And why is the military department strengthening the financial block
The change of the first deputy Minister of Defense and his two deputies indicates the special attention of the state leadership to financial and organizational issues, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. Analysts call such personnel changes a "quite logical step" after the former curator of the government's economic block, Andrei Belousov, took office as defense minister. Earlier, the statements of the new head of the department that every penny should work for victory were already appreciated by officials of the Ministry of Defense who came under criminal prosecution. About who and why left their posts in the ministry and why the choice of candidates for vacant positions became exactly that — in the material of Izvestia.
Changing posts
On June 17, it became known about new personnel changes in the Russian defense ministry. Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed First Deputy Minister Ruslan Tsalikov and three deputy ministers — State Secretary Nikolai Pankov, as well as Pavel Popov and Tatyana Shevtsova. Pavel Popov was dismissed from military service at the same time.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the new head of the department, Andrei Belousov, held a meeting with the released deputies on the same day, during which he thanked them for their many years of responsible work and wished them success in their future activities.
At the same time, Vladimir Putin appointed Leonid Gornin as the first deputy head of the military department. In addition, Pavel Fradkov and Anna Tsivileva were appointed to the posts of deputy ministers.
The military department did not hide the scope of activities and powers of the newly appointed officials. It is already known that Leonid Gornin, who previously worked as Deputy Minister of Finance and was responsible for budget policy in the field of state military and law enforcement services and state defense orders, will oversee the entire range of financial support issues for the Armed Forces. His main tasks in the Ministry of Defense were called increasing the transparency of financial flows and ensuring effective spending of budget funds.
Pavel Fradkov previously worked in the Federal Property Management Agency and the Presidential Executive Offices. In the military department, its area of responsibility will include issues of property management, land resources, as well as the construction of facilities for the needs of the Ministry of Defense and the National Economy.
Anna Tsivileva will be responsible for the organization of social and housing provision for military personnel, "transformation and bringing all related processes in the military department to a new qualitative level, where a person is at the center."
"This area of activity is well known to Anna Evgenievna from the experience of creating and managing the activities of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, the interaction of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation with which she will oversee in a new position," the department noted.
— Leonid Gornin is an obvious choice. He oversaw inter-budgetary relations, as well as the budget of the defense industry, and the regions. In addition, he has experience working in control and legal departments," a source close to the Ministry of Finance told Izvestia. — But the most interesting thing is that he always gave the impression of a military man, in his entourage and the secretariat there was precisely military discipline, clarity and scrupulousness. We can say that this is a man who understands finance, but with military training.
Izvestia's help
Leonid Gornin was born on December 30, 1972 in Novosibirsk. Graduated from the Siberian Commercial Academy of Consumer Cooperation (1997), Siberian State University of Railway Engineering (2004). Until 1997, he worked in various commercial structures. In 1997-1998 he worked in the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation in the Novosibirsk region. From 1999 to 2008, he worked in the Department of Finance and Tax Policy of the Novosibirsk Region Administration. In 2008-2010 – Head of the Department of Finance and Tax Policy of the Novosibirsk Region, then Minister of Finance and Tax Policy of the Novosibirsk Region. In 2011-2012, he was the first deputy governor of the Novosibirsk region. In 2012-2018 — Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation. In May 2018, he was appointed First Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation.
Pavel Fradkov was born on September 3, 1981. He graduated from the Moscow Suvorov Military College. He received a military degree in Law and a diplomatic degree in World Economy. Since 2005 — in public service, including worked in the system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; from 2012 to 2015 — Deputy Head of the Federal Property Management Agency; from May 21, 2015 to January 17, 2021 — Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration; from January 18, 2021 to June 17, 2024 — First Deputy Head of the President.
Anna Tsivileva was born on May 9, 1972. She graduated from the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, the State University of Management, and the State Medical Academy. From the end of 1999 to 2001, she worked as a psychiatrist in the Regional Psychiatric Clinic. Then she held various positions in business structures. In March 2019, she became a member of the Council under the Government of the Russian Federation and the coordinator of guardianship. On April 3, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the creation of a State fund to support participants in the special military operation Defenders of the Fatherland and appointed Anna Tsivileva as its chairman.
For every ruble
Personnel changes in the Ministry of Defense began on May 12, when Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the dismissal of Sergei Shoigu from the post of minister and his appointment to the post of Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the head of state nominated Andrei Belousov for the position of head of the military department. On May 14, Belousov was approved by presidential decree.
On May 20, Vladimir Putin dismissed Colonel-General Yuri Sadovenko from the post of Deputy Minister-Chief of Staff of the Minister of Defense. Oleg Saveliev, who held the position of auditor of the Accounting Chamber, was appointed in his place.
Minister Belousov said earlier that it is now very important to restore order in the financial sector so that every penny works for the needs of the army and the front, military expert Vasily Dandykin recalled.
"All appointments fit into this program of action," he told Izvestia. — To do this, we need to streamline expenses. The new minister knows the situation, he did this when he was in charge of the military-industrial complex. He saw how things were going—there's no doubt about that. He had time to draw conclusions and understand what was happening.
The expert recalled that the military department had previously been criticized, in particular, for an unsatisfactory solution to housing problems.
"The main thing, it seems to me, that the Ministry of Defense should do today is to increase the efficiency of using each budget ruble," Konstantin Kalachev, a political scientist and head of the Political Expert Group, told Izvestia. — Secondly, it is necessary to create such conditions for military personnel so that they feel that they are really considered an object of care, that their needs and aspirations are in the center of the state's attention, that they are a real priority in everything from ammunition to technical re-equipment of the army and the most modern weapons system.
Criminal cases
In recent months, several high-ranking military chiefs have become involved in high-profile criminal cases. So, on April 23, Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov was detained. The court decided to detain him. The former official is charged with accepting bribes in exchange for patronage of Defense Ministry contractors.
On May 14, a criminal case on bribery was opened against the head of the personnel headquarters of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Yuri Kuznetsov. The court took the accused into custody. According to the investigation, when Kuznetsov served as head of the 8th Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, he received a bribe from "representatives of commercial structures for committing certain actions in their favor."
On May 22, the head of the Main Communications Department, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin, was detained on suspicion of receiving a particularly large bribe. He is charged with receiving a bribe in the amount of 36 million rubles. According to the investigation, Shamarin received a bribe from the CEO and chief accountant of JSC Perm Telephone Plant Telta in the period from April 2016 to October 2023. Earlier it was reported that he did not agree with the qualification of the charge against him and actively cooperates with the investigation.
On May 23, Vladimir Verteletsky, head of the Department of Defense Procurement, was detained on suspicion of accepting a bribe.
Relevant experience
According to Konstantin Kalachev, each of the officials appointed on June 17 has the necessary work experience.
— These people have been tested by deed and time, as let's say the same Anna Tsivileva. It has been tested on specific projects related to solving problems that might not have happened if the Ministry of Defense had functioned somewhat differently, Konstantin Kalachev is sure. — We need people who are prudent about budget money, fight for every ruble literally and can bring the use of every ruble to 100%. First Deputy Finance Minister Leonid Gornin obviously knows how to count money. As for Pavel Fradkov, the department needs good organizers, since organizational problems have been traced in recent years.
Anna Tsivileva showed her capabilities as the head of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, recalled political scientist Dmitry Yelovsky.
— The foundation had a key task: to help the families of the mobilized and veterans, — he told Izvestia. — It is obvious that the appointment to a new position is not only recognition of Tsivileva's managerial qualities, but also the importance of caring for veterans and families of fighters. This is, in principle, a radically new solution: to include in the orbit of influence of the ministry the care of those who worked in structures under the supervision of this very ministry. Leonid Gornin's appointment is quite obvious in the logic of Belousov's appointment. Gornin is a very experienced personnel Ministry of Finance official. Obviously, his tasks will include putting the ministry's finances in order. Moreover, for him this is not so much a promotion as an important "sovereign task", where he will have to work seriously in completely new conditions.
The appointment of the first Deputy Minister of Defense Leonid Gornin, who in his previous post at the Ministry of Finance was responsible for budget policy in the field of state military service, is quite logical following the appointment of the ex—curator of the economic block of the government Andrei Belousov to the post of minister, said Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the HSE Center for Market Research. He explained that the president focused not only on the issue of conducting military operations, but also on the situation with the financial and material support of the army, control over the supply of weapons, their quality and nomenclature.
In fact, a person comes from the Ministry of Finance who worked directly with the state defense order — he knows price issues, the main enterprises and organizations in this area, as well as the amount of financing, Georgy Ostapkovich added. He will have to improve the efficiency of financial, social and medical support for the army, production and supply of weapons.
The costs of the power unit occupy a significant share in the Russian budget, the expert recalled. As Izvestia wrote earlier, in 2024 spending on defense will amount to 10.8 trillion rubles, on national security and law enforcement — 3.4 trillion. In total, this is about 39% of the planned treasury expenditures (36.6 trillion). The Ministry of Defense should develop roadmaps and a general plan on how to spend these funds most effectively, Georgy Ostapkovich stressed.
We worked on the material: Anna Kaledina, Alyona Nefedova, Natalia Ilyina, Bogdan Stepovoy, Roman Kretsul
Izvestia
