By appointing new leaders from outside the current group of political elites, Vladimir Putin may be laying the ground for future conflicts.
These appointments are anti-elite per se; they reflect, above all, Putin's deep disappointment in the country's current political elite in general and in its ruling clique in particular. They also reflect his utmost unwillingness not only to consult with this elite on the matter of staff appointments, for example, but even to reckon with it and to display any signs of attention and respect for it.
Appointing these men, and Zubkov in particular, reveals that there is one thing of utmost importance to Putin - that they not be involved in any of the present elite groups. The fact that Zubkov is not known to be part of any presently active cliques or deals is crucial because deep down, Putin really doesn't trust anyone who is part of the competition for contracts and projects. He wants to trust people like Zubkov who seems to be, if not absolutely from outside the system, then at least from the system's periphery.
