First term (2020–2024) on 16 January 2020 Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, along with his entire
Cabinet, resigned on 15 January 2020, after President Vladimir Putin delivered the
Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, in which he proposed several amendments to the constitution. Medvedev stated that he was resigning to allow Putin to make the significant constitutional changes suggested by Putin regarding shifting power away from the presidency. Putin accepted the resignation. However, on Putin's instructions, the Cabinet continued its work as a caretaker cabinet until the formation of a new government. On 15 January 2020, Putin nominated Mishustin for the post of prime minister. The next day he was confirmed by the State Duma to the post and appointed prime minister by Putin's decree. This was the first time ever that a prime minister was confirmed without any votes against. On 21 January 2020, Mishustin presented to President Vladimir Putin a draft structure of his Cabinet. On the same day, the President signed a decree on the structure of the Cabinet and appointed the proposed Ministers. The cabinet contained multiple members from
Medvedev's Second Cabinet. Only four Deputy Prime Ministers remained (three retaining their positions and one being appointed to another post), along with twelve Ministers. According to many political analysts, Mishustin is the only one of Putin's Prime Ministers who truly formed his "own" cabinet. He gathered a team of his own people and associates. Before that, in the 21st century, only Putin was able to do this. In particular, two Deputy Prime Ministers were deputies of Mishustin in the Federal Tax Service. According to experts, this means that Mishustin has been given
carte blanche for changes. On 26 March 2020, Mishustin proposed to restore the Government's Presidium, a body in the structure of the Cabinet formed to solve operational issues. Previously, such a body existed in Medvedev's First Cabinet, but had been abolished in Medvedev's Second Cabinet. The Cabinet resigned on 7 May 2024 after the
inauguration of Vladimir Putin. However on Putin's instructions the Cabinet continued its work as a caretaker cabinet.
Term Mishustin cut the Federal budget for 2020 to 2022, in correspondence to the
2020 Presidential Address to the Parliament. Mishustin engaged in the digital economy and promised support to large companies. He also suggested creating a common electronic income database for Russians, where all citizens' incomes will be tracked. Since February 2020, Mishustin has started traveling around the country to make a real assessment of living conditions in various regions and identify issues on which it is necessary to strengthen work. Before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Mishustin managed to visit four regions:
Novgorod,
Kurgan,
Yaroslavl and
Kostroma oblasts. In July 2020, after a decline in the active spread of the virus and the lifting of restrictions related to the pandemic, Mishustin resumed his trips, visiting
Tatarstan.
COVID-19 pandemic On 27 January 2020, Mishustin instructed the formation of an operational headquarters for the prevention of
COVID-19 and on 29 January, approved its composition. Deputy Prime Minister
Tatyana Golikova was appointed its chief. On 30 January, he signed an order to close the borders with
China in the
Russian Far East. On 18 February, Mishustin signed an order banning Chinese citizens from entering Russia. The ban has been in effect since 20 February. On 14 March, Mishustin created a Coordinating Council for the fight against coronavirus, which he personally headed. The next day, by presidential decree, a working group of the
State Council was created, headed by Moscow Mayor
Sergey Sobyanin. However, according to
Dmitry Peskov, Mishustin's Coordinating Council is more important than Sobyanin's Working Group. at the Coronavirus Monitoring Center on 17 March 2020 Since 16 March 2020, flights to and from the
European Union,
Norway and
Switzerland are limited to regular flights between capital cities (or
Geneva in case of Switzerland) and
Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport, and charter flights. Mishustin furthermore announced the closure of
the border with Belarus for the movement of people, for which he was criticized by Belarusian President
Alexander Lukashenko, and an entry ban for foreigners imposed from 18 March to 1 May. In addition, borders with other countries bordering Russia were also closed. On 18 and 19 March, Mishustin announced measures to support business. In particular, he instructed to defer the payment of taxes for travel agencies and airlines, as well as to defer insurance premiums for small businesses. On 19 March, he also announced the government's control over food and drug prices due to the coronavirus. It also temporarily lifted all restrictions on the supply of essential goods. On 20 March, Mishustin proclaimed that flights to the United States, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates would be restricted. On the same day, Mishustin announced that six drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 had been developed in Russia and were being tested. On 27 March, as a follow-up to Putin's address to the nation, Mishustin ordered all reservations at
pensions or
holiday houses to be cancelled from 28 March to 1 June, recommended regional authorities to close all the
pistes at resorts for the same period, instructed them to force all the public eating places (except for delivery services) to suspend activities from 28 March to 5 April, and recommend the citizens to refrain from travelling. On 30 March, as Moscow and Moscow Oblast declared a lockdown, Mishustin urged all regions to follow the example and take similar measures. He also announced a bill that would raise fines for breaching quarantine requirements. On 1 April, Mishustin and the
Minister of Communications Maxut Shadayev announced creating a system of tracking quarantine violation based on data of
mobile network operators. Violators will receive a text message, and if they breach it systematically, the information will be sent to the police. After testing positive for
COVID-19 on 30 April, he suggested to President Putin that his deputy
Andrey Belousov be appointed to take over for him as the acting prime minister. Putin signed a decree to that effect, appointing Belousov to the role on an acting basis, following Mishustin's recommendation. After recovering, Mishustin resumed discharging his duties as prime minister on 19 May, following Putin signing a decree permitting him to do so. He was the highest-ranking Russian official and the second head of government in the world (after British PM
Boris Johnson) to become infected with the virus.
Economic recovery plan On 1 June 2020, Mishustin announced that a national plan to restore the economy, employment and income of the population after the coronavirus pandemic was ready and on 2 June he presented the plan to President Putin. The plan included 3 stages, 9 sections, 30 priority areas and about 500 events. According to the plan, the recovery of the economy was given one and a half years – until the end of 2021. The goals of the plan were to achieve sustainable growth in real incomes, reduce the unemployment rate to less than 5%, and ensure that GDP growth rates are at least 2.5% per year.
Domestic policy IT industry on 9 July 2020 In June 2020, Mishustin proposed a tax maneuver for IT companies in order to reduce the load and create a comfortable competitive regime in this area. President Putin supported this idea and instructed the government to work on it. As part of the maneuver, Mishustin proposed to reduce the income tax on IT companies from 20% to 3%, as well as to reduce insurance premiums from 14% to 7.6%. On June 23, Putin officially announced the tax maneuver prepared by Mishustin. On 9 July 2020, Mishustin visited
Tatarstan where he took part in the IT conference, where he met with the managers of the country's leading IT companies. During his speech, Mishustin spoke about the government's program for the development of the IT industry, which includes a new tax regime, support for innovation, assistance to startups, development of public-private partnerships, etc. According to him, the Russian jurisdiction should become the most attractive for IT companies. Mishustin stated: "It is obvious that following the leaders of digitalization leads countries to a new digital dependence. Russia cannot afford to take a place among the dependent countries, which means that we have no choice, we must go forward and be leaders."
Transport conduct a helicopter inspection of the construction of the Moscow–Kazan highway on 10 July 2020 On 10 July 2020, during his trip to Tatarstan, Mishustin launched the construction of the Moscow –
Kazan highway, which will become part of the route Europe - Western China. Mishustin called this construction the largest road project in Russia. Given the significance of the project (which is one of the parts of the plan to restore the economy after the
coronavirus crisis), Mishustin instructed to launch the highway in 2024, which is three years earlier than originally planned. For this purpose, he promised to allocate additional funds. In addition, he instructed Transport Minister
Yevgeny Dietrich to work on the issue of extending the highway to
Yekaterinburg by 2030.
Administrative reform On 16 November 2020, Mishustin announced an administrative reform aimed at optimizing the state apparatus and its efficiency. As part of the reform, it is planned to reduce the number of civil servants (mainly at the expense of positions that remain vacant), and bring the structure of Federal Executive bodies to uniform standards. It is also planned to reorganize the majority of
federal state unitary enterprises. According to the draft, they should be liquidated or transformed into joint-stock companies with further privatization. On 23 November 2020, Mishustin also announced the optimization of the so-called development institutions (state funds, agencies and companies engaged in stimulating innovation processes using public-private partnership mechanisms). As part of this reform, it is planned to form an investment block based on
VEB.RF, with the transfer of a number of the development institutions under its management, as well as the direct transfer of the functions of the abolished institutions to it.
Migration policy In October 2023, Mishustin held a strategic session of the Russian Government on migration policy, during which he stated the need to control migration flows in order to ensure security. He called for ensuring an adequate level of control over the stay of migrant workers in Russia and effectively identifying illegal migrants and those who are prone to illegal activities. Also during the session, Mishustin announced plans to introduce an electronic register of migrant workers and their employers.
Climate and environment In 2021, Mishustin stated that nature protection is one of the priorities of governmental policy. According to him, emissions of dangerous pollutants are being reduced, landfills are being eliminated, public transport is being converted to alternative fuels, a modern waste recycling infrastructure is being created, and a transition to a closed-loop economy is being ensured. In February 2022, Mishustin approved the environmental development program until 2030, which provides for the creation of high-tech technological solutions aimed at studying the climate, mechanisms for adaptation to climate change and its consequences, as well as measures to reduce the negative impact of gases on the environment.
Foreign policy , on 31 January 2020 , on 17 July 2020 , on 14 May 2021 in Moscow, on 21 March 2023 According to the
BBC, "Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has the unenviable task of rescuing the economy but has little say over" the
Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to sources close to the Kremlin, Mishustin was unaware of Putin's plans to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and does not want to be associated with the war. In May 2023, Mishustin and Deputy Prime Minister
Alexander Novak visited Beijing and met with Chinese President
Xi Jinping. Mishustin said that "relations between Russia and China are at an unprecedented high level." In April 2024, Mishustin emphasized the preservation and strengthening of Russia's presence in key regional international organizations such as
BRICS and the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Mishustin also spoke about his intention to deepen the dialogue with other international organizations that are constructive to Russia. According to him, Russia is working hard to develop cooperation with its strategic partners against the background of unprecedented sanctions from Western countries.
Second-term (2024–present) On 7 May 2024 after the
Fifth inauguration of Vladimir Putin, Mishustin resigned along with the government. On May 9, 2024, Putin again nominated Mishustin for the post of prime minister. On May 10, the State Duma approved Mishustin as Prime Minister for a second term. On 11 May 2024, President Vladimir Putin approved the structure of the Cabinet of Ministers. In general, the structure of the Government has remained the same. As in the previous cabinet, the new one will have one First Deputy Prime Minister and 9 Deputy Prime Ministers. Also, the positions of Federal Ministers remained unchanged. At the same time, the post of Minister of Industry and Trade was separated from the post of deputy prime minister. On the same day, Mikhail Mishustin nominated candidates for the positions of Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers. State Duma approved the candidates for the posts of the First Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers on 13 May and for the posts of Federal Ministers on 14 May. On 12 May 2024, President Vladimir Putin nominated candidates for the positions of Ministers of Defense, Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, Justice and Emergency Situations. Of the five ministers, four retained their positions. At the same time, former First Deputy Prime Minister
Andrey Belousov was nominated for the post of Defence Minister instead
Sergey Shoygu, who was appointed new Secretary of the
Security Council. Federation Council held relevant consultations on 14 May. On 14 May 2024, President Vladimir Putin appointed the approved nominees for Deputy Prime Ministers and Federal Ministers.
Term In July 2024, Mishustin announced the signing of a concession agreement that will launch the construction of the
Moscow–Saint Petersburg high-speed railway. In November 2024, Mishustin took part in the Russian Transport Forum. During his speech at the forum, Mishustin spoke about plans to increase the intensity of flights in Russia by 1.5 times over the next six years. According to him, to ensure such growth, it is planned to modernize more than a third of the airport infrastructure in the country. In November 2024, Mishustin participated in the
2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference in
Baku,
Azerbaijan. During his speech at the conference session, Mishustin said that Russia has managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than half compared to 1990 levels. According to him, by 2060, Russia is planning to become carbon neutral, with an emphasis on improving energy efficiency, developing electric transport, and introducing modern solutions to agriculture and forestry. According to Mishustin, in Russia, 85% of the energy balance is accounted for by clean, low-emission generation. These are primarily gas, nuclear and renewable energy sources. In May 2025, Mishustin was tasked by the State Duma's Deputy Speaker
Victoria Abramchenko with solving the over-capacity problems of
Rostselmash, which is the largest manufacturer of farm machinery in Russia. Some 15,000 people are employed there, and it had trouble selling its machines in 2025. == Sanctions ==