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May 11, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 3
to curb Iran’s role in the Middle East. He added that the programme had to be preserved because “Iran is in dire need of nuclear energy, and in a few years, according to experts, the country will require 20,000 megawatts of nuclear power”.
Additional comments posted to Khamenei's
Putin reshuffles Cabinet, signs development decrees
economic development goals by 2024. The gov- ernment automatically resigns on the day a new president is installed.
The nominations for the cabinet presented by Medvedev to State Duma brought no surprises and several government incumbents lost their jobs.
So far no nomination for the government or presi- dential administration has been announced for ex-Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, the one "joker" in the pack, who is expected to be given a key post with real power to oversee a wide ranging reform programme for the coming years.
Current Finance Minister Anton Siluanov was pro- moted and nominated for a post of the First Deputy Prime Minister, replacing outgoing Igor Shuvalov, who has been marred by multiple corruption allegations.
"Judging from the details announced so far, the line-up of the government shows significant ele- ments of continuity," VTB Capital commented on May 8, seeing Siluanov’s promotion as sign of macroeconomic stability and responsible fiscal management remaining high on the list of the priorities in the next Putin's term.
The social issues Deputy PM could become current head of Audit Chamber Tatyana Golikova, while Ar- cady Dvorkovich is set to lose his Deputy PM post.
website on May 9 showed the supreme leader is clearly dubious about France, Germany and the UK’s efforts to salvage the JCPOA for use without US participation. “If you can’t get a definite guarantee [on what they are offering], then the nuclear deal cannot be continued,” he said, noting that "I even don't trust these countries."
Kommersant daily commented that the distribu- tion of the posts in the new government resem- bles that of 2008, when Putin sat one presidential term out, taking the prime minister’s job in the government and passing the presidency to Medve- dev. "This [government] composition [is] to go with the flow," unnamed federal official told the Bell.
Most notably, Medvedev is entrusted with imple- menting the 2024 presidential development strat- egy signed by Putin the same day as he takes up the new term, which is the reincarnation of infa- mous May decrees signed following his return to presidency in 2012.
While Putin ran his campaign with no coherent election message, confirming previous reports that Kremlin was struggling to consolidate an economic and social development vision in pre- election years, the new decree was introduced with a populist title "Russia for the People" (Rossiya - dlya lyudey).
"The populist tone of the new 'May decree' signed by Putin disapointed those, who like us, expected the Kremlin to move actively towards structural re- forms and improving investment climate," Vladimir Tikhomirov of BCS Global Market wrote on May 8.
The decree signed this May 7 consolidates 12 na- tional development programs designed to better the lives of ordinary Russians, and have confirmed previously raised concerns as potentially yield- ing massive state spending with no clear target, implementation goals, or funding sources.
Tikhomirov added that the decree leaves more