Hans Rustad Dmitrij Medvedev har sparket en sentral rådgiver pga interessekonflikt og sammenblanding av roller, dvs. han melte sin egen kake. Mikhail Lesin har vært Putins mann og avskjedigelsen blir fulgt med spenning: Har Medvedev tenkt å utfordre Putin?
I en kort melding fra presidenten het det at Lesin valgte å gå av.
However, Interfax news agency quoted a source within the Government as saying that he had been fired because he «disregarded the rules and ethical principles of civil service».
The source added that Mr Lesin, who has extensive media business interests, had «engaged in abuse of office in resolving matters not connected with his official duties». The Vedomosti newspaper said that Mr Medvedev had ordered Mr Lesin to be dismissed over conflicts of interest.
In his annual address to parliament last week, Mr Medvedev condemned corruption as a «social evil» that threatened Russia’s future and he pledged to sack officials who abused public office.
Mr Lesin, 51, declined to comment on the reasons for his departure, saying that he was bound by «certain commitments». He added: «I have no moral right to depart from those commitments.»
Analysts are waiting to see if this is an isolated decision or the start of a wider clear-out as Mr Medvedev seeks to flex his muscles and build his own Kremlin team to give him greater political independence from Mr Putin.
The President inherited almost his entire staff from Mr Putin and has made no significant changes after 18 months in office. Most Russians expect him to stand aside at the next election in 2012 to allow Mr Putin to return to the Kremlin, but his state of the nation address, calling for urgent economic and political reform, was seen as coded criticism of his mentor.
