By Neil Buckley in Moscow

Russia’s new power structure was largely completed on Tuesday as new president Dmitry Medvedev named a series of officials to his presidential administration.

Analysts noted that the most senior appointments were all closely linked to Vladimir Putin, former president and now prime minister, cementing his continuing influence. Some junior positions, however, went to friends and personal allies of Mr Medvedev.

Sergei Naryshkin, a former deputy prime minister, was named head of the Kremlin administration on Monday. Like Mr Putin, Mr Naryshkin is a native of St Petersburg, and rumoured to have a KGB background – though he has never confirmed this.

Among three deputy head of the administration named were Vladislav Surkov, previously a presidential aide seen as the Kremlin’s chief ideologist. Others included Alexei Gromov, for eight years Mr Putin’s press secretary, and Alexander Beglov, previously a presidential aide and head of the control directorate.

Mr Medvedev’s press secretary was named as Natalya Timakova, another longtime Kremlin insider who was co-author of a book of a book of interviews with Mr Putin in 2000. Ms Timakova had acted as Mr Medvedev’s press secretary during his presidential campaign.

Sergei Prikhodko, formerly Mr Putin’s foreign policy adviser, was kept on as a Kremlin aide.

But Arkady Dvorkovich, a young liberal economist seen as close to Mr Medvedev was promoted to the rank of presidential aide. Mr Dvorkovich, 36, had been head of the Kremlin experts’ department.

Konstantin Chuichenko, a friend of Mr Medvedev and fellow graduate of St Petersburg university law school, was also named as a presidential aide and new head of the control directorate. A one-time KGB officer, he was previously head of the legal department at Gazprom, the state gas monopoly that Mr Medvedev chaired, and is a director of RosUkrEnergo, the Russian-Ukrainian gas trading company.

Leonid Reiman, another St Petersburger seen as close to both Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev, who lost his position as telecommunications minister on Monday, was named a presidential adviser – as was Mikhail Zurabov, sacked as health minister last year.