Veteran leader quits as Kremlin shakes up regions

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (R) and Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiyev visit Nizhnekamskneftekhim petrochemical company in the city of Nizhnekamsk, November 17, 2009.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin announced on Friday that a powerful regional leader would step down as part of a bid by President Dmitry Medvedev to replace veteran Russian leaders with a new generation of politicians.

Mintimer Shaimiyev, 73, who has run the predominantly Muslim oil-rich region of Tatarstan since 1991, told Medvedev he would leave his post in March, the Kremlin said in a statement.

"Shaimiyev explained that he supported the course laid out by Medvedev ... and considers it necessary to give a younger generation of politicians an opportunity," the Kremlin said.

Medvedev said in December that veteran regional leaders should not serve more than three terms, sparking speculation about the future of other veteran leaders, such as Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov and Bashkortostan leader Murtaza Rakhimov.

Medvedev has said bureaucrats should be rotated through jobs to cut graft and improve standards. But political analysts have suggested Medvedev's real motive may be to replace veterans of earlier regimes with loyalists to help consolidate his power.

Vladimir Putin, now prime minister, hand-picked Medvedev to replace him as president in 2008, but he is still seen as Russia's most powerful politician.

Shaimiyev will be succeeded by the 52-year-old prime minister of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, who is also chairman of the board of directors of oil firm Tatneft, the Kremlin said.

Shaimiyev was one of a generation of powerful regional heads under former president Boris Yeltsin who managed to maintain their positions under the far more centralized rule of Putin during his eight years as president.

Around one-third of Russia's regional bosses were in power before Yeltsin stepped down in 1999.

Eduard Rossel, 72, was replaced as head of the Urals mountains Sverdlovsk region in November after spending most of the previous two decades in power. Volgograd Governor Nikolai Maksyuta stepped down in January after 13 years.

Tatarstan, an industrial region 750 kilometers (450 miles) east of Moscow is also home to Russia's largest truckmaker, Kamaz.

(Editing by Noah Barkin)