moscow

Vladimir Bulgak, formerly a deputy prime minister whose responsibilities included science and technology, was made minister of science and technology in last week's cabinet reshuffle by Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

Unlike Vladimir Fortov, who lost his position in the cabinet as minister of science and technology policy, Bulgak is not a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. That should reduce the possibility of a conflict of interests in dividing government funding between different scientific organizations.

Bulgak has been an active supporter of reforms to the academy, and has rejected demands from scientific labour unions that such reforms should be postponed (see Nature 388, 315 & 390, 328 1997).

He had been considered as a possible candidate to succeed former prime minister Victor Chernomyrdin.