Russian government reshuffle time! Out - Ditrikh, Yakushev, Kobylkin. Novak promoted to deputy PM, Energy min - Shulginov (now RusHydro), Transport - Saveliev (Aeroflot CEO), Construction - Faizullin (Tatarstan construction head), Natural Resources - Kozlov (hed of FE dev corp)

Another twist is that the President increased the number of deputy PMs to 10, so there is room for 3 more, so we may see some promotions today. These are the first ministers appointed under the new law, so they will have to be ratified by the Duma, but this should be no problem

I see this as a win for Mishustin - he did not get all the people he wanted when he was first appointed PM, but now is moving to stamp his authority, within the bounds of the political forces that constrain all activity in Russia

There may be suggestions that Sobyanin loses out, as one of his guys (Kobylkin) moves from a ministry to a regional representative job, probably one to which he is better suited.

Other thing worth noting is that this was widely leaked - first mention came from the maydecree Telegram channel, which I would associate with 1st dep PM Belousov. Links the changes to issues with the National Projects, which are currently being re-drafted and are late.

Shulginov is interesting as there were rumors of his being fired from RusHydro. This looks like a compromise candidate - lots of big businesses want their own person as Energy Minister to get point position on construction contracts - he's a neutral, competent manager

As I think more about it, Kozlov and Shulginov can be seen as victories for Trutnev, who is a neglected but important figure in Russian politics. No big victories or big budgets, but he has stayed in place while others have come and gone, which is a sign of the President's trust