What responsibilities does Medvedev have as president-elect?
On Monday, March 3, Putin transferred some presidential responsibilities to Medvedev, putting him in charge of State Council meetings. Putin also issued a special decree regulating Medvedev’s new role as the “newly elected president but not yet the president who has assumed presidential power.” This means that the presidential administration can now simultaneously serve both Putin and Medvedev. • What will happen to Medvedev’s position as chairman of Russian natural gas company, Gazprom? Could he simultaneously hold the posts of president and Gazprom chairman? The transfer of power at Gazprom is not scheduled to take place until the board’s annual general meeting on June 28, when members are expected to elect current Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov as the new chairman. This is six weeks after Medvedev becomes president and thus, technically, there is nothing stopping him from being both president and Gazprom chairman. Nonetheless, Medvedev could choose to avoid this by stepping down ahead
