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Kudrin, right, talks to Putin at a meeting last year Alexei Nikolsky/AP/Press Association Images
Russia
Russia's finance minister quits... after being ordered to
Alexei Kudrin was publicly told to resign by president Dmitry Medvedev in a row over the country’s leadership.
RUSSIA’S FINANCE MINISTER Alexei Kudrin has resigned after being ordered to step down in a row with the country’s leaders.
Kudrin was publicly told to quit by the country’s president Dmitry Medvedev, who accused him of insubordination. The dispute is thought to have arisen over prime minister Vladimir Putin’s plans to assume the presidency next year.
Putin stepped down from the role in 2008, handing it to Medvedev in what was widely interpreted as a token gesture to the country’s electoral rules.
According to the BBC, Kudrin said he would not serve in the government if Putin resumed as president.
Speaking at a meeting in Dimitrovgrad as Kudrin sat in the audience, Reuters reports that Medvedev told the finance minister: “There is only one course of action and you know it: To resign. [...] Naturally, it’s necessary to answer here and now: Will you write a resignation letter?”
He added: “Nobody has revoked discipline and subordination.”
The Guardian reports that Kudrin’s resignation would be seen as a serious setback to Russia’s economy, which is seen as being in dire need of reform.
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