Putin Names Kremlin Loyalists to New Cabinet

MOSCOW — Prime Minister Putin wasted no time in naming his new Cabinet yesterday, bringing in loyalists from the Kremlin in what was seen as an effort to shift the center of power to his new place of work.

He also left several prominent ministers untouched, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin.

Mr. Putin announced the 24 positions, eight of them new, at a Cabinet meeting in the government headquarters, the ministers already seated according to their new appointments.

President Medvedev, Mr. Putin's hand-picked successor who was inaugurated last week, quickly approved the appointments, which included the demotion of a former rival. Mr. Putin named the hawkish Sergei Ivanov, once seen as a top candidate to succeed him as president, as one of his deputy prime ministers, a step down from his previous position as first deputy premier.

Bolstering the economy was one of the priorities listed by Mr. Putin when he presented himself as prime minister-designate to the parliament last week.

His move from the Kremlin to the Cabinet residence up the Moscow River allows him to remain a hugely influential figure in the country's politics and many observers have speculated he will overshadow Mr. Medvedev.

"Medvedev has a very narrow set of choices and opportunities," a political analyst, Dmitry Oreshkin, said. "He will accept the conditions Putin imposes on him and will not take steps that would spoil his image" as Mr. Putin's successor.

Mr. Putin was shown describing the structure of the new Cabinet in footage, which dominated news broadcasts throughout the day. He looked and sounded presidential when he discussed the changes with Mr. Medvedev in televised remarks.

"It was enough to see how Putin talked to Medvedev to understand who is the boss," a commentator, Anton Orekh, said on Ekho Moskvy radio. "Putin was the main hero Monday."

Mr. Medvedev received significantly less air time yesterday.

In another sign of his authority, Mr. Putin angrily scolded reporters dictating details of the reshuffle to their offices: "If you continue chatting so loud, we won't invite you any more."

Mr. Putin increased the number of prime ministerial deputies to seven, compared to the five for his predecessor, Viktor Zubkov.