MOSCOW, July 25 Russian President Vladimir Putin has excluded his adviser Igor Levitin, former governor of the Samara region Dmitry Azarov, heads of the Altai Territory and Novosibirsk Region Viktor Tomenko and Andrei Travnikov, as well as Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov and Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev from the Presidium of the State Council.
The president's order on amending the composition of the Presidium of the State Council was published on Thursday on the official Internet portal of legal information.
«To make the following changes to the Presidium of the State Council of the Russian Federation…: to exclude from the Presidium Azarov D.I., Alikhanov A.A., Levitin I.E., Tomenko V.P., Travnikov A.A. and Tsivilev S.E.», — the document states.
It is noted that the order comes into force from the day of its signing — July 25.
A few days ago, the president made changes to the State Council itself — he included acting heads of nine regions in its composition and excluded former governors from the council, including Azarov, Alikhanov and Tsivilev. Also, the presidential decree approving the composition of the State Council specified the title of Levitin's position, who in May became an adviser and special representative of the president for international cooperation in the field of transport.
Prior to this, Levitin held the position of assistant to the president and was the secretary of the State Council. At the end of May, Putin appointed his assistant Alexei Dyumin as Secretary of the State Council. As the president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov explained at the time, these changes occurred due to «rotational processes,» and Levitin will continue to participate in the work of the State Council.