The Golden 1,000

A document called the Golden 1,000 is drawing attention to the failings of the Kremlin’s traditional recruitment procedure. 

Apparently suffering from a lack of competent personnel thanks to years of good old-fashioned nepotism, the Kremlin is to receive an injection of Russian talent via a recruitment drive initiated by President Dmitry Medvedev last summer.  Under Medvedev’s plan, members of a Duma commission have been scouring the country for ‘the most talented, creative-thinking and professional people’ who, the plan goes, will fill Russia’s senior government posts.

From the Moscow Times:

The recruitment drive highlights […] the need for a new generation of managers to replace the Soviet-era nomenklatura, and Kremlin watchers say the initiative is an attempt to lessen the influence of civil servants directly loyal to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Medvedev has reached out to Communists, nationalists and liberal politicians alike to create the pool of potential applicants, with the Kremlin contacting all four parties in the State Duma and asking them to submit the names of potential candidates for government jobs.

The list of Medvedev’s so-called “Golden 1,000” includes scientists, members of nongovernmental organizations, regional and federal officials and businesspeople, Medvedev said in a meeting with his presidential envoys.

The best possible outcome of such a drive would be to dilute some of the government power currently concentrated on Vladimir Putin.  Whether or not it will have this effect is another question.