Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told Russian journalists April 6 that the head of the federal space agency, Roscosmos, will retire soon, hinting he would step down by the end of the month. “Anatoly Nikolevich Perminov is 66; under Russian law, state officials are not allowed to serve after this age,” Ivanov said, according to the state news agency RIA Novosti.
But a spokesman for Perminov said he has no plans to retire or resign early, and criticized the Russian policy. “The current law doesn’t consider the real physical state of top officials,” said Perminov spokesman Alexander Vorobyov, according to Bloomberg News. “The Roscosmos chief can do more pull-ups than any candidate for his position who has been reported in media.”
Rumors of Perminov’s resignation first emerged after he was reprimanded following the loss of three Glonass-M navigation satellites in a December mishap.
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