Putin Fires Russian Prime Minister
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday dismissed Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov (search) and his Cabinet, saying in a statement on national television he purged the government in preparation for March 14 presidential elections.
Speculation had percolated for months that Kasyanov, the last major government holdover from Boris Yeltsin's years as president, was on his way out.
The dismissal of the prime minister also means the removal of the rest of the government ministers, although any of them potentially could be reappointed.
Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko (search) was named acting prime minister.
The announcement sent shares tumbling on the Russian stock market, with dips of 3 percent to 5 percent within minutes of Putin's statement, the Interfax news agency reported.
Kasyanov served in the Soviet-era state planning agency Gosplan (search) during the 1980s and after the Soviet collapse in 1991 began a steady rise through the economic and financial hierarchy.
As deputy finance minister in 1996 he worked out a deal for repaying debts that Russia inherited from the Soviet Union, and two years later he was a key figure in Russia's efforts to rebuild fiscal stability and credibility after Russia defaulted on foreign debt payments and the ruble's value plunged.
He became finance minister under Yeltsin in 1999 and one of his main achievements in that post was persuading the Paris Club of creditors to reschedule some $8 billion in Soviet-era loans.
After Putin, who was Yeltsin's prime minister, became acting president when Yeltsin resigned on Dec. 31, 1999, he appointed Kasyanov first deputy prime minister.
After Putin was elected president in the spring of 2000, he appointed Kasyanov prime minister.
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