¡¡¡¡MOSCOW, Oct. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree, dismissing chief of staff Alexander Voloshin from duty, Russian news agencies reported Thursday.

¡¡¡¡Putin, in the meantime, pointed Dmitry Medvedev chief of the presidential administration, Kremlin spokesman Alexei Gromov was quoted as saying.

¡¡¡¡Voloshin, 47, served as the chief of the presidential administration since March, 1999 when Putin's predecessor Boris Yeltsin still ruled the country. He succeeded the post after Putin elected the president.

¡¡¡¡The Thursday announcement came after days of rumors that Voloshin had resigned over the weekend arrest and jailing of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the head of the Russian oil giant Yukos.

¡¡¡¡Voloshin holds different views with the Kremlin over the disputed Yukos case, local media reported. Enditem ¡¡