Russia's Medvedev bans title of 'president' for regional heads

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a law that bans the use of the title of ‘president” for regional heads, The Voice of Russia reported referring to a statement by the Kremlin’s press service.

The State Duma made amendments to that end on December 21, while the Council of Federation approved these on the December 24.
The amendments were submitted to parliament for consideration by the regional heads proper.

The first to have made the suggestion was the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. So far only 12 of the 83 regional leaders in Russia have been using the title of ‘president’ with reference to themselves.