OREANDA-NEWS. December 28, 2011. Dmitry Medvedev informed Vladislav Surkov of his appointment as Deputy Prime Minister.

From May 12, 2008 until the present Vladiuslav Surkov held the post of First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office.

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PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Mr Surkov, a few years ago, when the Commission for Modernisation and Technological Development of Russia’s Economy was established, I appointed you the Commission’s Deputy Chairman, and you were deeply involved in this area of our policy as part of the presidential Executive Office, both in terms of organisational aspects and the content. I believe that time has come for you to tackle this issue in the executive branch. We discussed this already. Therefore, I have signed an executive order appointing you Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

I hope that the matters we discussed at the Commission’s meetings, will become more focused now that you will work on them directly within the Government, as well as filled with practical content, because under the Constitution the Government is the primary executive and administrative body, and has full socioeconomic powers.

Therefore, I hope that our efforts of the past years will not prove in vain but will receive a new impetus as part of your responsibilities.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER VLADISLAV SURKOV: Mr President, thank you very much. First, I must say that for me it is a great honour, because everyone knows that economic modernisation and the creation of innovation infrastructure are your strategic priority. You have talked about it on many occasions, and it is true that I did my best to contribute to this effort and promote these ideas.

To be honest, I find this work very interesting. I look forward to new experiences and hope that I will not fail you and the Prime Minister, and most importantly, the people involved in economic development: scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs – all talented people.

Thank you very much for your trust and for this interesting new job.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: I wish you every success.

VLADISLAV SURKOV: I hope for your continued support.