Public councils should include awkward people with a "rigid civil position," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.
While meeting with the president, an ecologist complained about the work of the Natural Resources Ministry's public council saying that the organization is a nominal structure, which practically solves nothing.
"Are there in the public council only decorative figures?" Medvedev asked Russian Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev. "Why did these people come there, for flashing lights?"
Last month, Russian Oscar-winning film director Nikita Mikhalkov withdrew from the Defense Ministry's public council. He said he left due to his disappointment in the last two Victory Day parades on Red Square.
However, critics say that he left the council after he was told to return the blue flashing light that entitles cars to ignore traffic rules, as its use was limited to civil servants.
MOSCOW, June 8 (RIA Novosti)
