By Martin Nesirky
MOSCOW, March 27 (Reuters) - Russian President-elect Vladimir
Putin will meet Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev on Tuesday and may
announce he has prolonged the marshal's contract for another year,
defence and Kremlin sources said on Monday.
Sergeyev reached the retirement age of 60 in April two years ago
but then-President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree giving the former
nuclear missile chief another year at the ministry. He then extended
the contract again last year.
"Putin has signed a document prolonging Sergeyev's term for
another year," said one defence expert.
There has been considerable speculation about whether Putin, who
was elected president on Sunday, will seek a new, younger face or
keep Sergeyev as minister.
If he has opted for Sergeyev, it would be to ensure stability in
the armed forces and give him a chance to press on with reforms,
military experts say.
Putin, an ex-KGB spy with an affinity for defence affairs, has
made military reform and funding for the long demoralised armed
forces one of his priorities. He impressed the military by launching
war against rebels in Chechnya and won strong backing from defence
commanders.
A Kremlin source said a meeting was planned between Putin and
Sergeyev in the Kremlin on Tuesday.
"As I understand it, if such a decree is being prepared or
has been signed then probably it will be announced at that
meeting," the source said.
SYMBOLIC VALUE IF SERGEYEV TERM EXTENDED
The Kremlin and Defence Ministry press offices could not confirm
Putin had asked Sergeyev, Russia's only post-Soviet marshal, to stay
on. Sergeyev's contract runs out on April 20.
Putin met his so-called power ministers -- those for defence, the
interior and foreign affairs -- and intelligence chiefs on Monday,
his first official meeting after being elected president.
There was no word from that meeting on Sergeyev's future.
Sergeyev has a reputation as a hard-working if somewhat ponderous
commander who has pushed for reform within severe financial
constraints. He has cut the size of the armed forces to 1.2 million
men and women but funding remains tight.
There would be clear symbolic value in extending Sergeyev's
contract even before Putin is inaugurated in early May. Putin cannot
name his prime minister and new government until then.
Vadim Solovyov, managing editor of the military weekly
Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye, told Reuters it was possible the
extension would be purely technical and last only from April 20,
Sergeyev's birthday, until the inauguration.
Others mentioned as possible defence ministers include the Chief
of General Staff, Anatoly Kvashnin, and the head of defence
committee of the State Duma (lower house of parliament), Andrei
Nikolayev.
