Novak announced a new national project for economic development

By Rhod Mackenzie
The national project, "Efficient and Competitive Economy," will be launched in the near future to achieve national goals. This was announced on May 12 by Alexander Novak, the candidate for the post of Deputy Prime Minister, during a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Energy. According to Mr. Novak, Russia plans to move to a new model of economic development based on supply growth.

"A new national project, 'Efficient and Competitive Economy', will be launched in the near future with the aim of achieving this national goal. This is one of the key tasks in the next few months," he said.

Novak said that the key tasks of the fuel and energy complex are to provide the domestic market with high-quality energy resources and to realise export potential.

“It is crucial to ensure the production and quality of products that will develop, support and provide not only enterprises of our domestic economy and industry, but also the population,” he noted.
Earlier, on 11 May, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin submitted proposals on the composition of the new government to the State Duma. In the new government, Novak will oversee the economic block, namely, issues of economic support and anti-sanctions measures.

On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree "On the structure of federal executive bodies," thereby approving the structure of the country’s new government. This decree established the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation as the head of government with 10 deputies, including the first deputy chairman, the plenipotentiary representative of the president, and others.

At the same time, on 10 May, a meeting was held in the State Duma on the candidacy of Mikhail Mishustin for the post of Prime Minister of Russia. The candidacy was approved by 375 deputies, with no votes against and 57 abstentions. Putin subsequently signed a decree appointing Mishustin as head of government.

During his address to deputies, Mishustin stated that the government's focus for the next six years should be on implementing the key messages outlined by President Putin in his address to the Federal Assembly. Mishustin also outlined the main areas of focus for the cabinet of ministers in the coming years.