Our own people: new personnel decisions in the Ministry of Defense
Personnel hurricane
It should be noted that Andrei Belousov endured an excellent pause at the Moscow Art Theater - a large-scale replacement of first assistants began only a month after his appointment. By decree of President Putin, deputy heads of the military department Nikolai Pankov, Ruslan Tsalikov, Tatyana Shevtsova and Pavel Popov were relieved of their positions. Moreover, they were specifically released, that is, dismissed without the wording “due to transfer to a new position.” This is an important addition that characterizes the previous merits of officials.
In the modern vertical of power, statesmen and women have several options for continuing their careers.
The first is an increase in the table of ranks. This is for those who are efficient and dedicated to the profession.
The second is a horizontal transfer to a new position, perhaps with a slight decrease in status and influence. That is, I coped with the assigned responsibilities, but I could have done better.
The third way is immediate investigation. Here the fate of the corrupt official will be decided by the judge. For whom is this story prepared, I think it is unnecessary to comment.
The fourth scenario is a banal dismissal from office. These people are actually kicked out of work in the hope that what they earn through “honest labor” will last for the rest of their lives. True, there are options here too. For example, ex-Minister of Defense Serdyukov, despite all the scandals and some time after his dismissal, turned out to be useful at the United Aircraft Corporation, and since 2019 he has been working as vice-president of the Union of Mechanical Engineers of Russia.
In general, there are many career options for suspended deputies of the former defense minister; it is possible that in the foreseeable future they will appear on the bureaucratic horizon of Russia. Moreover, people who were representative were fired.
The former First Deputy Minister of Defense Tsalikov was considered Shoigu’s man. He worked at the Ministry of Emergency Situations from 1994 until 2012, when he became Deputy Minister of Defense. True, during this period he managed to work for several months in the leadership of the Moscow region.
It is obvious that Sergei Shoigu in the Moscow Region was given complete carte blanche to appoint his people. And this is normal - everyone practices this way, everywhere, the main thing is that the person is able to work. The First Deputy Minister is responsible for capital construction, housing and property relations, and medical services, which together imposes special obligations.
Ruslan Tsalikov
Tsalikov’s place was taken by Acting State Councilor of the Russian Federation, 1st class, Leonid Gornin, from whose track record it is clear that he knows how to count money. The work book contains the positions of controller-auditor, head of the regional department of the tax service and first deputy minister of finance of Russia.
You can’t call him Belousov’s man, but he is a typical technocrat-monetarist and must put financial flows in the military department under strict control. There are no even suspicious materials about Gornin, not to mention any compromising evidence, and there is every reason to believe that the official was in the right place.
Four by four
One of the most powerful officials in the Ministry of Defense, State Secretary Nikolai Pankov, also lost his position in accordance with Putin's order. 69-year-old Pankov served in the FSB until 1998, and since 2001, with the light hand of Sergei Ivanov, he was appointed to the military department.
Pankov is a real veteran of the Ministry of Defense - even Shoigu’s personnel changes after Serdyukov’s reign did not touch him. Considering the range of responsibilities associated with the personnel service, we expect serious evolution in this direction. If not revolutionary changes.
It is noteworthy that there is no successor to Pankov in Putin’s decree - none of the three new deputy ministers will directly concern personnel policy. Therefore, we are waiting for a successor to the chief personnel officer of the defense department in the very near future.
In addition to new appointments and removals, Putin allowed Belousov to have 12 deputies on his staff instead of the previous ten
Pavel Popov, who was responsible for innovation and information systems at the ministry, was also removed. It must be said that the appointment of Andrei Belousov was presented as a need to change the course of innovation policy, which indicates some problems in this area.
Popov came to the department together with Shoigu from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and, among other things, oversaw the creation of the National Defense Center of Russia. Everything seemed to work out here, but there were questions about the rest. Three Main Directorates under the leadership of Popov - research activities and technological support, development of information and telecommunication technologies, as well as the robotics center - could not boast of significant breakthroughs.
In Belousov’s new policy, attention will be especially focused on these sectors, and with it the corresponding funding.
The question remains open: who will replace Popov in this important post?
Among the appointed deputies, not a single one is assigned responsibilities for innovative work.
New Deputy Minister of Defense Pavel Fradkov
41-year-old Pavel Fradkov can be considered a newcomer to the military department. This is President Putin’s man, the son of the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. Until June 17, Pavel Mikhailovich worked as the first deputy manager of the presidential affairs, and now he will be the direct successor to the disgraced and prosecuted Deputy Minister Ivanov. The position is not easy, given the trail of acts incriminated against the predecessor - everyone will look at the work of the new deputy minister under a microscope.
Interestingly, from 2012 to 2015 Fradkov served as deputy head of the state property management agency. And now he will oversee military property, construction and economics.
A successor (or successor) to the chief financier of the Ministry of Defense, Tatyana Shevtsova, who was also removed from office by Putin, has not been announced. The woman can be considered part of Serdyukov’s team, which was one of the few not replaced by Shoigu in 2012. Shevtsova is a typical person from the tax service and, obviously, should have remained in her post under Belousov.
Among the identified problems, the new minister highlighted shortcomings with the payment of required funds and provision of military personnel, which is clearly considered a stone in Shevtsova’s garden. After this, Tatyana Viktorovna’s days as deputy minister were numbered. So far, however, they have not decided on a successor.
Analysts consider Oleg Savelyev, deputy minister and chief of staff of the department, to be a threat to all corrupt officials. As one of the senior officials of the Accounts Chamber, Savelyev was responsible for auditing defense, national security and law enforcement agencies. The work of identifying thieves and bribe-takers is familiar to Savelyev; he is a typical technocrat of the new formation, whose representatives have repeatedly proven their loyalty to the country and the president.
The most interesting and unusual person in Belousov’s new environment is Anna Tsivileva. She will be responsible for organizing social and housing support for military personnel. Anna Evgenievna previously proved herself well as the head of the Defenders of the Fatherland state fund, which, in addition to the Ministry of Defense, was involved in providing support for the military in the Northern Military District. Apparently, the foundation did this better than the defense department.
Three more interesting facts about Anna Tsivileva.
First, she is the wife of the current Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev. The second fact is that some media outlets call Tsivileva Putin’s cousin. The third fact is that Anna Evgenievna is a psychiatrist by training.
It is noteworthy that the block of direct leaders of the course of events in the Northern Military District has not yet been affected by the reforms. It is difficult to guess from the tea leaves, but this may mean that both the Russian President and Minister Belousov are generally satisfied with the progress of the special operation.
However, hands might simply not have reached the General Staff yet. The replacement of deputy defense ministers should be sequential and not simultaneous. In the conditions of the Northern Military District, a one-time reform can become a revolution with difficult to predict consequences.
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