Mikhail Yefimovich Fradkov ( rus, Михаи́л Ефи́мович Фрадко́в, p=mʲɪxɐˈil jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ frɐtˈkof; born 1 September 1950) is a Russian politician who served as
Prime Minister of Russia from 2004 to 2007. An
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independe ...
, he was the longest serving director of Russia's
Foreign Intelligence Service from 2007 to 2016. Since 4 January 2017, Fradkov has been Director of the
Russian Institute for Strategic Studies.
The cabinet of Fradkov was the first government in the history of Russia that voluntarily resigned accordance to part 1 of Article 117 of the constitution.
Early life
Fradkov was born near
Samara
Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population ...
to a family of
Jewish origin on his father's side. He studied at both the
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
Machine Tool Design (станкоинструментальный) Institute (graduated 1972) and the Foreign Trade Academy (graduated 1981). In 1973, he was posted to the economic section of the
Soviet Union
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, ...
's
embassy
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
, where he remained for two years. He later held several positions back in Russia. In 1991, he was Russia's representative to
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its ...
(GATT) in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...
.
Political career
In late 1992, Fradkov was appointed Deputy Minister for Foreign Economic Relations. Less than a year later, in October 1993, he became First Deputy Minister for Foreign Economic Relations. On 15 April 1997, a presidential decree by
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 ...
appointed Fradkov Minister of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, a post which he kept for nearly a year. In the middle of 1999, another presidential decree made him Minister of Trade. He was made director of the
Federal Tax Police by
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 m ...
in 2001, having previously been Deputy Secretary of the Security Council. In 2003 he was made Russia's representative to the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...
. On 1 March 2004, he was nominated by Putin as the next Prime Minister, and this appointment was approved by the
Duma
A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions.
The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were f ...
on 5 March.
Fradkov's nomination as Prime Minister was a surprise to many observers, as he was not seen as part of Vladimir Putin's inner circle. Some commentators, such as the
Carnegie Moscow Center's
Lilia Shevtsova, have speculated that his "outsider" status might have been an important factor in his nomination, saying that Putin selected him as someone who was "not a representative of any of the warring clans" in the Kremlin. Former Prime Minister
Sergei Stepashin
Sergei Vadimovich Stepashin (russian: Сергей Вадимович Степашин; born 2 March 1952) is a Russian politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of Russia in 1999. Prior to this he had been appointed as federal security m ...
, whom Fradkov has served under, called Fradkov "absolutely independent from any sort of political clan or group." Putin and his allies praised Fradkov as experienced, professional, and honest.
On 12 May 2004, Fradkov was appointed Prime Minister for the second time, as Vladimir Putin had won the
presidential election and been inaugurated on 7 May (see also
Mikhail Fradkov's Second Cabinet
Mikhail Fradkov's Second Cabinet (May 2004 - September 2007) was the twelfth cabinet of the government of the Russian Federation, preceded by Fradkov's First Cabinet, which followed the cabinet led by Mikhail Kasyanov, who had been dismissed by ...
). On 12 September 2007 Fradkov announced his resignation to President Putin, which Putin accepted, nominating
Viktor Zubkov as Fradkov's successor. Putin bestowed an award on Fradkov and said that he would remain in office until the confirmation of a successor by the Duma. Zubkov was confirmed on 14 September 2007.
On 6 October 2007, President Putin announced that he would appoint Fradkov as
head of the
Foreign Intelligence Service.
Fradkov's appointment as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, combined with his service in India, are suggestive of a KGB background. This calls into question earlier assumptions that he was an "outsider" in Kremlin circles and provides an explanation for Putin's trust in him.
In November 2010, reports emerged that one of Fradkov's intelligence officers, a Colonel Shcherbakov, had defected to the United States on 21 June 2010, having betrayed a
Russian spy ring in the United States. Critics alleged that the suspicions that Shcherbakov was a double agent which emerged when Shcherbakov turned down a promotion requiring a lie detector test should have been followed up more aggressively. Shcherbakov also had a daughter in the United States. ''
Kommersant
''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russi ...
'', which broke the story, speculated that Fradkov might be replaced by
Sergei Naryshkin and/or Russian intelligence services reorganized.
In April 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on him and 23 other Russian nationals.
Pavel Fradkov, the son of Mikhail Fradkov, is a deputy head of the state property watchdog
Rosimushchestvo.
The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's newspapers on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy
Reuters, 15 August 2012
Honours and awards
* Order of Merit for the Fatherland;
**1st class (12 September 2007) – for outstanding contribution to the socio-economic policy
**2nd class (1 September 2005) – for his great personal contribution to the state's economic policy, and many years of honest work
* Order of Honour
* Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow"
* Medal "For Valiant Labour. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Lenin's birth"
* Fellow Russian counter-intelligence – the strengthening of ties between the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and the Federal Counterintelligence Service
References
External links
Biographies of the Fradkov Cabinet
Renaissance Capital Research Portal "The New Government"
The Carnegie Moscow Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fradkov, Mikhail
1950 births
Living people
1st class Active State Councillors of the Russian Federation
Politicians from Samara, Russia
Jewish Russian politicians
Jewish prime ministers
Full Cavaliers of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"
Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia)
Heads of government of the Russian Federation
Directors of the Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)
21st-century Russian politicians
Russian individuals subject to the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions
Russian individuals subject to the European Union sanctions
Fradkov family
20th-century Jews