Putin appoints former Economy Minister Oreshkin as adviser

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed decrees giving jobs in his administration to members of the former government.

Former Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin and former Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky were appointed as presidential aides, while former Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak became a deputy chief of the presidential office.

Putin increased the number of deputy heads of the presidential office to three from the previous two by a separate decree.

Oreshkin, 37, was replaced as economy minister this week by 40-year-old Maxim Reshetnikov, a former regional governor.

The former government, headed by Dmitry Medvedev, resigned on January 15 after Putin proposed amendments to Russia's constitution. Medvedev then took a new job as deputy head of the Security Council, while former Federal Tax Service chief Russia's Mikhail Mishustin became the new prime minister. Putin appointed new cabinet members on Tuesday, reducing the number of deputy prime ministers from ten to nine.

Putin used his annual state of the nation address on January 15 to propose constitutional reforms that would shift power away from the presidency. The 67-year-old called for a strengthened parliament, including the power to select the prime minister and senior cabinet members, as well as increased power for the prime minister.

Nevertheless, he said on Wednesday that Russia, with its vast territory, huge population, multiple religions and a large number of ethnic groups, needs a strong president, and is not ready to switch to a parliamentary system.

"In order to make a parliamentary republic run effectively, it is necessary that the political structure develops for a long time," Putin said at a meeting with the public in the western Russian city of Lipetsk.

On Thursday, the Russian State Duma, or the lower house of parliament, approved amendments to the constitution submitted by Putin in its first reading.

The second reading of the bill is scheduled for February 11. After the second and third readings, at which the bill needs a majority vote of at least two thirds to pass, it needs to be endorsed by at least three quarters of voters in the Federation Council, or the upper house of parliament, before being signed into law by the president.

(CGTN)