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Main page > Products > Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts - The weekly bulletin > Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts. Issue No (35) 723
Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts. Issue No (35) 723
August 18 - 24, 2008
Main tendencies of political week
There has been a new wave of sharpening of inside-elite conflicts in the business community and among functionaries with the first being more active. This is likely to be attributed to the fact that during Dmitry Medvedev’s first 100 days in office the elites were waiting until the new informal rules of the game would be announced. It turned out that these rules remained practically unchanged, which gave an impetus to a new wave of conflicts. Relations between several large elite groups have sharpened: regarding control over Norilsk Nickel, TNK-BP, confrontation between Gazprom and Rosneft. Functionaries have been more cautious, although investigation committee head Alexander Bastrykin has launched an offensive against allies of the general prosecutor’s office.
Last week it was announced about the initiative of the defense ministry to create an All-Russian organization of veterans of the armed forces (OOOV VS RF). Such attention to veterans by authorities may have two possible explanations. The first one is that Dmitry Medvedev’s supporters (defense minister is believed to be among them) are trying to establish contacts with the security and defense related community. Attempts to do it through veterans were made in April and May, when the Public Chamber was trying to play a leading role in this process. The second explanation is less disguised: the defense minister is just trying to ensure loyalty of military retirees in his confrontation with the generals.
There has been more activity on the party field. In particular, United Russia has started structural and staff reorganization before its November congress. The informational and propaganda direction has been reinforced considerably, which testifies to further intention of the party to broaden its presence in all spheres of the political and public life. At the same time there has been preliminary confirmation of rumors that reshuffle in the next few months will concerns not only functionaries on the level of heads of local and regional offices but also UR top leaders.
Amid intensification of the inside-elite struggle the topic of celebrating another anniversary of the 1991 putsch became secondary. This was due to a set of factors, such as the desire of the authorities to depoliticize disputable historical events and the situation in Transcaucasia, which still provides breaking news.
Major events August 18 - August 24, 2008
| Event | Winning side | Defeated side | Development Outlooks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reforms in United Russia’s informational and propaganda bodies | UR |
| The party of power will increase informational and propaganda activities |
| Mikhail Khodorkovsky is denied parole |
| Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the liberal revanche group | The oligarch’s possible appeal to the president for pardon is likely to be denied too |
| Vladimir Kulishov is appointed deputy head of FSB and national anti-terrorist committee |
|
| This appointment will not change administrative layout inside the entity |
| Establishment in the defense ministry of an organizing committee for preparing a founding conference of a new public All-Russian organization of veterans of the Russian armed forces (OOOV VS RF) | Dmitry Medvedev, Anatoly Serdyukov |
| Dmitry Medvedev’s supporters will continue attempts to broaden their influence on siloviki |
| Vladimir Putin accompanied by defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov visits hospitals where Russian pilots whose aircraft was brought down in Georgia are being treated | Vladimir Putin |
| Ex-president will keep on underlining his influence on security-related bodies |
| Federal drug control service head Viktor Ivanov becomes member of the national anti-terrorist committee | Viktor Ivanov |
| It possible that the verticals of the anti-terrorist and anti-drug committees will be combined |
| Dmitry Dovgiy, former officer of the investigation committee, arrested | Alexander Bastrykin | Yury Chaika | Struggle around reforms of the investigation bodies will sharpen |
| Stanislav Ananyev is appointed deputy minister of natural resources | Viktor Vekselberg |
| Ananyev will lobby interests of Vekselberg’s entities when reforming environmental taxes |
| Prosecutor’s office appeals against the court’s decision to disqualify Robert Dudley | Yury Chaika |
| Protest will be rejected |
| Valery Galchenko is appointed first deputy head of UR’s executive committee | Vyacheslav Volodin |
| This will possibly be followed by appointment of Radiy Khabirov in the presidential administration to supervise United Russia’s regional policies |
Volume: 16 pages
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