Yeltsin's daughter sacked; Kremlin 'family' still in control

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, JAN. 4. Russia's Acting President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, has lost no time in asserting his hand in the Kremlin by reshuffling its staff, but the old guard appears to have stayed in control.

In a high-profile decision, Mr. Putin on Tuesday sacked Ms. Tatyana Dyachenko, younger daughter of the retired President, Mr. Boris Yeltsin, who had served as her father's image-maker and adviser.

In a series of other changes, clearly designed to distance himself from the scandal-ridden Kremlin administration, the Acting President dismissed Mr. Dmitry Yakushkin, Mr. Yeltsin's Press Secretary, Mr. Vladimir Shevchenko, chief of the Kremlin protocol sevice, and Mr. Vladimir Semenchenko, director of the President's chancellery. None of them had much weight in the Kremlin, and moreover they have all been retained on the administration staff as advisers.

The moves overshadowed a far more important decision to re- appoint Mr. Alexander Voloshin as chief of staff. Another key Kremlin insider, Mr. Valentin Yumashev, a long-time confidante of Mr. Yeltsin, has also retained his job as Kremlin adviser. The two officials, together with Ms. Dyachenko, formed the core of the infamous ``family,'' a shadowy clan of top Kremlin advisers and politically connected tycoons, who ruled Russia from behind the stage for most of Mr. Yeltsin's second term.

Ms. Dyachenko's main role in the Kremlin was to convey to Mr. Yeltsin recommendations of the ``family'' in such a way that the fiercely independent ex-President would not reject them outright. Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet President, said in an interview on Tuesday that Ms. Dyachenko and other members of the ``family'' were responsible for persuading Mr. Yeltsin to resign last Friday. Ms. Dyachenko's departure was inevitable after Mr. Yeltsin's resignation, but she is predicted to retain her influence on the Kremlin caucus.

``Dyachenko does not need a Kremlin office to continue to pull strings as long as Voloshin and Yumashev stay on,'' a Kremlin watcher remarked.

Mr. Yeltsin also intends to play a role in politics and is likely to keep an office in the Kremlin, the ex- President's press secretary said.

``It has effectively been already decided that he will have a working office in one of the buildings in the Kremlin where he can come and where everything will be equipped for work,'' Mr. Yakushkin told Echo Moskvy radio.

``I think he will continue to hold meetings, our politicians will come to see him.''

Keeping the ``family'' in the Kremlin, at least until early presidential elections at the end of March, appears to be part of a deal Mr. Yeltsin struck with Mr. Putin. The deal also involved granting Mr. Yeltsin total immunity from prosecution. A decree to the effect was the first document Mr. Putin signed on taking over as Acting President.

Mr. Gorbachev raised concerns that the old regime would continue under Mr. Putin, who is favoured to sweep the presidential poll.

``The regime won't change, there won't be a fight against corruption. The interests and the privileges of the oligarchy will be protected,'' Mr. Gorbachev said.

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Section  : International
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