Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko is expecting his pink slip from the government to leave his job on the board of directors at the state-run RusHydro, following an initiative by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to remove ministers from the boards by July 1.
"I believe that very shortly the Russian government's position will be formulated on the terms and conditions which will come about in fulfilling the president's instructions," Shmatko said, adding that he believes the process of ministers leaving the boards of directors would proceed "in line with the existing demands to corporate procedures.
In a speech carried by state news channel Rossiya 24 at the end of March, Medvedev said he wanted all ministers to vacate their seats, including Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin as chairman of state oil firm Rosneft and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin as chairman of the supervisory board of VTB Bank, Russia's second-largest bank.
Transport Minister Igor Levitin will be replaced at Russia's flagship airline Aeroflot and Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, while First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov should resign from the Russian Agricultural Bank.
The move has rekindled rumors of a growing rift between Medvedev and Putin, who have recently disagreed on a number of issues, most notably on the second conviction of former oligarch and Putin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky and on the UN-mandated air strikes on Libya.
MOSCOW, April 6 (RIA Novosti)
