MOSCOW. March 4 (Interfax) - The establishment of a pool of political analysts of different political preferences by the Kremlin has likely been motivated by the presidential staff's desire to assess impartiality of pro-government experts' analysis, says Gleb Pavlovsky, the president of the Efficient Politics Foundation think-tank.
"The administration's members are interested in knowing analysts' opinions, among other things, in order to adjust the opinions of those with whom the Kremlin works. Perhaps the administration in this case wants to understand whether their analysts say the same or something different," Pavlovsky told Interfax on Friday.
While the Kremlin could take judgments by these experts into account in making its decisions, they cannot be of paramount significance, he said.
"This looks more like an informal exchange of opinions, which can hardly serve as a basis for decision-making," he said.
Yevgeny Minchenko, the general director of the International Institute for Political Expertise (IIPE), believes the Kremlin has made a pragmatic decision to be able to impartially analyze the pre-election situation.
"I believe the idea to set up such a pool is a pragmatic step. Independent information is in demand and is productive," Minchenko told Interfax on Friday.
It was reported earlier that the Kremlin has decided to set up a group of political analysts to gather information on the pre-election situation and analyze it.