Russian President Vladimir Putin said that when he was thinking about candidates for the new Prime Minister of Russia, Mikhail Mishustin was not on the list, but that there were three or even four other candidates in the game.
As the reasons why he decided to nominate Mishustin as the Prime Minister of Russia, Putin cited his personal qualities and professional skills, as well as the results he achieved while serving as the head of the Federal Tax Service.
"No one but me mentioned Mishustin," Putin said in an interview with Tas.
The Russian president said of Mishustin that he is "a practical man who understands very well what needs to be done and who knows how to do it."
Putin also revealed in the interview that he informed the previous Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in advance about the resignation of the government, reports Tanjug.
"We have enjoyed a very sincere, collegial, friendly relationship with Dmitry Anatolyevich for many years. We have no secrets from each other. So we discussed this issue with him. We discussed it before and he knew what was going on," he said is Putin.
Why was the government reshuffled?
He rejected speculations that the removal of the government looks like a special operation and said that the reconstruction of the government happened quickly because "Russia is not Belgium that can be without a government for a whole year."
Speaking about the new government, Putin said that all its members are competent, well-informed and know how to do their jobs.
As he said, many of them have worked on national projects before and are fully versed in them.
During the formation of the new cabinet, he listened to the advice of Prime Minister Mishustin and added that during their selection he did not take into account the popularity of the candidates.
"The criterion was their professional qualifications. I respected Mishustin's opinion. When I had doubts about some candidates, but Mishustin would prove to me that this person is the best for the job. I agreed with him because, after all, he forms his team Putin said.
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