Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday added intrigue to the unsettled but widely debated question of who might succeed him as Russia's leader next year when he promoted his minister of defense in an unexpected tinkering with his Cabinet.
Sergei Ivanov, a former KGB officer who became the first civilian to head the country's military in 2001, will now serve as a first deputy prime minister, giving him expanded duties.
He will have the same rank in government and title as another closely watched contender, Dmitri Medvedev.
Friends
The two men, who are friends and close aides from Putin's hometown, St. Petersburg, have emerged as the leading candidates to replace Putin when he completes a second and -- by law -- final term.
Presidential elections will be held in March next year.
The move, which went largely unexplained like most of Putin's actions, is certain to intensify speculation over which of the two might have the upper hand for Putin's endorsement.
Putin's blessing would virtually guarantee a candidate's election, given his popularity and the centralized control of politics here.
Reshuffling
Since Putin's last noteable Cabinet reshuffling in November 2005, Medvedev had officially become Ivanov's superior in the Russian government.
Medvedev also serves as chairman of Russian energy giant Gazprom.
"I think it is the formulation of the two candidates for the presidency of the Russian Federation in 2008," said Sergei Markov, director of the Institute of Political Studies.
Ivanov's will be replaced as defense minister by Anatoly Serdyukov, a former Army officer and furniture manufacturer.
Serdyukov has served as a tax inspector since Putin became president in 2000.
Since July 2004, he has served as the head of the Federal Tax Service, an agency that has streamlined itself significantly.
However, the tax service is still a feared bureaucracy that critics say has been used selectively to punish opponents.
At a news conference earlier this month, Putin faced repeated questions about his successor, but refused to answer them directly.
"Everyone who should be is already working in his proper place," he said, without offering a hint of the reshuffling he announced on Thursday.
"And what we should do is not to make a fuss about future elections but, as I have said, it provide the citizens with an opportunity for them to make a free and democratic choice."
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