Former Putin minister quits after ‘tandem’ carve up

RUSSIA’S former finance minister Alexei Kudrin said yesterday he had quit because of the risks the government was taking, and that he had offered to resign last February only to be turned down by premier Vladimir Putin.

The comments by Mr Kudrin, 50, who restored Russia’s public finances to health over his 11-year term following the rouble devaluation and default of 1998, showed a policy rift had emerged earlier than officials have admitted.

“Over the course of several months, despite my repeated objections, decisions were taken in budget policy that without doubt increased fiscal execution risks,” Mr Kudrin wrote in a resignation statement, following a public fall-out with president Dmitry Medvedev that saw him leave his post on Monday.

The announcement on Saturday by Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev, the leaders of Russia’s ruling power “tandem”, that they would swap jobs after parliamentary and presidential elections appears to have been the last straw. Mr Kudrin is thought to have wanted to become PM.