Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin wasted no time in naming his new Cabinet on May 12, bringing in loyalists from the Kremlin in what was seen as an effort to shift the center of power to his new place of work.

He also left several prominent ministers untouched, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin.

Putin announced the 24 positions, eight of them new, at a Cabinet meeting in the government headquarters.

President Dmitry Medvedev, Putin's hand-picked successor who was inaugurated recently, quickly approved the appointments.