The election of technocrat Mikhail Mishustin to the Prime Minister's seat seems to indicate Putin's desire to revive the Russian economy.

The Russian House of Representatives yesterday approved Mikhail Mishustin as Prime Minister, less than 24 hours after President Vladimir Putin proposed amendments to the constitution and former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the entire government unexpectedly resigned.

"People should now feel real change in a positive way," said Mishustin, who holds a doctorate in economics and leader of the Russian Federation Tax Agency since 2010, before being approved. He prioritized "increasing the real income of the people," and called on the government to restore trust in businesses and promote innovation.

According to WSJ's commentators Thomas Grove and Georgi Kantchev, the nomination of Mishustin, a lesser-known politician, as prime minister shows that Putin wants to value technocrats who are highly skilled and efficient. , but with few political calculations, there is no great potential for power competition.

Mishustin was so little known in Russia that state television reporters regularly recalled his biography in recent days, praising him for helping with economic problems and tax reforms. , the industry is considered bureaucratic with complicated paperwork.

Experts assess the transfer also expressed Putin's desire to turn over Russia's economy. Despite certain successes in increasing the global influence of the country, the Kremlin boss was considered a failure with the goal of improving the living standards of the people, when the economy was surrounded by Western sanctions and over-reliance on oil revenues.

According to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Russian economy has stagnated for the past 10 years in terms of the US dollar, a situation that some economists call a "lost decade". The real income of people has decreased almost every year since 2014, because of both the impact of Western sanctions and the consequences of low oil prices. Rosstat, Russia's state statistics agency, said last year that 80% of Russian families find it difficult to balance their income and expenses.

"We need to solve the large-scale social, economic and technological tasks that the country is facing more quickly and without delay," Putin said on January 15.

Commenters Grove and Kantchev said that Putin was hoping the new government, with Mishustin to play a "leading" role, could reconcile the opposition between Moscow's growing influence abroad and the sa economy. shot in the water.

Russia has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to revitalize the armed forces, including the purchase of new weapons, aircraft and submarines. With a breakthrough in Syria and many other places, the Russian army gradually became a symbol of Moscow's strength abroad. However, increasing investment in defense also means cutting down on rubles for pensions, education and health programs.

Mishustin has pledged to dedicate more budget to these areas. He assured parliament that Russia was capable of raising wages and social payments, spending about 4 trillion rubles ($ 65 billion) over the next four years.

"The change in government really offers hope that the new team can act more and achieve more," said former Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin, a supporter of liberal economic reform. , said.

In a speech to the House of Representatives yesterday, Mishustin said the relationship between government and businesses should be improved, acknowledging that domestic and foreign businesses are often subject to the scrutiny of security officials. Russia. Many traders said they did not invest in their own businesses in Russia to avoid becoming the target of raids and raids by security forces.

"To develop, we must restore the faith that has been lost between business and government," the new prime minister told MPs.

According to Interfax news agency, in a meeting after being nominated by Putin, Mishustin told MPs from the ruling United Russia party that the government must act to remove barriers to businesses, promoting an environment in which mid-sized businesses can thrive. He also reiterated Putin's commitment to supporting the poor.

"He has a number of qualities that can help reassure businesses and investors," Jason Bush, senior analyst at Eurasia, an American consulting firm, said of the new Russian Prime Minister. "As head of the tax office since 2010, Mishustin has been effective in setting tax collection reforms, which significantly increased revenue."

In addition, Mishustin has experience in the private sector, thanks to the leadership of UFG asset management group, an investment company based in Russia, where Germany's largest commercial bank Deutsche Bank has a stake. . Mishustin ran UFG from 2008 until he was appointed head of the Russian Federal Tax Office in 2010.

"He seems to be a wise choice in the current economic situation," said Abbas Gallyamov, who once gave a speech to Putin and a political consultant in Moscow.