(Bloomberg) -- The son of a longtime ally of Vladimir Putin has taken a role in the Kremlin after voting started in an election that may herald changes in the Russian president’s team. 

Boris Kovalchuk was appointed deputy head of the Presidential Control Directorate, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said on Friday. The 46-year-old stepped down as chief executive officer of utility Inter RAO on Thursday.

Putin is expected to extend his rule for six more years with the election, which started Friday and runs through March 17. The Russian leader may carry out a significant government shake-up for the first time since 2020 after the ballot, Bloomberg News reported this week. 

Read more: Putin Has Russian Elite in a Frenzy Over Their Political Futures

Putin himself joined the Kremlin during Boris Yeltsin’s presidency as deputy head of the property management department and went on to lead the section Kovalchuk is joining.

Kovalchuk’s father, Yury, is a sanctioned financier described by the US Treasury in 2014 as a “personal banker” for Putin and other senior Russian officials.

The new role will allow the former utility boss to take part in overseeing the implementation of presidential orders and decrees, though it won’t necessarily give him direct access to the head of state.

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