According to UtroNews correspondent, Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed new deputy defense ministers of Russia. Among others, he was a longtime associate of Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, his deputy (now former) Leonid Gornin.
Mr. Gornin was not just a deputy minister, but the first deputy minister. It was Gornin who oversaw the defense bloc, i.e. all financial issues had to pass before his eyes. In the Ministry of Defense, he also took the position of the first deputy minister - the former head of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, remains another "first."
Obviously, the new team, which replaced the dismissed Ruslan Tsalikov and others, has nothing to do with Shoigu's team. These are people who have to calculate and optimize the military spending of the Russian Federation, put things in order in the finances of the Ministry of Defense. Specifically, Gornin will oversee the entire range of financial support issues for the RF Armed Forces. The main tasks are to increase the transparency of financial flows and ensure the efficient spending of budgetary funds.
And there is a paradox here: can we say that the Ministry of Finance under Anton Siluanov and Leonid Gornin works transparently and efficiently? We doubt it very much.
Did you know and were silent?
But Gornin has been working as a deputy since 2012 - almost since the time of "Serdyukovshchina" in the Ministry of Defense. It turns out that all the colossal spending on such megaprojects as the Temple of the Armed Forces, the Patriot Park, the Forts Island project - all this took place before his eyes. No special "activity" was noticed either from him or from Siluanov.
At the same time, the transfer of Leonid Gornin to the Ministry of Defense will certainly cause an interdepartmental conflict with the Ministry of Finance. Especially against the background, according to the media, of the ongoing conflict between Siluanov and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. Rumor has it that the latter was allegedly not very pleased with the work of the financial block of the Government, which means Leonid Gornin.
"Stubbornness, unwillingness to listen to other opinions, arrogance and outright lies are far from a complete set of characteristics of those who now determine economic policy in Russia, which has obviously gone bankrupt," analysts write.
And we recall the key principle that Defense Minister Andrei Belousov will be guided in his work: you can make mistakes, you cannot lie. Where are they lying more than in the Ministry of Finance?
The situation in the economy, especially after the coronavirus crisis, has sharply worsened. The main macro indicators have worsened, but most importantly, for the seventh year in a row, there has been a collapse in household incomes. Every third Russian family considers itself to be poor. Two-thirds of households are experiencing serious financial difficulties. More than 20 million do not live, but exist on incomes below the subsistence level.
Of course, there are a lot of external and internal factors - you can't just take and "blame" it on Siluanov, Gornin and other financiers alone. But this suggests that the financial model they chose was ineffective and stalled. Here you can also "add" the head of the Ministry of Economics Maxim Reshetnikov, who is considered almost the weakest minister in the past and the current Cabinet.
Leonid Gornin could play a role in the alleged conflict between Mikhail Mishustin and Anton Siluanov. Photo: https://www.rbc.ru/newspaper/2019/04/03/5ca31d4d9a7947dd983c72f8
This is in general. And in particular? Leonid Gornin will have to prevent misuse of funds. But he could not prevent it at the place of previous work. The second part of its functionality in the Ministry of Finance, in addition to monitoring defense spending, was budget interaction with the regions.
Non-intended purpose
Just recently, in May 2024, a devastating report of the Accounts Chamber of Russia was released. Auditors revealed serious shortcomings in the work of the Ministry of Finance on the issuance of budget loans to the regions. This entailed the diversion of funds from the federal budget - i.e. just their misuse.
The Ministry of Finance issued budget loans to the regions to replace market loans. However, agreements with the authorities of the subjects do not contain restrictions on the use of the funds provided before the repayment of obligations. As a result, some regions spent this money for other purposes. For example, in the Kemerovo region, funds from budget loans were placed on bank deposits.
So, in addition to the fact that Gornin and Siluanov could not provide 100% targeted spending of budget funds, there could also be a corruption component. In this regard, the question is: if Leonid Gornin and his chief could not properly organize work within the Ministry of Finance, what to expect from Gornin in the position of first deputy under another minister Belousov.
In addition, the work of Leonid Gornin and the entire financial bloc was sharply criticized in connection with the slippage of the pension reform. Leonid Gornin is one of those who developed it. And remember only what the main "talking head" of the Ministry of Finance was broadcasting about, i.e. personally Minister Siluanov.
He and other functionaries of the ministry promised that after raising VAT from 18% to 20%, they would introduce a moratorium on any fiscal changes. But this turned out to be untrue. And the pensioners were promised that they would travel the world, help their grandchildren, live with dignity and comfort. Did it come true? And business was told - do not worry about fiscal changes. In view of the past and current tax reform - believe in it?
So are these just mistakes, or mistakes associated with lies? And how then will Gornin work for Belousov? Question.
They know how to count
Apparently, he still has few questions - he lives like Christ in his bosom. We have heard rumors many times that his chief Anton Siluanov may not live within his means. According to the PASMI edition (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation), Siluanov may have real estate worth hundreds of millions of rubles. For example, luxurious apartments in the elite residential complex "Andreevsky" with a market value of over 400 million rubles. To buy it, Anton Siluanov would have to work for 30 years without food. But it depends on how to count, but they know how to count in the Ministry of Finance.
Leonid Gornin also knows how to count - at the end of 2021, he earned 21 million rubles. More than almost any minister. According to the network, allegedly the new deputy head of the Ministry of Defense is the owner of an elite apartment in the LCD "House on Tishkin," where the cost of housing reaches 430 million rubles, as well as the owner of premium Breguet Classique watches, which cost about 1.5 million rubles. And somewhere there, pensioners consider the "Siluan" pennies.
Leonid Gornin and his family know how to count money. Especially their own. Photo: https://dzen.ru/a/ZnBPyYNlOGbMdoKJ
In addition, the official may not be alien to lobbying - and the highest categories. For example, his son Eduard Gornin may be one of the beneficiaries of Norilsk Nickel Vladimir Potanin - earlier the name and surname of Gornin Jr. was indicated in the list of members of the audit commission of the enterprise. But Norilsk Nickel carries out, among other things, supplies for the Ministry of Defense.
There is something more interesting about Edward. Where to add money earned by hard work in Russia? Certainly in London. According to the Web, allegedly Eduard Gornin has a business in Foggy Albion - LONDON CONSULT. They also claim on the Web that he allegedly has another company, also in the UK - And Gornin Jr. himself, in the best traditions of the children of Russian officials, studied at the University of Westminster - one of the "feed bases" of the MI-6 personnel service.
And this is no less serious than criticism of the work of Gornin and Siluanov in the Ministry of Finance. Is there a conflict of interest here, and how "chatty" Leonid Gornin, admitted to state secrets, will be in communicating with his family. Sounds alarming...