Anatoly Borisovich Chubais (russian: Анатолий Борисович Чубайс; born 16 June 1955) is a Russian politician and economist who was responsible for
privatization in Russia
Privatization in Russia describes the series of post-Soviet reforms that resulted in large-scale privatization of Russia's state-owned assets, particularly in the industrial, energy, and financial sectors. Most privatization took place in the e ...
as an influential member of
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
's administration in the early 1990s. During this period, he was a key figure in introducing a
market economy
A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...
and the principles of private ownership to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
after the fall of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
From 1998 to 2008, he headed the state-owned electrical power monopoly
RAO UES
OAO RAO UES (OAO Unified Energy System of Russia; russian: ЕЭС России or russian: Единая Энергетическая Система) was an electric power holding company in Russia. It controlled about 70% of Russia's installed el ...
. A 2004 survey conducted by
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...
and the ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' named Chubais the world's 54th most respected business leader. He was the head of the
Russian Nanotechnology Corporation
Rusnano Group (russian: Роснано АО, lit=Rosnano plc.) is a Russian state-established and funded company. The Rusnano Group's mission is to create competitive nanotechnology-based industry in Russia. Rusnano invests directly and through ...
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
, 22 September 2008. He was a member of the Advisory Council for
JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...
from September 2008 until 2013. From December 2020, he served as a special envoy of the Russian president for relations with international organisations.
On 23 March 2022, Chubais resigned from his position of special envoy and left Russia due to his opposition to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, according to media reports. He is the highest ranked Russian figure to resign due to the invasion.
Early life
Chubais was born on 16 June 1955 in the town of
Borisov
Borisov or Borisova may refer to:
Places
* Barysaw, or Borisov, Belarus
** Borisov Arena, a football stadium
** Battle of Borisov, 1812
* Borisov, Volgograd Oblast, Russia
* Borišov, a mountain in Slovakia
* Borisova, Perm Krai, Russia
* Bor ...
,
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
, which was then part of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' His father was Russian and his mother was
Lithuanian Jewish
Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent area ...
. His father, a retired army
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
and veteran of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, was in the military at the time of Chubais' birth, and later worked as a lecturer of
Philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
. Though his mother received a degree in economics at university, she opted to stay home to care for their children on the military bases where her husband was regularly assigned.Чубайс, Анатолий Collection of materials at
Lenta.ru
''Lenta.ru'' (russian: Лента.Ру; stylised as LƐNTA.RU) is a Russian-language online newspaper. Based in Moscow, it is owned by Rambler Media Group. In 2013, the Alexander Mamut-owned companies "SUP Media" and "Rambler-Afisha" merged to ...
Anatoly Chubais has an older brother,
Igor Chubais
Igor Borisovich Chubais (russian: И́горь Бори́сович Чуба́йс; born 26 April 1947, Berlin, Soviet occupation zone of Germany) is a Russian philosopher and sociologist, Doctor of Sciences, and the author of many scientific and ...
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
"Hymn of the Bolshevik Party"
, headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow
, general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last)
, founded =
, banned =
, founder = Vladimir Lenin
, newspaper ...
until 1991 when he left it.
Career
Early career (1977–1991)
While later working at LEEI, Chubais started a club called Reforma, which helped turn the city of Leningrad into a model of political reform by constructing platforms for both local and national elections. Reforma also engaged in drafting reformist legislation, an important step down the road when Chubais would work in the city government.Janine R. Wedel. 2009. "Shadow Elite", Basic Books, Page 16. In 1982, he attained the rank of
Associate Professor
Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''.
Overview
In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...
(доцент) at LEEI, while in 1983, he received his
Candidate of Sciences
Candidate of Sciences (russian: кандидат наук, translit=kandidat nauk) is the first of two doctoral level scientific degrees in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is formally classified as UNESCO's ISCED level 8, "do ...
(Ph.D.) degree in Economics for the dissertation entitled "Исследование и разработка методов планирования совершенствования управления в отраслевых научно-технических организациях" (Research and Development of Methods for the Planned Improvement of Management in Industrial Research and Development Organizations).
Starting in the early 1980s, Chubais became a leader of an informal circle of
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
-oriented economists in Leningrad. In 1982, together with economists Yury Yarmagayev and Grigory Glazkov, he published an article titled "Вопросы расширения хозяйственной самостоятельности предприятий в условиях научно-технического прогресса" (Questions of Expanding the Autonomy of Business Enterprises under the conditions of Scientific and Technological Progress) in which the authors argue that no amount of central planning can predict the end-demand for products. In 1982, Chubais was introduced to the future
Prime Minister of Russia
The chairman of the government of the Russian Federation, also informally known as the prime minister, is the nominal head of government of Russia. Although the post dates back to 1905, its current form was established on 12 December 1993 fo ...
Yegor Gaidar
Yegor Timurovich Gaidar (russian: link=no, Его́р Тиму́рович Гайда́р; ; 19 March 1956 – 16 December 2009) was a Soviet and Russian economist, politician, and author, and was the Acting Prime Minister of Russia from 15 Ju ...
, who was invited to and attended
seminar
A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...
s led by Chubais.
By 1987, Chubais had become the organiser of the
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
chapter of the club Perestroyka, whose mission was to promote and discuss democratic ideas among the local
intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the in ...
. Among the people involved were his brother, Igor, who had founded the Moscow-based chapter of the Perestroyka and Perestroyka-88 clubs, future Russian Deputy Prime Minister
Alexei Kudrin
Alexei Leonidovich Kudrin ( rus, Алексе́й Леони́дович Ку́дрин, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ ˈkudrʲɪn; born 12 October 1960) is a Russian liberal politician and economist. Previously he served as the C ...
, future Chubais associates Pyotr Mostovoy and Alexander Kazakov, the future President of Saint Petersburg bank Vladimir Kogan, future Minister of Anti-Monopoly Policy and Entrepreneurship Support Ilya Yuzhanov, and future Deputy Governor of Saint Petersburg
Mikhail Manevich
Mikhail Manevich (russian: Михаил Владиславович Маневич, February 18, 1961 in Leningrad, Soviet Union – August 18, 1997 in Saint Petersburg, Russia) was a Russian economist and official of the Saint Petersburg City A ...
.
The dissident economists organized a
tulip
Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm ...
farm to finance their seminars. In the four days before the
International Women's Day
International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...
(8 March), they managed to get income equivalent to the price of several Lada cars. The tulip money was used to finance the elections of
Anatoly Sobchak
Anatoly Aleksandrovich Sobchak ( rus, Анатолий Александрович Собчак, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ sɐpˈtɕak; 10 August 1937 – 19 February 2000) was a Soviet and Russian politician, a co-author of the ...
,
Yury Boldyrev
Yury Yurievich Boldyrev (russian: Юрий Юрьевич Болдырев, born May 29, 1960) is a Russian economist and politician, he was a Senator from St. Petersburg from 1993 to 1995, and Deputy Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of Russia fr ...
and many other democratic candidates. As a result, 2/3 of the deputies winning the 1990 elections to
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
were from the opposition. Chubais himself later stated that he personally did not participate in growing or selling of the flowers.
At the end of 1990, the economist Vitaly Nayshul proposed the idea of using
vouchers
A voucher is a bond of the redeemable transaction type which is worth a certain money, monetary value and which may be spent only for specific reasons or on specific goods. Examples include house, housing, travel, and food vouchers. The term vouc ...
to facilitate mass privatization in order to transform the Soviet Union into a
market economy
A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...
. Chubais strongly criticized the scheme at the time, citing the inevitable inequality and social tensions that would result if implemented as proposed. Ironically, Chubais would later become the champion of the same concept just several years later.
Privatization chief in Leningrad (1990–1994)
In 1990, upon the election of Anatoly Sobchak as Chairman of the Leningrad City Council, Chubais assumed the position of his Deputy. He was trying to implement Sobchak's idea of creating a
Free Economic Zone
Free economic zones (FEZ), free economic territories (FETs) or free zones (FZ) are a class of special economic zone (SEZ) designated by the trade and commerce administrations of various countries. The term is used to designate areas in which co ...
in Leningrad. In 1991, Chubais declined the offer to become the Chairman of Leningrad
Ispolkom The Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, commonly known as the Ispolkom (russian: исполком, исполнительный комитет, literally " executive committee") was a self-appointed executive committee of the Petrograd So ...
to instead become an advisor to the mayoral administration in
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
(by now renamed St. Petersburg) where Sobchak had just been elected mayor. At the same time, Chubais worked as the president of newly established
Wassily Leontief
Wassily Wassilyevich Leontief (russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Лео́нтьев; August 5, 1905 – February 5, 1999), was a Soviet-American economist known for his research on input–output analysis and how changes in one ec ...
Center for Research in Economics.
In Yeltsin government (1992–1999)
In November 1991, Chubais became a minister in the Yeltsin Cabinet where he managed the portfolio of
Rosimushchestvo
The Federal Agency for State Property Management (Rosimushchestvo) () is a subdivision of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development that manages Russia's federal state property.
History
The agency was formed by a presidential decree, No.314, ...
(the Committee for the Management of State Property) which was handling
privatization in Russia
Privatization in Russia describes the series of post-Soviet reforms that resulted in large-scale privatization of Russia's state-owned assets, particularly in the industrial, energy, and financial sectors. Most privatization took place in the e ...
.
Chubais originally advocated rapid privatization in order to raise revenue, similar to the model used in Hungary. However, the
Congress of People's Deputies of Russia
The Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian SFSR (russian: Съезд народных депутатов РСФСР) and since 1991 Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation (russian: Съезд народных депута ...
rejected this model. Eventually, a compromise was proposed in the form of a
voucher privatization
Voucher privatization is a privatization method where citizens are given or can inexpensively buy a book of vouchers that represent potential shares in any state-owned company. Voucher privatization has mainly been used in the early to mid-1990s i ...
Supreme Soviet of Russia
The Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR (russian: Верховный Совет РСФСР, ''Verkhovny Sovet RSFSR''), later Supreme Soviet of the Russia, Russian Federation (russian: Верховны ...
adopted this compromise and the massive program was officially initiated by decree of President
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
on 19 August 1991. This privatization program later came under heavy criticism. While most Russian citizens lost their savings in only a few weeks, a few oligarchs rapidly became billionaires by arbitraging the vast difference between the old domestic prices for Russian commodities versus the prices prevailing on the world market. The people who benefited from this arbitrage became known as " kleptocrats"Johanna Granville "''Dermokratizatsiya'' and ''Prikhvatizatsiya'': The Russian Kleptocracy and Rise of Organized Crime," 'Demokratizatsiya'' (summer 2003), pp. 448–457. because they stashed billions of dollars in
Swiss bank accounts
Banking in Switzerland dates to the early eighteenth century through Switzerland's merchant trade and has, over the centuries, grown into a complex, regulated, and international industry. Banking is seen as emblematic of Switzerland, along wit ...
rather than investing in the Russian economy.
From November 1994 until January 1996, Chubais held the position of deputy prime minister for economic and financial policy in the Russian government."Anatoly Chubais" Rusnano. Retrieved 5 June 2013. Thanks to liberalizing reforms carried out in 1995, the Russian Government was finally enjoying a measure of financial stability, something its politicians had been seeking ever since the resignation of
Yegor Gaidar
Yegor Timurovich Gaidar (russian: link=no, Его́р Тиму́рович Гайда́р; ; 19 March 1956 – 16 December 2009) was a Soviet and Russian economist, politician, and author, and was the Acting Prime Minister of Russia from 15 Ju ...
in 1993. By the end of 1995, the average annual inflation rate had declined from 18% down to 3%.
From April 1995 until February 1996, Chubais also represented Russia in two international financial institutions – the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, that is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers l ...
(IBRD) and the
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is an international financial institution which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. These guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against ...
(MIGA).
After resigning as deputy prime minister in January 1996, Chubais agreed to manage Boris Yeltsin's reelection campaign. By this time according to public opinion surveys, Yeltsin's approval rating had fallen to roughly 3%. Chubais established the Civil Society Foundation as well as Yeltsin's Campaign Analytical Group, which became one part of the Foundation. The group helped Yeltsin regain popularity and win re-election in the second round of the polls on 3 July 1994, capturing 53.82% of the popular vote.
From July 1996 until March 1997, Chubais was the chief of the
Russian Presidential Administration
The Presidential Executive Office of Russia or the Presidential Administration of Russia ( rus, Администрация Президента Российской Федерации, Administratsiya Prezidenta Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the ex ...
The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries.
Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...
'', 5 December 1996. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
Chubais participated in the
Bilderberg Club
The Bilderberg meeting (also known as the Bilderberg Group) is an annual off-the-record conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defin ...
Tatyana Yumasheva
Tatyana Borisovna Yumasheva (russian: link=no, Татьяна Борисовна Юмашева, formerly Dyachenko, Дьяченко, née Yeltsina, Ельцина; born 17 January 1960) is the younger daughter of former Russian President Bori ...
, Chubais opposed the nomination of
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
as
Prime Minister of Russia
The chairman of the government of the Russian Federation, also informally known as the prime minister, is the nominal head of government of Russia. Although the post dates back to 1905, its current form was established on 12 December 1993 fo ...
and Yeltsin's successor in 1999. Although Chubais believed Putin was qualified for the position, he feared that his appointment would be rejected by the
State Duma
The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...
In 1998, Chubais was elected to the chairman of the board of
RAO UES
OAO RAO UES (OAO Unified Energy System of Russia; russian: ЕЭС России or russian: Единая Энергетическая Система) was an electric power holding company in Russia. It controlled about 70% of Russia's installed el ...
of Russia, the state-owned electricity monopoly, at a special general meeting of shareholders; he soon was also appointed chairman of the board.
Since 2000, Chubais consistently defended the need for further reform, which included dis-aggregating
power generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its stor ...
distribution Distribution may refer to:
Mathematics
*Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations
* Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...
activities from the monopoly holding company in order to facilitate the subsequent sale of a majority of shares to private investors. Chubais was convinced that the un-bundling and privatization of the state monopoly were the only mechanisms able to raise the substantial funds needed to modernize Russia's electricity sector.
He was elected president of the CIS Electric Power Council (2000), and later was repeatedly re-elected to that post from 2001 to 2004.Company profile. History of the reform THE ANNUAL REPORT RAO "UES OF RUSSIA" 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
In addition to reforms, Chubais and his team raised more than $30 billion in private investments for the Russian electric power sector. The funds were used to finance the construction of new facilities: 130 new units with a total capacity of about 29,000 MW, 10,000 kilometers of transmission lines, 60,000 kilometers of distribution network lines, and thousands of electrical sub-stations of all classes of voltage. His reforms also helped eliminate the use of barter payments and significantly reduced the number of payment defaults in the sector.
On 17 March 2005, he survived an assassination attempt.
Vladimir Kvachkov
Vladimir Vasilievich Kvachkov (russian: Владимир Васильевич Квачков; born 5 August 1948) is a Russian former Spetsnaz colonel and military intelligence officer, known for being arrested and charged for the attempted as ...
was charged for the crime, but was acquitted by a jury.
In 2007, the Russian newspaper
Vedomosti
''Vedomosti'' ( rus, Ведомости, p=ˈvʲedəməsʲtʲɪ, ) is a Russian language, Russian-language business journalism, business daily newspaper published in Moscow.
History
''Vedomosti'' was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between ...
named Chubais the "Professional of the Year". The paper called him the only professional reformer in Russia because of his achievements in breaking of one monopoly into dozens of independent entities, introducing market forces into the electricity distribution system, and transforming a government institution structure into one attractive for private investment and management.
In July 2008, RAO UES of Russia ceased to exist as a legal entity.
RUSNANO (2008–2020)
Since September 2008, Chubais has been General Manager of the State Corporation Rosnanotech.
The official business of the corporation is to promote innovation and modernization in Russia's economy in several areas. For example, RUSNANO forms an important part of the government's strategy to find economic alternatives to fossil fuels. The corporation has set a target of 900 billions rubles in sales by 2015. In the past, Chubais has compared RUSNANO to a garden in which the corporation cultivates innovative business ventures. Over its eight years of operation (2007–2015), RUSNANO has completed over 100 investment projects which resulted in the opening of 68 new plants and 28 R&D centers. As stated in the annual RUSNANO groups' financial report, the value of RUSNANO's portfolio was estimated in 2015 at 227.7 billion rubles and its net income at 17 billion rubles.
Chubais has been a member of the Skolkovo Foundation Council since 2010, and in 2011 was elected chairman of the board of LTD RUSNANO.
He left the organization in December 2020.
Resignation (2022)
On 23 March 2022, after Russia launched a large-scale
invasion of Ukraine
The territory of present-day Ukraine has been Invasion, invaded or Military occupation, occupied a number of times throughout History of Ukraine, its history.
List
See also
*List of invasions
*List of wars involving Ukraine
References
...
, Chubais quit his official positions, including that as climate envoy, stating that he was opposed to the invasion, according to media reports. Kremlin spokesperson
Dmitry Peskov
Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov ( rus, Дмитрий Сергеевич Песков, p=pʲɪˈskof; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat and the press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Chubais left Russia, arriving in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, Turkey, on the same day, planning to remain abroad.
Alexei Navalny
Alexei Anatolievich Navalny ( rus, links=no, Алексей Анатольевич Навальный, , ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ nɐˈvalʲnɨj; born 4 June 1976) is a Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, Russian opposition ...
's spokesperson,
Kira Yarmysh
Kira Aleksandrovna Yarmysh (, ; born October 11, 1989) is a Russian public figure and writer. She is best known as the press secretary and assistant of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the author of the 2020 novel "Incredible Incide ...
, suggested that Chubais had "left Russia only out of fear for his own skin and his own money". He was the highest ranked Kremlin official to resign following the start of the invasion, though he is not a member of Putin's inner circle.
Personal life
Chubais is married to
Dunya Smirnova
Avdotya (Dunya) Smirnova (russian: Авдотья (Дуня) Смирнова; born 29 June 1969) is a Russian screenwriter, film director, producer, TV host and literary critic, winner of numerous awards and accolades, founder of the charity foun ...
(a screenwriter and TV presenter), and has two children from his first marriage: a son, Aleksey, and a daughter, Olga.
On 1 August 2022, Chubais told Russian journalist
Ksenia Sobchak
Ksenia Anatolyevna Sobchak (russian: Ксения Анатольевна Собчак, BGN/PCGN: ''Kseniya Anatol'yevna Sobchak'', GOST: ''Ksenija Anatolevna Sobčak'', ; born 5 November 1981) is a Russian public figure, TV anchor, journalist, ...
that he had been hospitalised with the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré syndrome, though Sardinian newspaper '' L’Unione Sarda'' reported that Italian authorities had not yet ruled out poisoning, and Italian intelligence services are awaiting his blood toxicology results in order to make sure he was not poisoned.
Involvement in political parties
In June 1993, Anatoly Chubais co-founded the "Russia's Choice" electoral bloc (Vybor Rossii), which was headed by Yegor Gaidar. In December 1993, running under this bloc, Chubais was elected as a deputy to the Russian State Duma in its first convocation.
On 12–13 July 1994, Chubais was elected to the governing council of the party "
Democratic Choice of Russia
The Democratic Choice of Russia (DVR; russian: Демократический выбор России; ДВР; ''Demokraticheskiy vybor Rossii'', ''DVR''), before 1994 Choice of Russia Bloc (VR; russian: Блок «Выбор России»; В ...
", which had been built off the electoral bloc "Russia's Choice". In December 1998, Chubais became a member of the Organizing Committee of Right Cause coalition and was elected to the Steering Committee of the Organizing Committee of this coalition.
In July 1996, Chubais founded the "Center for Protection of Private Property" Foundation.
In May 2000, Chubais was elected co-chairman of the Coordinating Council of the Russian National Political Organization "
Union of Right Forces
)"Liberty, Property, Legality"(russian: "Свобода, Собственность, Законность")
, headquarters = Moscow
, newspaper = Just Cause
, membership_year = 2007
, membership = 57,410
, ideology ...
" at its founding congress. He was also later elected co-president and a member of the Federal Political Council on 26 May 2001, during the founding congress of the "Union of Right Forces" Party (SPS).
On 24 January 2004, he resigned from his post as co-chair of the party but remained on the Federal Political Council of the SPS party.
In May 2010, Chubais became the chairman of the board of trustees of the Gaidar Foundation, jointly established by the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy and Maria Strugatsky.
Awards
In 1997, the British magazine Euromoney named him the world's best Minister of Finance.
In December 2001, Chubais was awarded an honorary diploma of International Award by the International Union of Economists for his significant contributions to the Russian Federation, specifically his work applying advanced international experience to introduce contemporary methods of organizing administration, economics, finances and production processes.
In 2008, Chubais was awarded a Presidential Commendation for helping draft part of the
Russian Constitution
The Constitution of the Russian Federation () was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993. Russia's constitution came into force on 25 December 1993, at the moment of its official publication, and abolished the Soviet system of gov ...
as well as his overall contributions to democracy in Russia.
In 2010, Chubais was honored by with IV degree
Order For Merit to the Fatherland
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
"for outstanding contribution to the implementation of state policy in the field of nanotechnology and many years of favorable work".RUSNANO CEO Anatoly Chubais awarded with the Order of Merit for the Fatherland IV class Rusnano News. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
Chubais received three presidential commendations (awarded in 1995, 1997 and 1998) and as well as one honorary Ph.D. from the St. Petersburg State Engineering and Economic University.
References
External links
on
PBS
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Financial Times
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Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...