Yeltsin announces government of 'usual suspects'

Russian President Boris Yeltsin congratulates the new Russian Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko

Russian President Boris Yeltsin has re-appointed a number of ministers from the previous government which he sacked.

They include:

Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov

Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev

Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin

Finance Minister Mikhail Zadornov

Deputy Prime Ministers Boris Nemtsov and Viktor Khristenko

Yevgeny Primakov

The appointments follow Mr Yeltsin's sacking of his entire cabinet in March and the appointment of new Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko which shocked Western governments and analysts.

Mr Yeltsin dismissed the government amid charges of unsatisfactory performance and lack of dynamism in pushing through his reforms.

His choice of new Prime Minister, Sergei Kiriyenko, formally took up his post last week after his nomination was finally approved by the lower house of parliament following a battle of wits with Mr Yeltsin.

Boris Nemtsov

The lower house prevented its own dissolution by approving President Yeltsin's choice of prime minister.

A BBC correspondent in Moscow, Andrew Harding, said President Yeltsin has ordered his protégé to act dynamically to tackle Russia's economic problems and Mr Kiriyenko promised a more dynamic cabinet than the last one.

However, there is no sign of any major changes in the announcements so far.

The foreign, defence and finance ministers have all kept their old posts.

The prominent reformer Boris Nemtsov also remains alongside the former deputy finance minister Viktor Khristenko.

The correspondent says that as the prime minister fills the remaining posts, he will struggle to stamp his authority in the face of powerful groups seeking to influence the administration.

Meeting at President's residence

The announcement of the appointments followed a meeting between Mr Yeltsin and Mr Kiriyenko at the President's residence just outside the capital.

A full list of appointments is expected tol be announced on Wednesday or Thursday.

According to some reports, Mr Yeltsin approved Mr Kiriyenko's candidates in general, but objected to some and gave the prime minister another day to finalise some appointments.

Another BBC correspondent in Moscow, Paul Anderson, said one of the ministers facing the hardest task will be Mr Khristenko.

He is charged specifically with dealing with regional problems, political and financial.

His biggest task will be making sure payments to more than 80 regions are made and that the money ends up where it should, in the pockets of millions of workers who have been languishing for months without pay.