By Bernama,
Moscow : Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin decided to create a government presidium on Thursday in order to speed up the work of the Cabinet and coordinate the activities of the ministries, Itar-Tass news agency quoted his spokesman as saying.
“It will be the headquarters to coordinate the efforts and actions of the government and ministries in designing and implementing plans. It will not replace the ministries, but will coordinate their activities,” Dmitry Peskov said.
He said most of those present at the Thursday government meeting had nothing to do with the issues on the agenda.
The government would meet in full composition rarely, but not less than once a month, while its presidium would meet more often.
Putin included 15 people into the presidium. Besides himself, they are the seven deputy prime ministers, as well as the ministers of health, agriculture, regional development, foreign affairs, economy, interior, and defence.
“They comprise three-fifth of the total government composition, which is a sufficient quorum for decision-making,” Peskov said.
In modern Russia the government presidium was created in 1996 by Prime Minster Viktor Chernomyrdin. Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov abolished the institution.