MOSCOW, March 10. (RIA Novosti) - The Director of the Political Studies Institute, Sergei Markov considers the changes in Russia's new cabinet "quite expectable." "Staff reduction was also expected - it resulted from the administrative reform. There is nothing extraordinary in it," Mr. Markov told RIA Novosti.
In his opinion, the new makeup of the government means that "both the role of the minister and the vice premier has been changed." Among positive aspects in appointments to ministerial posts, Mr. Markov named the preservation of the "core" of the cabinet that conducted liberal reforms in the country. He said the core that dealt with economic functions and the "power core" also remained.
