The head of presidential administration, the deputy prime minister, the parliamentary speaker of the State Duma and the presidential administration's first deputy head are announced.

      On Tuesday Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev appointed former deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov head of the presidential administration. On his new post Ivanov replaces Sergei Naryshkin, who was named the parliamentary speaker of Russia's Lower House of Parliament, the State Duma, on Wednesday.

      In his turn, Naryshkin replaced Boris Gryzlov, former Duma speaker, whol left his post after eight years of work. Gryzlov stays on only as chairman of the Supreme Council of the ruling United Russia party.

      On Tuesday the President also appointed the presidential administration's first deputy head, Vladislav Surkov, to the post of deputy prime minister. Earlier Surkov had been responsible for domestics politics in the Kremlin. He is often criticized by the Russian opposition for supporting some restricting measures of the 2000s, including censorship of state media, suppression of opposition political groups and activists. His work with the pro-Kremlin youth movements also looked ambiguously.

      The post of the presidential administration's first deputy head will be occupied by Vyacheslav Volodin, a deputy prime minister and the government's chief of staff. 

Sources: Gazeta.ru Lenta.ru Image: specletter.com