On 8 May 2008, Dmitry Medvedev appointed Putin Prime Minister of Russia as he had promised during his election campaign. The nomination was approved by the State Duma with a clear majority of 392–56, with only Communist Party of the Russian Federation deputies voting against.[18]
12 May 2008, Putin proposed the list of names for his new cabinet which Medvedev approved.[52] Most of the personnel remained unchanged from the period of Putin's initial presidency but there were several high-profile changes. The Minister of Justice, Vladimir Ustinov was replaced by Aleksandr Konovalov; the Minister of Energy, Viktor Khristenko was replaced with Sergei Shmatko; the Minister of Communications, Leonid Reiman was replaced with Igor Shchyogolev and Vitaliy Mutko received the newly created position of Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth policy.[18]
In the presidential administration, Medvedev replaced Sergei Sobyanin with Sergei Naryshkin as the head of the administration. The head of the Federal Security Service, Nikolai Patrushev, was replaced with Alexander Bortnikov.[18] Medvedev's economic adviser Arkady Dvorkovich and his press attaché Natalya Timakova became part of the president's core team. Medvedev's old classmate from his student years, Konstantin Chuichenko, became his personal assistant.[23]
Medvedev was reported to have taken care not to upset the balance of different factions in the presidential administration and in the government. However, the influence of the powerful security/military-related siloviki weakened after Medvedev's inauguration for the first time in 20 years. In their place, Medvedev brought in the so-called civiliki, a network of St. Petersburg civil law scholars preferred by Medvedev for high positions.[23][53]