Russia’s power struggle: Democratic countries tend to let voters decide who governs. Russia prefers to resolve the question ahead of time, before elections actually happen. At the moment Dmitry Medvedev, the country’s president, is determined to show that he — not his prime minister Vladimir Putin — is the real ruler of Russia. He is sending forceful signals that he has every intention of staying in office after the 2012 presidential election. His order this week to remove government ministers from the boards of state-owned companies is a direct attack on close associates of his former mentor — and indirectly on Putin himself.
Medvedev’s move comes days after he had publicly disavowed the prime minister over Libya, and firmly put his stamp on Russian foreign policy. The latest initiative is even more significant. It could durably alter the relationship between business and government. Senior government officials routinely sit on the boards of, and sometimes chair, major state companies, among them oil company Rosneft, VTB Bank, gas concern Gazprom, telco Svyazinvest and airline Aeroflot.
The president’s initiative is a business-friendly gesture that will help reduce the constant politicisation of Russian business. True, the short-term impact on the companies targeted by Medvedev may be negative: they won’t have ministers on board to care for their interests. But on the other hand, this should help reduce competition distortions in the wider economy.
But Medvedev’s move may have more to do with politics than with corporate reform. His instruction notably targets ministers — who answer to Putin, acting as his eyes and ears in business. And, none more so than oil and gas minister Igor Sechin, the chairman of Rosneft, often presented as the leader of the former security officials that form Putin’s conservative entourage. By turfing out Sechin from Rosneft, Medvedev would in effect prove that Russia’s powerful ex-spooks aren’t untouchables. The big question is whether Medvedev can get away with this latest power play. The officials in question are already hinting at resistance. Much will depend on Putin’s reaction. So far the premier has been remarkably quiescent in reaction to Medvedev’s assertive moves, suggesting that he’s resigned to his emancipated protégé’s new role. But if he isn’t, there’s a chance that Medvedev will one day discover that he has bitten off more than he can chew.
