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The Government of the Russian Federation (Russian: Прави́тельство Росси́йской Федера́ции) exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers. It has its legal basis in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the federal constitutional law "On the Government of the Russian Federation".^[1]

[edit] Overview

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Council of Ministers became the chief executive body. At times it consisted of as many as 65 state committees and up to 16 deputy prime ministers. After the 2004 reform, government duties were split between 17 ministries, 7 federal services and over 30 governmental agencies.

The prime minister is appointed by the president of the Russian Federation and confirmed by the State Duma. He or she succeeds to the presidency if the current president dies, is incapacitated or resigns. The current prime minister is Vladimir Putin.

The government issues its acts in the way of decisions (Постановления) and orders (Распоряжения). These must not contradict the constitution, constitutional laws, federal laws, and Presidential decrees, and are signed by the Prime Minister

[edit] Responsibilities

The government is the subject of the 6th chapter of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. According to the constitution, the government of the Russian Federation must:

draft and submit the federal budget to the State Duma; ensure the implementation of the budget and report on its implementation to the State Duma;
ensure the implementation of a uniform financial, credit and monetary policy in the Russian Federation ;
ensure the implementation of a uniform state policy in the areas of culture, science, education, health protection, social security and ecology;
manage federal property;
adopt measures to ensure the country's defence, state security, and the implementation of the foreign policy of the Russian Federation;
implement measures to ensure the rule of law, human rights and freedoms, the protection of property and public order, and crime control;
exercise any other powers vested in it by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws and presidential decrees.^[2]

[edit] History

Main article: Historical structures of Governments of the Russian Federation

The body was preceded by Government of the Soviet Union. Since the Russian Federation emerged in 1991, the government's structure has undergone several major changes. In the initial years, government bodies, primarily the different ministries, underwent massive reorganization as the old Soviet governing networks were adapted to the new state. Many reshuffles and renamings occurred.

On 28 November 1991 President of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin signed presidential decree № 242 "On reorganization of the government bodies of the RSFSR" (Russian: "О реорганизации центральных органов государственного управления РСФСР").

In 28 July 2004 President Vladimir Putin signed the Presidential Decree (with later corrections) "On the structure of the federal executive bodies". This split some ministries, turned some ministerial offices into agencies and established some new services as government bodies. In total there were 17 ministries, 7 federal services and over 30 federal agencies.

The most recent change took place on 12 May 2008 when President Dmitry Medvedev signed presidential decree № 724. ^[3]

[edit] Structure

The current Russian government is made up of the prime minister, two first deputy prime ministers, six deputy prime ministers and 17 ministers. In total there are 18 ministries (Aleksey Kudrin is both deputy prime minister and finance minister).^[4]

Most ministries and federal services report directly to the prime minister, who then reports to the president. A small number of bodies responsible for security and foreign policy are, however, directly under the president's authority. Informally they are collectively referred to as the "presidential bloc."^[5] This consists of the Interior Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the Emergencies Ministry, the Defence Ministry, the Justice Ministry and seven federal agencies and services.^[6]

[edit] Cabinet Members

[edit] Prime Minister and Deputies

Vladimir Putin: Prime Minister
Viktor Zubkov: First Deputy Prime Minister
Igor Shuvalov: First Deputy Prime Minister
Aleksey Kudrin: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Sergey Sobyanin: Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Government Administration
Aleksandr Zhukov: Deputy Prime Minister
Sergey Ivanov: Deputy Prime Minister
Igor Sechin: Deputy Prime Minister
Dmitry Kozak: Deputy Prime Minister

Source: Russian Government web portal

[edit] Ministries

Office	Head	Since
Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Sergey Lavrov	2004
Ministry of Internal Affairs	Rashid Nurgaliyev	2004
Ministry of Defence	Anatoly Serdyukov	2007
Ministry of Emergency Situations	Sergey Shoigu	1994
Ministry of Justice	Alexandr Konovalov	2008
Ministry of Industry and Trade	Viktor Khristenko	2004
Ministry for Economic Development	Elvira Nabiullina	2007
Ministry for Regional Development	Viktor Basargin	2008
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs	Tatyana Golikova	2007
Ministry of Education and Science	Andrei Fursenko	2004
Ministry of Transport	Igor Levitin	2007
Ministry for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection	Yuri Trutnev	2004
Ministry of Energy	Sergei Shmatko	2008
Ministry of Culture	Aleksandr Avdeyev	2008
Ministry for Sport, Tourism and Youth	Vitaliy Mutko	2008
Ministry for Communication and Media	Igor Shchyogolev	2008
Ministry of Agriculture	Yelena Skrynnik	2008

Source: Russian government web portal

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Official website of the Government of Russia
Organigram of the federal executive bodies at government website (Russian)

[0] Russian Government web portal - Text of 1997 Federal Constitutional Law "On the Government of the Russian Federation" (in Russian)

[1] The Constitution of the Russian Federation: Chapter 6

[2] Text of presidential decree № 724 (in Russian) Russian presidential website

[3] Russian Government web portal (in Russian)

[4] Russian Presidential website

[5] Diagram of executive power structure on Russian government web portal (in Russian)

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