Despite further deterioration of crisis tendencies the main last week event was the election of a new patriarch. In line with the most probable expectations, Kirill received 72% of the vote cast at the Local Council and became a new patriarch having left behind his main opponent Metropolitan Kliment. It should be noted that his rivals held themselves heads up until the last moment trying to use every chance. However, Kirill’s victory is just his first step as patriarch since he is facing tasks not less serious than late Alexy II in 1990. Firstly, this is defending unity and modernization of the church so that it could unobtrusively but steadily play a more important role in life of the country. Secondly, this is establishing channels of cultural cooperation with other Christian churches.
Administrative struggle continued in more traditional ways last week. In particular, supreme arbitration court chairperson Anton Ivanov received considerable preferences from a technical (ex facte) decision of Dmitry Medvedev. This concerns replacement of Veniamin Yakovlev with Sergey Dubik as the president’s representative at the Higher Qualification Panel of Judges. However, this decision may result in retirement of head of the federal arbitration district court of the Moscow District, Lyudmila Maikova, who works in tandem with Ivanov’s administrative opponent, Moscow arbitration court head Nikolay Sviridenko (Veniamin Yakovlev was her mentor and patron). If she retires, Anton Ivanov will have a chance to implement his long planned project of creating a single vertical of arbitration courts under his patronage, after which he will be able to launch horizontal expansion.
Staff conflicts also continued in the government. In particular, relations between the federal anti-monopoly service and the federal service for customer protection sharpened. This time the pharmaceutical, not alcohol, market was the apple of discord, although the sides used the same methods: public accusations. However, the customer protection service took into account previous lessons and this time was the first to start offensive – it published quite a sharp press release. Struggle between the natural resources ministry and the federal service for ecological, technological and atomic inspection formally subordinate to the ministry also intensified; the ministry is suppressing last centers of staff separatism that have existed there since the service was directly subordinate to the government.