CORRECTION - Russia's Parliament Approves Candidates For 16 Federal Ministries

CORRECTS HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE; ADDS BACKGROUND ON NOMINATION PROCESS

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) — Russia's parliament on Tuesday approved candidates nominated by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin for 16 of the country's 21 federal ministries amid a Cabinet reshuffle following the government's resignation a week earlier.

During a plenary session in the capital Moscow, the State Duma, the country's lower house of parliament, voted to appoint Roman Starovoyt as transport minister, Anton Alikhanov as trade and industry minister, Sergey Tsivilyov as energy minister, Mikhail Degtyarev as sports minister, and Oksana Lut as agriculture minister.

The nominated ministers previously served as governors of the Kursk, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo and Khabarovsk regions, respectively. Meanwhile, Lut has served as First deputy agriculture minister since 2021.

Elsewhere, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, Natural Resources and Ecology Minister Alexander Kozlov, Labour and Social Protection Minister Anton Kotyakov, and Education Minister Sergey Kravtsov are among those that have retained their posts.

Other ministries that have their heads reappointed include the Construction and Housing Ministry; the Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Ministry; the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic Ministry; and the Science and Higher Education Ministry.

*** The heads of the remaining five ministries — defense, foreign affairs, interior, justice, and emergency situations — were nominated by President Vladimir Putin.

*** In accordance with Russian legislation, the previous Cabinet resigned immediately after Putin's inauguration for a fifth term on May 7. -