Late last night Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urgently called a briefing for Russian and foreign journalists to make a number of important statements. The main topic was the reshuffle in the military department of the Russian Federation, write Russian media quoted by FOCUS.
"So, you already know, the decrees for the security forces came from the Federation Council" Peskov said.
Speaking of the security forces, these are the heads of departments of the security bloc, which are under the head of state's department. The decrees of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, were received by the Federation Council, and you have already seen all this in the media," Peskov recalled.
"By decree of the President of the Russian Federation Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu was relieved of his post as Minister of Defense and was appointed by decree of the Presidents of the Russian Federation as Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev has been relieved of his position as Secretary of the Security Council in connection with his transfer to another job. He continues to work and within the next few days we will let you know where Nikolay Platonovich will continue his work.
"As you know, Andrey Removich Belousov has been appointed Minister of Defense. I would like to make a few clarifications here. The budget of the Ministry of Defense and Security Forces until recently was still around 3%, then it rose to 3.4% and recently it increased to 6.7%. This is together with all the security agencies, among which the Ministry of Defense, understandably, occupies a key position, since it is the Ministry of Defense that is responsible for the awarding of all orders to the industry", commented Dmitry Peskov.
"This is not yet a critical figure, but we are gradually approaching the situation of the mid-1980s for well-known reasons and the geopolitical circumstances around us. When the share of spending on the power unit in the economy was 7.4 percent. This, I repeat, is not critical, but it is extremely important and requires a particularly important (approach)", he added.
"It is very important that the economy of the energy block fits into the economy of the country. It is very important that the economy of the power bloc fits into the economy of the country so that it is in line with the dynamics of the present moment. And the second thing, which is probably important to note, is that today on the battlefield, the one who wins is the one who is more open, more open to innovation, more open to implementing it as quickly as possible...", Peskov said.
"So, naturally, at the current stage, the president has decided that the Ministry of Defense will be headed by a civilian official," Peskov stated.
"And this is not just a civilian person, but a person who very successfully headed the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, who for a long time was an assistant to the president on economic issues. And also, in the previous cabinet, he was first deputy prime minister," the Kremlin spokesman explained.
"The Ministry of Defense must be absolutely open to innovation, to the implementation of all advanced ideas, to create conditions for economic competitiveness. And that's why the president chose Andrey Removich Belousov as his candidate," commented Peskov.