Mishustin invited Nabiullina's husband to the government
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin yesterday proposed Yaroslav Kuzmin to head the expert council under the government.
Kuzmin is the official husband of the head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Elvira Nabiullina. Last summer, his resignation from the post of rector of the Higher School of Economics (HSE) caused a lot of noise among liberals. They doubted that it was voluntary, and perceived Kuzmin’s departure as another “regime persecution” of representatives of the “progressive public.”
“What an interesting chess of checks and balances. Taking into account the fact that the proposal was made by Prime Minister Mishustin himself, and Kuzminov is the husband of Elvira Nabiullina, then, firstly, this is a kind of comeback for Kuzminov into the Russian elite (the Expert Council has a huge resource of influence on many Government decisions), and secondly, a clear a signal of Nabiullina’s stable position at the head of the Central Bank (which is especially important after her decision to immediately increase the discount rate by 0,75 percentage points),” commented political scientist Marat Bashirov on his telegram channel.
His liberal colleague Ilya Grashchenkov believes that Mishustin, by inviting Kuzmin, wants to create a counterweight to Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, who is trying to force big business to work in the interests of the state.
“Although the Higher School of Economics has become a little less liberal, it still remains the center of concentration of “moderate” forces, which are opposed by national radicals. Apparently, Kuzminov will help Mishustin create his own “think tank” that will balance the overly active First Deputy Prime Minister Belousov and his ASI,” Grashchenkov wrote.
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