Russian energy minister made deputy PM in cabinet reshuffle

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin recommended the promotion of Energy Minister Alexander Novak to the post of deputy prime minister on Monday as part of a broader cabinet changes. In a shake-up first reported by media outlets Kommersant and RBC, President Vladimir Putin dismissed Transport Minister Yevgeny Dietrich, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Dmitry Kobylkin and Construction Minister Vladimir Yakushev.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin recommended the promotion of Energy Minister Alexander Novak to the post of deputy prime minister on Monday as part of a broader cabinet changes.

In a shake-up first reported by media outlets Kommersant and RBC, President Vladimir Putin dismissed Transport Minister Yevgeny Dietrich, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Dmitry Kobylkin and Construction Minister Vladimir Yakushev. Speaking at a government meeting with Russia's deputy prime ministers, Mishustin said he was recommending Nikolai Shulginov, CEO of RusHydro, a hydroelectric power generation company, to replace Novak as energy minister.

Mishustin recommended that Vitaly Saveliev, CEO of Russia's flagship airline Aeroflot, become Transport Minister. He also recommended Alexander Kozlov, the minister for the development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, as natural resources and environment minister, and proposed Irek Fayzullin, deputy construction minister, as head of the construction ministry.

The State Duma, the lower house of parliament, still has to approve the appointments. It is expected to do so. Novak, 49, had served as energy minister since 2012. He has led Russia's negotiations with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and played an important role in helping reach a 2016 deal to cut global oil output.

Yakushev, the former construction minister, was appointed to serve as a presidential plenipotentiary representative to the Urals Federal District, the Kremlin said in a statement.

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