Russian premier gives wide ranging interview to pro-Kremlin tabloid

(Interfax – May 21, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has given a wide ranging interview to the pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda to mark the anniversary of the formation of the current government, privately-owned Interfax news agency reported on 21 May. The interview is to be published in the newspaper’s 22 May edition.

The topics highlighted by Interfax were:

– Medvedev said that he values the quality of the work done by former Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov, who resigned earlier in May, and that he respects Surkov’s decision to resign.

– Medvedev said that he is ready to defend each member of his government and urged ministers to learn to explain their position.

– Medvedev said that state officials and MPs should share economic risks with the country and keep their money in Russian banks. However, he said he was not sure of the correctness of the decision to ban them from having foreign assets.

– Medvedev said that he is still opposed to the strengthening of the state’s position in the media, although this trend thus far remains.

– He also spoke about the idea of creating an offshore zone in Russia’s Far East, about the idea of moving the head offices of major state companies to different Russian regions, and said that he is not bothered by the familiarity with which social media users address him in the blogosphere.

Medvedev has just completed his first year in the post of prime minister. His government has been criticized by President Putin for shortcomings in implementing a series of high-profile decrees he signed at the start of his third presidential term a year ago.