MOSCOW, July 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's first deputy prime minister, tipped to become a successor to President Vladimir Putin, has been placed in charge of hefty social spending projects, the Kremlin press office said Friday.
Putin has appointed Dmitry Medvedev as chairman of a presidential council that will oversee the Kremlin's heavily financed projects in health care, housing, education, science and agriculture.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov and Kremlin aide Igor Shuvalov have been appointed vice chairmen. The new body will also include the ministers of agriculture, economics, health, finance, education, and regional development, as well as members of the presidential staff and of both parliamentary chambers.
Medvedev's promotion to first deputy prime minister last year sparked speculation that the move was part of a Putin plan to engineer his succession in 2008 when his final presidential term expires.
