72-year-old Nikolai Patruszew, the erstwhile Secretary of the safety Council, who was widely believed to be highly loyal to Putin, was transferred to the position of assistant president of the FR on shipbuilding. This is 1 of the biggest surprises in the fresh hand of Russian power structures. Patruszev, acting as Secretary of the safety Council for 16 years, made it appear to be a façade body, **one of the most crucial institutions affecting the safety apparatus and having direct access to Putin**. Although it has no formal direct power, it is simply a kind of mediator in reaching a consensus between competing interest groups in the power apparatus.
