Russia's little-known new prime minister, Viktor Zubkov, honed his image as a tough politician at his first full cabinet meeting Thursday, berating ministers and demanding they be "more serious." "I want to seriously warn everybody ... to be more serious in the conduct of business and acting on decisions," said Zubkov, 66.
Television footage from the start of the meeting showed Zubkov angrily asking why more had not been done to reform the sea ports network, as ordered by President Vladimir Putin. "How is that? Who dared to change the president's order so lightly? What's going on?" an unsmiling Zubkov asked.
Zubkov was meeting with ministers from the outgoing cabinet and it remains unclear how many will be renamed in a new government, expected to be announced within days. Zubkov himself was confirmed in his post on September 14. The former collective farm boss and anti-corruption official was virtually unknown to the wider public before his suprise appointment by Putin.
A poll by the respected Levada centre found that 85 percent of Russians had never heard of him before his elevation to what is under the constitution the second ranking job in the country. Russia holds parliamentary elections on December 2 in what is seen as a curtain raiser for the presidential election on March 2 next year, when a successor to Putin must be chosen.
Observers expect campaigning to be tightly controlled to ensure victory for Kremlin-backed candidates, with the presidency going to a candidate supported by Putin.