Zee Beam News

March 14, 2008 - Reuters, Moscow Times - President-elect Dmitry Medvedev has moved into the Kremlin eight weeks before he officially takes over from his mentor, President Vladimir Putin, a Kremlin source said Thursday. The source confirmed a report published Thursday in Izvestia that Medvedev has moved out of his old office in the White House government headquarters and into a new workplace in Building No. 14 in the Kremlin. The location is a short walk from the Kremlin block where Putin has his office. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the move was designed to help ensure a smooth handover of power when Medvedev is inaugurated on May 7. "Yes, I can confirm this," the source said. "If you recall, there were reports about a decree being issued on ensuring that the president-elect is provided with the right conditions for his work, and [the move] is connected to this." The decree, issued by Putin the day after Medvedev's victory in the March 2 presidential election, instructed Kremlin staff to provide him with a security detail, an official residence and administrative support in the handover period. Medvedev, 42, is set to become the youngest Russian or Soviet leader since Tsar Nicholas II. Meanwhile, Putin aide Igor Shuvalov has been charged with hammering out the structure of the new government, which Putin has agreed to head up as prime minister under Medvedev's presidency, Kommersant reported Thursday. Shuvalov, government chief of staff from 2000 to 2003, will also assess looming shuffles in the Cabinet and the presidential administration, Kommersant said, citing sources close to Medvedev. Political analyst and State Duma Deputy Sergei Markov told reporters this week that a clash between Putin and Medvedev after Medvedev takes office was unlikely. "But if such a conflict took place, it would be engineered" by their aides, Markov said.