Putin dismisses historic presidential chief of staff. Reshuffles at the highest levels

Serghei Ivanov - historical ally of the head of the Kremlin - was removed from office after more than four years of service, replaced by a young and efficient bureaucrat. According to Putin experts he is replacing the old circle of power, made of comrades and friends, with young and faithful executors to strengthen his personal leadership.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Russian leader Vladimir Putin has 'fired' Serghei Ivanov, one of his closest aides and long time head of the presidential office. He has appointed Anton Vaino, born in 1972, who comes from a diplomatic career and a family of high communist nomenclature. Experts portray him as nothing more than an efficient bureaucrat. The reshuffle - according to Kremlin sources consulted by the Moscow Times - is part of Putin's broader strategy to replace the old guard of his closest collaborators with younger and faithful 'apparatchik' figures, in order to strengthen his personal leadership in a delicate moment.

The head of presidential administration in Russia is a sort of equivalent of the chief of staff of the White House and works closely with the Head of State. The presidential administration is the nerve center of the power system of the Russian Federation and its head is considered a member of the inner circle of the president.

Ivanov, 63 years, knows Putin since the 1970's : He is form St Petersburg and worked in the KGB, and the current Russian secret service, FSB. Ivanov has long been seen as an opponent of Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev in the race to occupy the most prestigious seats of the country; after Medvedev became president in 2008, he served as Putin's deputy prime minister. Once the latter returned to the Kremlin in 2012, he brought him with him as head of the presidential administration.

Ivanov thanked the Russian leader and wanted to point out that his four years and eight months of work was the longest-serving head of presidential administration of the Federation. "I am convinced that Vaino is ready for this job," said Ivanov, who personally recommended his deputy's name to replace him. The new task assigned to him, however, sounds like a real fall of status: special envoy of the Presidency for the environment and transport.

"Putin is replacing the old friends with servants, people of trust and who he is not bound by personal friendships, and who does not remember when he was not the leader of the country," says the political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky. "Vaino is totally neutral and respectful and is not going to discuss anything or ask questions. It's a personal choice of Putin, "said a source in the Kremlin. The young man - considered close to Sergei Chemezov, head of state holding and arms producer Rostec - has never been seen as a political actor within the magic circle of Putin, but more like a personal assistant, very similar to Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov.

Also according to the Moscow Times, the Russian leader is entering a new phase of his power and think that it is now easier for him to do it all alone. "He no longer needs fellow soldiers - writes the Russian newspaper - or creative input from his staff. He needs neutral executors ", at a time when the country is struggling with the economic crisis, the shrinking of reserve funds and before parliamentary elections (in September) and presidential (March 2018).

From this point of view the appointment of Vaino follows the same logic of the recent reshuffle implemented at different levels: the president's body guards, Aleksei Dyumin and Evgheni Zinichev were appointed governors of the regions of Tula and Kaliningrad, while a former bodyguard staff, Viktor Zolotov, became head of the newly formed national Guard, a sort of super-internal army, with almost unlimited powers.

The trend was started last year, with the sudden dismissal of the powerful head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin, longtime friend and ally of the Russian leader. The defenestrations then continued this year with the departure of two other 'friends', as the head of Putin's personal security, Yevgeny Murov, and that of the Federal Service for Narcotics Control, Victor Ivanov.

According to some, it is a time when the head of the Kremlin wants to have ample leeway to make decisions quickly and easily, which was becoming increasingly difficult within the elite. The ouster of Ivanov has given rise to speculation about possible early presidential elections, now scheduled for March 2018. At the time, Russian law prohibits a president who resigns before the natural expiration of the mandate, to run for the next election, but a source in the government points out: "what we are seeing now are attempts to improve the manageability of the system. A decision on possible early elections is the next step for Putin".

• russia
• vladimir
• putin
• political
• economy
• dimitri
• medvediev
• Serghei
• ivanov