Dmitry Medvedev became Vladimir Putin’s deputy twice

Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, has been appointed First Deputy Chairman of the Military Industrial Commission (VPK) by decree of President Vladimir Putin. Both these authorities are headed by Putin himself. The position of the first deputy chairman is also introduced by a new decree. The document states that both its chairman and the first deputy chairman on behalf of the chairman can conduct meetings of the military-industrial complex.

The Deputy Chairman of the military-industrial complex is now Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not answer Vedomosti’s questions about why the position was created and what Medvedev’s appointment was connected with.

“By order of the President, Dmitry Anatolyevich [Медведев] already engaged in monitoring the work of the military-industrial complex, the production of equipment and the control of its supply to the troops. Today’s decree structures the work that was carried out by the control group of the Russian Security Council under the leadership of Dmitry Medvedev,” Medvedev’s aide Oleg Osipov told Vedomosti. According to him, control measures will be continued as part of the work of the military-industrial complex. “It is known that the government has a supervising Deputy Prime Minister [Мантуров]and by presidential decree, a Special Coordinating Council was formed under the government [по обеспечению задач специальной военной операции (СВО)]which will continue to work on the production and supply of military equipment,” Osipov recalled.

According to Andrey Frolov, an expert of the Russian International Affairs Council, in addition to monitoring the provision of tasks in the interests of the Northern Military District, Medvedev will probably be entrusted with curating issues of military-technical cooperation.

As deputy chairman of the Security Council, Medvedev has already publicly visited precisely those enterprises where the increase in production is of particular importance for the Northern Military District, says a source in the military-industrial complex. We are talking about the companies Kronstadt (manufacturer of drones), STC (manufacturer of the main army drones of the Orlan type), Uralvagonzavod (manufacturer of tanks and artillery), NPP Region (developer and manufacturer of guided aircraft weapons of destruction).

The military-industrial complex, according to its regulations, is the main state body for interdepartmental coordination of the state defense order in terms of the development and purchase of weapons and military equipment, as well as the development of a promising military-technical policy. In addition to officials of the government apparatus and the presidential administration, it includes the heads of law enforcement agencies that order the services of these departments, as well as general directors and general designers of the most important and large enterprises of the military-industrial complex.