Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed to the post of minister economic development Maxim Oreshkin, who still held the post of Deputy Minister of Finance. “Maxim Stanislavovich... I want to offer you the position of Minister of Economic Development,” he said at a meeting with Oreshkin, calling his work at the Ministry of Finance successful.

“I agree,” Oreshkin replied. Putin asked him about the this moment is the most important and main thing in the activities of the Ministry of Economic Development.

“The worst is over. But the growth rate is, of course, not enough. Therefore, the main task for the coming year is to prepare key measures that will remove structural barriers to the growth of the Russian economy,” Interfax reports his words.

“Maxim Stanislavovich, you are quite a young man, but you can no longer be called a young specialist. You are a competent and mature specialist, experienced. I wish you good luck,” Putin said.

Oreshkin is very good specialist and a man who knows how to defend his position, notes the former federal official. “Not the worst option,” he says. “But this is not the best characteristic, especially in such a difficult economic situation.”

What is the point of appointing as Minister of Economic Development a person who defends the views and positions of the Ministry of Finance, that is, in many ways contradictory to the positions of the Ministry of Economic Development, a federal official asks. “The Ministry of Economic Development has been leaked,” he concludes.

In government last years The idea of ​​uniting the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development was periodically discussed. The Ministry of Finance is saving the budget and reserves, sacrificing investments, the Ministry of Economic Development is looking for how to revive the economy, possibly sacrificing reserves, two participants in government meetings with the president said earlier: in most cases he supports the Ministry of Finance.

Two officials recalled how, when asked by investors who the president supports, he replied: “I always listen to the Ministry of Economic Development, but I support the Ministry of Finance.” Since the president supports one minister, let this minister think not only about the budget, but also about GDP growth, one of the officials explained the idea of ​​merging.

The appointment of the Deputy Minister of Finance as Minister of Economic Development is a de facto unification without unification, argues a former federal official, and the main risk is that the ministry will stop defending economic development priorities, fight for financing important projects and switch to an estimated approach to economic development.

However, Alexey Ulyukaev, before joining the Ministry of Economic Development from the Central Bank, was considered a monetarist. But then an evolution occurred to him, he admitted in an interview with Vedomosti in mid-2014: “If we see that the actual production volume is lower than potential, we have the right to apply incentives - both fiscal and monetary.”

Initially, they were not looking for a manager for this position, but a good macroeconomist, says an official from the Ministry of Economic Development, and the “bench of reserves” is quite short - First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Ksenia Yudaeva, Deputy Chairman of VEB Andrei Klepach, Oreshkin. All other well-known macroeconomists are marginal, in this sense Oreshkin is not the worst option, says an official from the Ministry of Economic Development.

The new minister will have to clear away the rubble, it will be hard work, federal officials sympathize with him. “The Ministry of Economic Development is in collapse, many professionals have left due to conflict with the minister or for other reasons,” says a senior official. One of Ulyukaev’s deputies admits: the ex-minister was a good economist with a global vision, but a poor manager, could not choose personnel, could not make decisions.

The ministry's influence in Lately decreased very significantly - in economic policy everything is ruled by a combination of the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance, fiscal consolidation has won, and issues of stimulating economic growth have faded into the background, states a White House official. In tax policy, the ministry plays a second, or even a third role.

“In many ways, everything was predetermined by the attitude of the president himself - he believes that it is important to maintain large reserves and macroeconomic stability, he listens to [Chairman of the Central Bank] Elvira Nabiullina and [Minister of Finance Anton] Siluanov,” states a White House official. On the other hand, the Ministry of Economic Development itself has relaxed and given up: if previously it constantly sent the government a list of measures to accelerate economic growth (even though they were almost never implemented), in recent years even this has not been done, the official says.

The role of the Ministry of Economic Development has greatly decreased in the economic discussion, says Natalya Orlova from Alfa Bank. On some issues, the ministry’s opinion was not listened to at all, supports an expert close to the Ministry of Finance, most recently to its position regarding the macro forecast when adopting the budget. The Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank play first fiddle, the federal official agrees. The Ministry of Finance maintains close ties with the Central Bank, the expert agrees, together they pursue a coordinated fiscal policy. With Oreshkin’s arrival at the Ministry of Economic Development, perhaps there will be greater coordination of actions.

It is best if, in his new capacity, he takes up the preparation of strategic policy, Orlova believes: the long-term trajectory is absolutely unclear, as is its impact on budget policy.

It cannot be said that Oreshkin is a hard monetarist, the expert believes. An increase in spending in itself does not lead to an increase in GDP, he describes the position of the new minister: to stimulate growth, it is necessary to redistribute funds from less efficient sectors to more efficient ones, but the market does this much better than the state. This leads to a strict budgetary position - when oil prices are low, the deficit should be minimal, and when oil prices are high, there should be a surplus, which must be sterilized in foreign assets to prevent excessive strengthening of the ruble. This is a completely adequate economic position, the expert concludes. In general, the majority in the government adheres to it, and without a request for reforms from the government, nothing will change, the federal official believes, but the appointment could be a step towards unifying the ministries. This is very harmful for the economy, he fears. The Ministry of Economic Development has always advocated support for certain industries, and in the new ministry budgetary dogmas will prevail.

On Wednesday, November 30, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the candidacy of the Minister of Economic Development to replace Alexey Ulyukaev could be announced both before and after the President’s message. However, Peskov immediately announced an “interesting meeting” on the schedule of the head of state. “There will be one interesting meeting in the Kremlin, we will inform you later. And the president will continue to refine his message Federal Assembly, which he will announce tomorrow at noon,” Peskov said.

Former minister Alexey Ulyukaev resigned from his post unexpectedly after he was detained on the night of November 15. investigative committee announced that a criminal case had been opened against Ulyukaev on the grounds of a crime under Part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code (receipt of a bribe on an especially large scale in combination with its receipt and extortion). This article provides for imprisonment for a term of 8 to 15 years or a fine of 70 times the amount of the bribe. Now Ulyukaev is under house arrest, his stay is until January 15. He was fired on the day of his arrest with the wording “due to loss of confidence.”

Oreshkin was born on July 21, 1982 in Moscow. In 2004 he completed his master's degree State University– Higher School of Economics, majoring in economics. From 2002 to 2006 he worked at the Central Bank. His career began as a 1st category economist. In 2006-2010 Oreshkin worked at Rosbank and rose from senior manager to managing director. From 2010 to 2012, Oreshkin was the head of the analytical unit for Russia and the CIS of CJSC Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank. In 2012-2013 worked as chief economist for Russia at CJSC VTB capital". Since September 2013, he served as director of the long-term strategic planning department of the Russian Ministry of Finance.

https://www.site/2019-07-11/samyy_molodoy_ministr_ekonomicheskogo_razvitiya_rf_maksim_oreshkin_profayl

“Putin’s favorite” with presidential ambitions

Maxim Oreshkin is a minister who does not know how to be invisible. Profile

Kremlin website

Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin is going on an unusual business trip. The official will go to the single-industry towns forum in Tolyatti driving a Lada Xray. About the format of the trip told on his Instagram, which surprised his followers a lot. “Not every minister will do this,” user sagradjan noted in the comments.

On the way to the motor city, Oreshkin plans to communicate with ordinary citizens, and also prepare “a position for the final decision on the choice between the construction of a new toll highway Moscow-Kazan and the complete reconstruction of the M7 highway.” Such original behavior of a federal minister is not new to people who follow his career. Oreshkin often gives the media interesting informational reasons. For example, in March of this year, he and his family took a ride on the subway. A couple of years ago, Oreshkin held the final conference of the Ministry of Economic Development, where, instead of the usual events for this kind of round tables and discussion platforms, an awards ceremony and a concert by rapper Basta took place.

Oreshkin is called “Putin’s favorite,” he is not afraid to enter into public discussions with other members of the government, does not seem to strive for wealth, and at the same time does not hide the fact that he would like to serve as president of the Russian Federation..

Biography and family

Maxim Oreshkin was born on July 21, 1982 in Moscow. In 2004, he graduated from the Higher School of Economics (HSE) master's program in Economics. The career of the future minister was rapid. He managed to work at CJSC Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, the Central Bank, Rosbank, VTB Capital, after which in 2013 he was appointed director of the long-term strategic planning department of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. Two years later, Oreshkin received the post of Deputy Minister of Finance of Russia. Supervised macroeconomic issues in the budget part, risk analysis in the budget system, assessment and forecasting of income, issues monetary policy.

On November 30, 2016, Vladimir Putin appointed him Minister of Economic Development instead of the suspended Alexey Ulyukaev, who became involved in a $2 million bribe case. At that time, Oreshkin was 34 years old. Thus, he became the youngest Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. Now he is also the chairman of the board of the Center for Strategic Research and a member of the supervisory board of Sberbank.

In the spring of 2018, after Putin’s victory in the presidential elections of the Russian Federation, Oreshkin retained his post in the government, and was later included by the US Treasury Department in the so-called “Kremlin report,” which lists officials and businessmen close to the head of state.

The minister's parents work at universities, and his older brother is an investment banker. Oreshkin is married and has a daughter. Owns English language, is a fan of the Moscow football club CSKA. Unlike other high-ranking Russian officials, Oreshkin actively maintains his pages in Instagram And Facebook, constantly answers questions from subscribers.

The Oreshkin couple has one of the most modest incomes in the Cabinet. Judging by the minister’s declaration, in 2018 he earned 21.6 million rubles (for comparison: the head of the Ministry of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev - 183.7 million rubles, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov - more than 443 million rubles), and his wife declared only 600 rubles. However, she owns an apartment and two foreign cars - a Land Rover and a Range Rover Evoque, while Oreshkin has shares in a small apartment, a residential building and a plot of land.

"Putin's new favorite"

In 2017, Bloomberg called Oreshkin “Putin’s new favorite.” The minister himself then said that he was creating a “ministry of the future”, its key task is to attract strong people and “create a development environment for them,” but when asked whether he is the favorite of the President of the Russian Federation, Oreshkin did not answer.

Maxim Oreshkin's Facebook page

Oreshkin spoke about his presidential ambitions in March 2019, speaking with students at the Academy of Journalism. He hinted that he would be interested in serving as President of Russia. “I’ve always said that I haven’t done much in my position yet. Therefore, I can only talk abstractly. Any manager would definitely be interested in the work of the president in terms of essence and content,” the minister said.

According to him, the main thing in the work of the president is “is there any benefit for the country and people,” while Oreshkin understands that the position of head of state is “absolutely monstrous in terms of workload.”

Criticism of Oreshkin

Oreshkin often enters into public or correspondence discussions with other members of the Russian government, officials and politicians. A striking recent example is a dispute with the Chairman of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, over the risks of unsecured lending. Oreshkin believes that if the growth rate of consumer lending does not change, then a recession may begin in Russia as early as 2021. The head of the Central Bank does not agree with him and states that the situation is not critical and does not pose risks for the country’s economy. At the same time, Nabiullina makes an attack on Oreshkin, saying that it is necessary to increase the growth rate of income of the population and solve the problems of the labor market, then people will not take out loans.

State Duma website

At SPIEF 2019, Oreshkin entered into controversy over the case of Baring Vostok founder Michael Calvey, who is accused of fraud. The head of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes, Andrei Makarov, criticized the minister for not speaking publicly about Calvey for a long time, and then said that the entrepreneur’s house arrest is “a good sign for the investment climate.” At the same time, the head of the Accounts Chamber, Alexei Kudrin, called Calvey’s arrest “a shock for the economy - since the beginning of the year, the outflow of capital from Russia has doubled,” he was supported by the chairman of the board of directors “ Tinkoff Bank» Oleg Tinkov. The chairman of the board of Sberbank, German Gref, spoke in favor of Calvey's release.

Another unpleasant moment for Oreshkin was his visit to the State Duma in March 2019, where he read out a report on the priorities of the socio-economic development of the Russian Federation. The minister's speech was abruptly interrupted by the Speaker of Parliament Vyacheslav Volodin. He considered that Oreshkin was not sufficiently prepared and failed to reveal the stated topic, so the deputies decided to postpone the minister’s report.

Convinced optimist

Oreshkin likes to make “calming” statements. For example, when American sanctions against Russia were expanded in April 2018 and the ruble exchange rate began to fall at a record pace, the minister said that the current situation was a good test for the government and the Central Bank. “If you look at what is happening from a global perspective, yes, there is volatility in the market, but this is normal,” the official expressed confidence, and in September he already advised citizens to sell dollars and buy rubles, “because there is stability in the country.”

A year earlier, the minister said that real estate had become available to Russians as never before. At the same time, he has repeatedly said that the decline in real incomes of the population, which has been going on for six years, is not such at all. Oreshkin believes that it’s all about the calculation methodology, and in fact there is an increase in income.

Kremlin website

By the end of 2019, the minister expects economic development to accelerate. At the same time, at SPIEF 2019, Oreshkin gave the Russian economy a “three” on a ten-point scale, noting that “Russia has room to grow.” In his forecasts, he turned out to be more optimistic than other participants in the plenary session (for example, the director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland, Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch, gave her country an “A”).

Some political scientists call Oreshkin the most honest of the current ministers. They recall the statement he made in June 2018 that his ministry was preparing a block of “unpopular decisions.” In 2019, the government approved an increase in housing and communal services tariffs in two stages, a pension reform was adopted, and from January 1, 2019, the VAT rate increased from 18% to 20%. At the recent Gaidar Forum, Oreshkin called the level of economic inequality in Russia “unacceptably high.” He said that this trend is dangerous because some segments of the population are deprived of access to quality education and health services.

Earlier, the minister’s scientific advisor at the Higher School of Economics, Evgeny Yasin, expressed the opinion that Oreshkin could become prime minister, the ministerial post being a springboard for him to the heights of power.

Siluanov made efforts to promote his protege

Vladimir Putin appointed the new Minister of Economic Development, who previously held the post of Deputy Minister of Finance. Experts note that the country’s president again surprised with his personnel decision, because Oreshkin’s candidacy did not appear in any preliminary lists of candidates who were matched to the seat vacated after the arrest of Alexei Ulyukaev.

In the person of Maxim Oreshkin, Dmitry Medvedev's cabinet acquired its youngest minister. The new appointee is a professional economist, a graduate of the Higher School of Economics. He began his career in the banking sector, where he was very successful: by the age of 30 he had worked in top positions in large banking structures: Rosbank, Credit Agricole, VTB Capital. For 2013, his last year in business, he declared income of 43.4 million rubles. (in 2015, according to the declaration, he “became impoverished”, declaring an income of 16.9 million. Apparently, Maxim Oreshkin is single - the declaration does not mention his wife).

Siluanov, according to rumors from high places, made efforts to promote his protege to the post of Minister of Economic Development. The experts we interviewed believe that the presence of the Siluanov-Oreshkin tandem in the government will soften the traditional disagreements between the two economic departments. The Ministry of Finance has always, and especially during a crisis, sought to save on expenses; the Ministry of Economic Development, on the contrary, lobbied for their increase for investment purposes to achieve economic growth in the country.

Judging by the current appointment, the point of view of the Ministry of Finance is winning at the top, whose people are receiving new high appointments. Some experts suggest that things are generally moving towards a merger of the two departments under the banner of the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Economic Development is destined to play the role of a simple department.

But it is too early to draw such a conclusion. Deputy Director of the Institute of World Economy and international relations Evgeniy Gontmakher told us: “I do not rule out such a development of events. But this will definitely not happen in the near future. The fact is that now merging two departments is the same as paralyzing the work of both. It will be necessary to re-approve staffing table, select employees for each position. This takes a lot of time. Therefore, in the current conditions, when it is necessary to develop strategies and programs, it is not worth merging two departments.”

Note that at the Ministry of Finance Oreshkin played the role of chief macroeconomist analyst, so the forecasting and strategic activities that the Ministry of Economic Development is engaged in are not new to him. For example, in the middle of this year, he called for people to stop guessing at oil prices and to include their most conservative values ​​in budget plans.

And having already taken the post of minister, Maxim Oreshki made a statement that the growth rate in the country is insufficient, and the main task is “preparing measures that will remove structural barriers to the growth of the Russian economy.”

“Due to the nature of his activities in the Ministry of Finance, Oreshkin often overlapped with the Ministry of Economic Development. This means that he knows the work of the Mayor. Therefore, his entry into the team will be quick. Moreover, as you know, under Ulyukaev, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance had contradictions on some issues. Now this will be a more consolidated work,” comments Evgeniy Gontmakher.

According to the leading expert of the Institute modern development Nikita Maslennikov, from a professional point of view, Maxim Oreshkin worked quite well as Deputy Head of the Minister of Finance.

“At the Ministry of Finance, he was responsible for all medium and long-term macroeconomic calculations and made justifications for budget projections. This is very important when the person who heads the economic ministry has a perfect understanding of the financial situation in the country,” Maslennikov emphasized. MK’s interlocutor is confident that under the new minister, emphasis will be placed on the project principle of the department’s work, when a specific result, rather than an abstract report, will be put at the forefront.

Under Oreshkin, the liberal course of the current economic bloc of the government will probably remain in force: the graduate of the “higher education institution” and colleague of Siluanov is not seen in other priorities. So we are definitely not talking about changing the economic strategy with the appointment of a new minister. And for these purposes, the figure of a “heavyweight” is required, which, with all due respect to him, Maxim Stanislavovich is not yet.

However, this is a profitable business. At one time, when the highly experienced German Gref was replaced as head of the Ministry of Economic Development by Elvira Nibiullina, no one knew her either, except for a narrow circle of specialists. The same thing happened with Alexei Kudrin’s replacement at the Ministry of Finance, Anton Siluanov. Now both of these figures have gained significant hardware weight and authority.

Maxim Oreshkin, as people who know him say, is also quite capable of this. However, it would be much more important and useful for the country if he solved its economic problems at least more effectively than his predecessors.

30.11.2016
The hopes of patriots that after the arrest of ex-Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukaev, who was caught taking a bribe, the President would begin to purge the economic bloc of the government of systemic liberals, alas, did not come true. The new head of the Ministry of Economic Development was a representative of the same Gaidar-Kudrin school, 34-year-old Maxim Oreshkin, who, after graduating from the Higher School of Economics, managed to work in the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance.

According to the biography of the new minister on the website of the Higher School of Economics, where he graduated with a degree in Financial Markets and financial institutions", Oreshkin worked for 4 years as head of the sector of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, managing director at Rosbank, as well as at a number of commercial banks (Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank and VTB Capital). The career of the 34-year-old financier can be the envy of any representative of the golden youth - the young man was clearly “dragged by the ears” from position to position. As a result, in 2013 Oreshkin joined the Ministry of Finance, where he first headed the department of long-term strategic planning, and in 2015 became deputy minister. In this capacity, he oversaw macroeconomic issues, risk analysis in the budgetary system and monetary policy issues. In other words, Oreshkin is a representative of the very team of managers who, according to Advisor to the President, Academician Sergei Glazyev, are only capable of implementing the instructions of the “killer of the national economy,” the International Monetary Fund. It is the Kudrinsko-Siluanovsky Ministry of Finance, together with the Central Bank and the largest state banks that are today the main culprits of the economic recession (not to say the collapse of the economy, primarily its producing segment).

It is no coincidence that one of the prominent representatives of the “Gaidar” school, scientific director of the National Research University Higher School of Economics Evgeny Yasin, who himself was once responsible for the economy in the government, today has already approved the appointment of Maxim Oreshkin as minister. “It seems to me a good choice,” said Yasin. “He is an educated and qualified specialist, and young at that, which, in my opinion, is his advantage. And he had good teachers, because he worked with Kudrin, Siluanov and worked at VTB.”

Thus, the hopes of some of the patriots that the arrest of Ulyukaev would be a prologue to a great purge of systemic liberals, who have consistently destroyed the country since the early 1990s, were not crowned with success. Although the arrest of a representative of this team itself coincided with the announcement of the results of the elections in the United States (which many rightly regarded as the fact that), the domestic political elite still remains dependent on the pro-Western monetarists - and the Ulyukaev case,

All this is very sad, and I would like to be wrong in my forecasts - especially since Maxim Oreshkin called his main task for the coming year as Minister of Economic Development “the preparation of key measures that will allow removing structural barriers to the growth of the Russian economy.” I would like to hope that Mr. Oreshkin realizes that the main “structural barrier” is an organized group of state officials. bankers and officials associated with them, which turned the national currency into a means of personal enrichment, depriving enterprises of the opportunity to obtain credit and provoking an outflow of capital abroad (). But it's hard to believe. We can only hope that, after the precedent with Ulyukaev, representatives of the government’s economic bloc made the right conclusions - and, at least, will not offend Vladimir Vladimirovich’s friends. And then, you see, they will remember about the national economy.