Magomedov's reappointment shows Kremlin's reluctance to change policy in Caucasus

Due to the policy to appoint trusted people to official posts and refusal to change the regional policy, Magomedsalam Magomedov, the former leader of Dagestan, and Vladislav Surkov, who monitored the region of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, have been reappointed to the posts in the Russian presidential administration, political analysts believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 13, Magomedsalam Magomedov, the former leader of Dagestan, was reappointed to the post of the deputy head of the Russian presidential administration. On the same day, Vladislav Surkov was appointed the presidential assistant. Since September 2013, he was engaged in the social and economic development of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Reappointment of Magomedsalam Magomedov and Vladislav Surkov to the posts in the presidential administration proves that the Kremlin is not willing to change those sectors, believes Mikhail Vinogradov, the head of the Saint Petersburg Policy Foundation.

The Magomedsalam Magomedov's appointment can also be connected with the Kremlin's reluctance to let the politician return to the regional level, believes Vadim Mukhanov, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Studies of the Caucasus at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (known as MGIMO).

Meanwhile, Vadim Mukhanov believes it is logical that Vladislav Surkov stays at the presidential administration, since he is one of the few federal officials engaged in supervising the Caucasus and well aware of the situation in the region.

"As far as Vladislav Surkov is concerned, he has been a person of the inner circle. Earlier, he monitored the region of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and there are no specific features of the course. He is a person who enjoys a high level of trust among the top-ranking officials and he is a trusted person in building the Moscow's policy with Sukhumi and Tskhinvali. And since he has been spending so many years at his posts, Moscow officials feel a certain degree of calmness towards those two republics," Vadim Mukhanov believes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’on June 20, 2018 at 11:51 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.