Oleg Belozerov appointed new head of Russian railways

August 21 Two brothers belonging to President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle lobbied for the appointment of Deputy Transport Minister Oleg Belozerov as the new head of Russia’s vast state railway monopoly, the newspaper Vedomosti reported on Friday, citing anonymous sources.

Medvedev met the new railroad chief at his residence Thursday and asked him to “pay close attention” to the company’s investment program and budget. “We are interested in having simpler and quicker clearance procedures in seaports, so that the service cost is not higher than for similar services in ports of other countries”, Medvedev said, adding that not all Russian ports are at the worldwide level in this regard. He took charge of the state railway operator, the second-largest in the world, in June 2005, and his tenure was ended after a meeting with Putin, he said by phone late Monday.

“I have made the decision to appoint you as the director of joint-stock company Russian Railways with the simultaneous lifting of the responsibilities as first deputy transport minister of the Russian Federation“, he said at a meeting with Belozerov on August 20. He held positions at various government agencies.

Yakunin, 67, was Putin’s neighbor in an elite compound of dachas, or country homes, founded in the mid-1990s outside St. Petersburg.