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Russia: Rogozin Pledges to Modernize Defense Industry, Economy

Extensive leadership shuffles are continuing in the upper echelons in Moscow, which the international media portray as solely connected with the ongoing protests against electoral and other corruption. But while President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have taken a number of measures to address those problems, more substantively, they are also concentrating on pressing economic issues facing the country.

Among the notable changes, the Russian envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in charge of issues related to development of the defense sector. He replaces Sergei Ivanov, who has become the Kremlin chief of staff, in place of Sergei Naryshkin, who is the new speaker of the Duma.

On Dec. 26, Rogozin met with Putin for a nationally televised review of his responsibilities. In addition to the defense industry proper, he will now be in charge of the nuclear power sector and the space program. Regarding the latter, Putin noted the recent string of accidents, including the failed launch of the Meridian communications satellite on Dec. 23, and tasked Rogozin with "looking into these problems thoroughly, analyzing them, and proposing solutions." Rogozin will be touring the key facilities now under his supervision, ranging from defense installations, to space and nuclear industry plants.

Rogozin said he would soon deliver proposals "for a rebirth of the defense industry," with "one of the most important aspects being, in effect, a new industrialization of the defense industry, which should function as a locomotive to pull the entire Russian economy." Acknowledging the horrific manpower situation in these sectors, which is a factor in the failed launches, Rogozin said he would also seek to create "moral and material incentives to attract young people and skilled professionals into the defense industry."

It was Rogozin who, last October, proposed that Russia cooperate with NATO in setting up a "strategic defense of the earth" project to deal with all threats coming from space. This as an alternative to the anti-missile shield that NATO plans to install near Russia's borders.

Medvedev and Putin are of course aware that the worldwide economic collapse has taken its toll on Russia, fueling discontent. Although Russia leaders had indicated over the past months that the crisis was over, Medvedev is now acknowledging that the world has now entered a Great Depression, and warning of "difficulties ahead."

At a recent State Council session, Putin took up a reference to U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, made by Governor Oleg Korolyov of the Lipetsk Region, noting that FDR, during the Great Depression, held weekly radio shows to "inspire the citizens with confidence in the future."

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