominated. He won the repeat vote much more confidently (61.9%), but this required falsifications - the Golos movement detected signs of vote falsification at at least 47 polling stations. The Central Election Commission, however, found no grounds for cancellation this time. Andrey Nikitin. Hardliner Technocrat Deputy Prime Minister for Transport Development 46-year-old Andrey Nikitin graduated from the State University of Management in Moscow and holds a doctorate in economics. In 2017, Putin appointed Nikitin acting governor of the Novgorod region. In February 2025, he became Deputy Minister of Transport, where he was involved in the digitalization of the industry. In July of the same year, he headed the ministry after the dismissal of Roman Starovoit, who was found dead on the day of his resignation. The main version of the investigation is suicide. As governor, Nikitin was actively involved in demographic policy; in 2023, he signed a law prohibiting the 'persuasion' of pregnant women to have abortions. At the same time, Nikitin canceled payments of 200,000 rubles for the third and subsequent children, replacing this subsidy with a program to support the birth of the first child. Abbas Gallyamov believes that Nikitin's promotion may strengthen the position of the more hardline wing of the Russian authorities. According to his assessment, in business, Nikitin is oriented towards the Rotenbergs, and in apparat politics, he has relied on Defense Minister Andrey Belousov for several years. 'In terms of control over the transport sector, the positions of the hardliners, particularly Belousov, have been strengthened to some extent,' Gallyamov believes. Dmitry Yadrov, formerly the head of Rosaviatsiya, will replace Nikitin as Minister of Transport. Primarily, under his leadership, the agency was discussed in the context of major air disasters. In December 2024, a passenger plane could not land in Grozny and crashed near Aktau in Kazakhstan. Two days later, Yadrov stated that landing was hindered by dense fog and the 'carpet' regime, introduced due to Ukrainian drone attacks. The official did not claim that the Russian air defense had hit the plane, but in October 2025, Putin had to admit that two Russian air defense missiles exploded near the plane. In April 2026, the Russian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministries confirmed that the catastrophe occurred due to the deliberate actions of the Russian air defense system. Another major tragedy occurred during Yadrov's leadership. In July 2025, an An-24 of Angara Airlines crashed near Tynda, killing 48 people. The final report of the Interstate Aviation Committee noted crew errors among the critical factors. However, these incidents, as it turns out, did not affect Yadrov's career. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov at the VTB Investment Forum 'Russia Calls!'. Moscow, Russia. December 4, 2024. Photo: Yuri Kochetkov / EPA Anton Siluanov. Financial Storm Petrel New position: Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Finance 63-year-old Anton Siluanov is one of the main 'long-livers' of the Russian government. He started working in the Ministry of Finance of the RSFSR immediately after graduating from the Moscow Financial Institute in 1985. In 2003, he became Deputy Minister of Finance, and in September 2011, he took the place of his former boss Alexei Kudrin after the conflict between Kudrin and President Dmitry Medvedev. In 2018–2020, he combined the ministerial position with the post of First Deputy Prime Minister, but when Mishustin's government was formed, he lost the second position. Siluanov did not shy away from delivering bad news. In March 2022, he admitted that Russia had lost access to about $300 billion in gold and foreign exchange reserves - almost half of this fund at the time. And in 2025, he became the ideologue and 'face' of the VAT increase from 20% to 22% and stated that Russians 'would not notice' the consequences of this decision. According to Abbas Gallyamov, such a 'promotion' for Siluanov is precisely due to the deteriorating situation with state finances. The minister has to increasingly restrict spending and conflict with influential departmental lobbyists, including representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the military-industrial complex, and the FSB. Refusing to finance security forces in the current conditions is politically risky, Gallyamov believes, so the minister has been strengthened - to make it easier to say 'no' to them. ' [Before] try not to give the FSB money for some new project, and they have many projects,' explains the political scientist. Thus, according to Gallyamov's assessment, the Minister of Finance is strengthened in two directions at once: he himself receives the status of Deputy Prime Minister, and his former subordinate (Irina Oklandikova) gains control over the government apparatus. 'It is already unclear, in fact, who will be in charge in the government: Mishustin or Siluanov,' comments Gallyamov. He does not rule out that the current reshuffle may be a rehearsal for a more serious reshuffle: 'It is possible that at the next stage Siluanov will become prime minister at all. I am not claiming that this will happen, but the apparat logic of what is happening forces us to look in this direction.' At the same time, the political scientist emphasizes that Mishustin and Siluanov remain politically close figures, so it is more about redistributing influence within the same camp of 'moderate technocrats' than about changing course.
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