Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday appointed Anton Siluanov as the country’s new finance minister.
“I have signed a decree appointing you the finance minister of the Russian Federation,” he said during a meeting with Siluanov.
Siluanov, a former deputy finance minister, replaces Alexei Kudrin, who was dismissed from his post in September by Medvedev after 10 years in office.
Kudrin was fired after he said he would not be able to serve under Medvedev, who is expected to become prime minister next year - after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s likely victory at next March’s presidential polls.
However, Putin said on Thursday that Kudrin would be offered a post in the new government, praising him as “my long-standing comrade, a close friend.”