Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev has ordered Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to initiate the
removal of senior government officials from state companies' boards by July 1,
the Kremlin said on its website Saturday.
Among the officials set to leave their board seats is Deputy Prime Minister
Igor Sechin, who chairs Russia's
top oil producer OAO Rosneft. Sechin is a long-time aide to Putin and is viewed
as one of Russia's
most powerful men and most prominent hardliners.
The list of 17 companies set to lose government officials on their boards also
includes Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, who is a board member at the world's largest
gas producer OAO Gazprom, and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin who sits on the
supervisory board of OAO VTB Group, Russia's
second largest lender.
Medvedev has also ordered Putin to initiate the removal of government and
presidential administration officials from state companies not included in the
list by Oct. 1, as well as making sure that the new chairmen replacing the
state officials in the companies are elected by that date.