Analysts differ on Mr. Kadyrov's appointment. "This rather emphasizes Ramzan's high status," says Dmitry Oreshkin, the head of the Merkator group. "Kadyrov's group is too influential to argue with it. Ramzan has retained both financial [Premier Sergei Abramov is the Kadyrov clan's candidate] and military clout. He is the leader of Chechnya's security structures and personally controls several thousand fighters."
Valery Khomyakov, the head of the agency of applied and regional policy, assesses this appointment "as an attempt to suffocate Kadyrov in an embrace and somewhat distance him from Chechnya", as "far from everybody in the Kremlin favors this figure." According to Mr. Khomyakov, this is "a purely Kremlin initiative" that will help keep the extremely ambitious Kadyrov on the leash.
The newspaper cites the example of Bislan Gantamirov, who was an influential mayor of the Chechen capital and had armed formations under his control. He was later sent to work in a plenipotentiary representative office and, when he returned to Chechnya a year later, he became a press minister who no longer had any influence or armed forces.
