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Thursday, 27.09.2007
Happy families in Putin’s new government
André Ballin, Moscow. The new government does not just seem visually more attractive than the old one. It will probably be more harmonious – it contains two family couples.
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The deputy finance minister Tatyana Golikova will run the Health and Social Development ministry. Whatever direction she choosed to take the ministry, she will be an improvement in the eyes of many Russian pensioners, who hated her predecessor Mikhail Zurabov.
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Her winning smile will doubtless also gain her the sympathy of her male colleagues. Especially Industry Minister Viktor Christenko will be happy to give her a tip or two outside working hours: they are, after all, married to each other.
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Defence ministry also has to wrestle with conflict of interest
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Since a harmonious workplace atmosphere is known to increase productivity, President Vladimir Putin refused to accept the resignation of the former furniture store director and now minister of defence Anataloy Serdyukov. He proffered his resignation on his father-in-law being named prime minister. Many a Russian army general would have been glad to see him go.
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But Putin obviously reckoned that a minister of defence should be able to handle such a trivial conflict of loyalty as part of his duties.
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Conflicts between the new government and the president are anyway unlikely. Most of them have known each other for over ten years. Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov has even helped Putin blow out the candles on his birthday cake, according to the Russian media.
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And, with such a family atmosphere reigning, perhaps the whole government will help Putin blow out the candles on his cake at his next birthday on 7th October – and hope for a decent slice of the action.
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