After Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was unexpectedly dismissed on Sunday, former deputy head of government and economic expert Andrei Beloussov will now take over the post and place new emphasis on the war of aggression against Ukraine. This also means that Russian soldiers will receive more privileges in the future.
“It cannot be that participants of the military special operation, when they are on vacation and come home, are expelled from medical facilities and sent to overcrowded hospitals,” Beloussov announced. Housing must also be made available to participants in the war. This is very important because, according to him, external enemies would surround the country and try to limit its sovereignty.
The reason for Belousov’s close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely precisely these ideological similarities between the two. The top civil servant, who is married for the second time, is known for giving the state a superior role in the economy and social life. He has more than once demanded special levies from the country’s major companies to cover the growing needs of Russia’s budget. Beloussov speaks about traditional values and national interests of Russia.
Supporter of the annexation of Crimea
According to information from the independent portal The Bell, in 2014 he was the only one from the economic and financial bloc among Russia’s top officials to support the annexation of Crimea. Many others at the time feared the financial consequences of Western sanctions. As deputy head of government, Beloussov has had major influence over the economic sector since 2020, which he continued to expand through major government spending. Since the start of the war, he has been on the sanctions lists of the EU and the US as a confidant of Putin. Putin now expects that as an expert he will be able to manage the large state expenditures flowing into the defense sector better than his predecessor Shoigu.
Belousov’s acquaintances describe him as a civil servant who is alien to corruption. In fact, he has never been involved in any investigations or scandals along these lines. His biography shows no “blemishes”, notes the Russian opposition media Medusa. Unlike many other Kremlin representatives, he also has no real estate in Nice, yachts or foreign bank accounts.
Family situation
Beloussov comes from a family of scientists in Moscow; his mother was a chemist and his father was a well-known economist in the planned economy of the Soviet Union. He also wrote economic forecasts at an institute for years before he was appointed to the government in 2006. First Beloussov became Deputy Minister of Economy, and then head of the financial and economic department of the government apparatus. During this time he gained the trust of then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whose closest follower he has been considered ever since. After a brief interlude as Minister of Economy, Beloussov quickly followed Putin to the Kremlin as an advisor in 2013.
Source: Krone
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