Members of the State Duma Committee on Regional Policy and Problems of the North and the Far East supported the candidacy of Alexei Chekunkov for the post of Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic.

On Monday, November 9, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said he had submitted the candidacy of Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic Alexander Kozlov for the post of Minister of Natural Resources and Environment to the State Duma. Earlier, President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order dismissing the incumbent Minister, Dmitry Kobylkin.

That same day, Mishustin suggested that State Duma members discuss the candidacy of Alexei Chekunkov, General Director of the Far East and Arctic Development Fund, for the post of Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic. Nikolai Kharitonov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Regional Policy and Problems of the North and the Far East, said the lower house of parliament would approve the candidacies of new ministers, suggested by Mishustin, at a plenary meeting.

Opening the session, Kharitonov said the meeting was quorate. The deputies knew Chekunkov well in his previous capacity, he added.