Former Health and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova is likely to be appointed President Vladimir Putin's economic aide, a report said Friday.
Golikova, who now advises Putin on social and economic issues relating to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, might replace Elvira Nabiullina, whom Putin tapped as the new Central Bank chairperson last week, Vedomosti reported citing three undisclosed government officials.
The other possible candidate is Sergei Glazyev, who is now Putin's economic adviser. His appointment is unlikely, since he is more a theoretician than an administrator, a source in the presidential administration said.
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said it is too early to discuss the candidacy to replace Nabiullina, since she will remain in office for another two months until current Central Bank chairman Sergei Ignatev's term is over in June.
The candidacy of the Kremlin's economic aide is key, since this person oversees the work of the presidential administration's expert department, which provides analytical support to the president.
This role has given a career boost to several government officials. Igor Shuvalov, who had been Putin's economic aide during his first term in the Kremlin, was appointed as first deputy prime minister in Putin's cabinet between 2008 and 2012.
In a similar example, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich moved to the Cabinet last year after serving as then-President Dmitry Medvedev's economic aide.
Golikova worked as Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin's deputy between 2000 and 2007. As head of the Health and Social Development Ministry she pushed for increasing the pension size and initiated a number of reforms, which earned high praise from Putin.
