Yuri Borisov, who earlier on July 15 was dismissed from the position of Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, has been appointed as the General Director of “Roscosmos”. The decree was signed today by Russian President Vladimir Putin and takes effect immediately, Interfax reported.
Earlier, Putin signed a decree dismissing Dmitry Rogozin from his post as Roscosmos general director.
Already the former director of “Roscosmos” and former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin recently threatened Bulgaria with a nuclear missile after our country closed its airspace to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov traveling to Serbia.
On the subject of reshuffles in Russia, TASS adds that Denis Manturov, who is also Minister of Industry and Trade, has now been appointed to replace Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Borisov in the government. He will combine both positions. Manturov is said to enjoy Putin’s sympathies and accompanies him on most of his trips, the Associated Press added.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Rogozin will now get a new job and there are no reasons for dissatisfaction with his work at the head of Roscosmos, TASS reported.
“No, Rogozin’s suspension is not related to any claims to his work. Everything is normal there. Rogozin will be employed and go to a new job in due course. We will announce this in a timely manner,” said Peskov briefly.
Information has already appeared in the Russian media that Rogozin has either already received this new high post, or will be sent to Donetsk or Luhansk, in Eastern Ukraine, where he will be the liaison between these regions and the Kremlin, DPA points out.
The changes in senior leadership also follow predictions in Russia that Yuri Borisov will be removed from his post because of defects and deficiencies in Russian weapons systems brought to light by Russian actions in Ukraine.
Rogozin is 58 years old and has been at the head of the Russian space agency for more than four years, since the end of May 2018, TASS adds.
In the past, Rogozin was a member of the State Duma. From July 13, 2002 to January 20, 2004, he was Putin’s special representative on the problems of the Kaliningrad exclave. He was also responsible for concluding the relevant contracts for the transit of Russian citizens and goods through the territory of Lithuania to Kaliningrad when Lithuania became a member of the EU.
From January 9, 2008 to December 23, 2011, Rogozin was the permanent representative of Russia to NATO in Brussels. And from February 18, 2011 to April 25, 2012, he was a special representative of the President of Russia on issues of cooperation with NATO in the field of anti-missile defense.
From December 23, 2011 to May 18, 2018, Rogozin was also Deputy Prime Minister in the Russian government and was responsible for the military-industrial complex. Then he was replaced in this position by Yuri Borisov, and Rogozin himself was appointed head of “Roscosmos”.
The new head of “Roscosmos”, Yuri Borisov, from November 15, 2012 to May 18, 2018, was Sergei Shoigu’s deputy minister of defense and was responsible for the rearmament of the Russian army. Since May 18, 2018, he has held the position of Deputy Prime Minister. From 2018 to 2020, in the government of Dmitry Medvedev, he was responsible for the work of Russia’s defense-industrial complex, and the scope of this sector also includes space issues. Borisov kept his post under the next Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who announced the composition of his cabinet on January 21, 2020, the Russian news agency recalls. So far, Borisov’s responsibilities have included issues of state policy in the field of industry, technological and atomic supervision, the country’s defense-industrial complex, the development of the GLONASS navigation satellite system, military-technical cooperation with foreign countries, law enforcement activities, civil defense and the arrangement of Russian state borders.
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