Ivanov to run Russian industrial policy, telecoms

MOSCOW, Feb 19 (Reuters) Russia's newly appointed first deputy prime minister, Sergei Ivanov, widely seen as one of two top presidential candidates, will oversee industrial policies and telecoms, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Naryshkin has said.

Naryshkin was himself promoted last week from cabinet chief of staff as part of the government reshuffle that benefited Ivanov, a key ally of President Vladimir Putin. Ivanov was previously defence minister and deputy prime minister.

''The issues of industrial policies, development of civil and defence industries, telecoms, transportation and technical regulation will be within the sphere of responsibilities of Sergei Borisovich Ivanov,'' Naryshkin told state-run Rossiya television late yesterday.

Putin's promotion of Ivanov is widely seen as an attempt to create competition between Kremlin-approved candidates for the 2008 presidential elections. Ivanov now has equal rank with Dmitry Medvedev, another Putin ally.

Naryshkin's comments were the first indication of how Ivanov and Medvedev will divide responsibilities in the new government structure.

Naryshkin said Medvedev would remain in charge of national projects -- programmes to use some of Russia's oil revenue to invest huge sums in education, health, agriculture and housing.

Ivanov, who already controls over 20 billion dollar a year as the head of Russia's defence manufacturing sector, will now also have a budget of several billions of dollars a year to modernise industries from aerospace to oil refining.

Naryshkin said he himself would handle external economic policies and management of state property. That means he will oversee auctions of state property including the sell-off of the bankrupt oil firm YUKOS later this year.

The question of whether the state will go ahead with a long-delayed privatisation of national telecoms holding Svyazinvest will now fall within Ivanov's remit.

The sale has been on hold for years because of opposition from the military, which fears it will no longer get cheap telecoms services after privatisation.

It remains to be seen how Ivanov and Medvedev will split coordination of energy policies as Medvedev remains chairman of Gazprom, the world's largest gas producer and supplier of a quarter of Europe's gas needs.

REUTERS AKJ PM1532