New Kremlin chief Ivanov joins presidential anti-corruption council

The newly appointed chief of the Kremlin administration, Sergei Ivanov, replaced his predecessor Sergei Naryshkin as a senior member of the presidential council in charge of fighting corruption, a statement on the Kremlin website said.

Ivanov was appointed Russian presidential administration chief in late December.

Naryshkin left the post earlier in the month to become speaker of the Russian parliament’s lower house.

Russia ranks 143rd out of 182 countries in Transparency International's 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index, described as the world’s most corrupt major economy.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has declared a fight against corruption one of the cornerstones of his domestic policies. He has agreed to step down in favor of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin when his presidential term expires in 2012, allowing Putin to return to the Kremlin after March presidential elections.