Sergei Vadimovich Stepashin (russian: Сергей Вадимович Степашин; born 2 March 1952) is a Russian politician who briefly served 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 ...

in 1999. Prior to this he had been appointed as federal security minister by 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 ...

in 1994, a position from which he resigned in 1995 as a consequence of the

Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis The Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis took place from 14 to 19 June 1995, when a group of 80 to 200 Chechen separatists led by Shamil Basayev attacked the southern Russian city of Budyonnovsk (pop. 60,000, often spelled Budennovsk), some ...

. Subsequent to his tenure as Prime Minister he served as Chairman of the

Accounts Chamber of Russia Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation (russian: Счётная палата Российской Федерации) is the parliamentary body of financial control in the Russian Federation. History The prototype of the Accounts Chamber of t ...

from 2000 until 2013.

Early life and education

Stepashin was born in Port-Arthur, Kvantun Oblast,

USSR 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 nationa ...

(now Lüshunkou, China) on 2 March 1952. He graduated from the Higher Political School of the USSR Ministry of the Interior (1973), in 1981 from the

Lenin Military-Political Academy The V. I. Lenin Military-Political Academy ( (VPA)) was a higher military educational institution of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1919 to 1991 that provided advanced training to political workers. History The predecessor of the academy was ...

, and in 2002 from the Finance Academy. He is a

Doctor of Law A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL ...

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

, and has a rank of the State Advisor on Justice of the

Russian Federation 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 ...

. His

military rank Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in a ...

is colonel general.

Career

Stepashin served as the Head of the

FSK FSK may refer to: * FSK (band), a German band * Federal Counterintelligence Service, (Russian ') of Russia * Fiskerton railway station, in England * Forskolin, a diterpene * Forsvarets Spesialkommando, a Norwegian special forces unit * Fort Scott M ...

(the predecessor of the FSB) from February 1994 until June 1995. He then became

justice minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

, serving from 1997 to March 1998, and

interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

, holding that office from March 1998 to May 1999, when he was appointed and confirmed by parliament as

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. Yeltsin made it fairly clear when he appointed him Prime Minister that Stepashin would only hold the position temporarily, and he was replaced in August 1999 by future president

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 ...

. Stepashin's attitude towards the Chechen conflict was markedly different from that of Vladimir Putin. Stepashin had, for example, presented leaders of the separatist regime in Chechnya with monogrammed pistols, praised the activities of the religious extremists who had taken over several Dagestani villages, and had proclaimed publicly: "We can afford to lose Dagestan!". After having been fired from the position of Prime Minister, Stepashin joined the political party

Yabloko The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko (RUDP Yabloko) (russian: Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко», Rossíyskaya obyedinyónnaya demokratícheskaya pártiya "Y ...

for the Russian parliamentary elections of 1999 and was elected to 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 ...

, the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Russian parliament The Federal Assembly ( rus, Федера́льное Собра́ние, r=Federalnoye Sobraniye, p=fʲɪdʲɪˈralʲnəjə sɐˈbranʲɪjə) is the national legislature of the Russian Federation, according to the Constitution of the Russian F ...

. Later on he resigned his parliamentary seat and became head of the Account Chamber of the Russian Federation, the federal audit agency. He holds his job to date. Most recently, he has been asked by lawyers for Hermitage Capital, once among Russia's top foreign investors, to investigate what it says was a series of fake

tax refund A tax refund or tax rebate is a payment to the taxpayer due to the taxpayer having paid more tax than they owed. By country United States According to the Internal Revenue Service, 77% of tax returns filed in 2004 resulted in a refund check, ...

s which defrauded Russian taxpayers of 11.2 billion roubles ($382 million), according to lawyers Brown Rudnick in a letter to Stepashin. Since 2007, Stepashin is the head of the revived

Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (russian: Императорское православное палестинское общество, ИППО), is a scholarly organization for the study of the Middle East, founded on 8 May 1882 by , ...

Honours and awards

Order of Merit for 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 ...

; **2nd class (2 March 2007) - for outstanding contribution to the strengthening and development of state financial control, and many years of honest work **3rd class (2 March 2002) - for great contribution to strengthening Russian statehood and many years of conscientious service **4th class (28 February 2012) * Order of Courage (28 December 1998) - for his great personal contribution to strengthening the rule of law and order, displaying courage and dedication * Medal "For Distinguished Service to the Public Order" * Medal "For Distinction in Military Service", 1st and 2nd classes * Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

(France) * Commander 1st Class of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

(Sweden) *

Order of Diplomatic Service Merit The Order of Diplomatic Service Merit (Hangul: 수교훈장) is one of South Korea's orders of merit. It is awarded by the President of South Korea for "outstanding meritorious services in the interest of enhancing national prestige and promoting ...

, 1st class (Republic of Korea, 2004) * Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov (Russian Orthodox Church); **1st class (2009) - in consideration of his work for the restoration of

Volsk Volsk (russian: Вольск) is a town in Saratov Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volga River, opposite the mouth of the Bolshoy Irgiz (a tributary of the Volga), northeast from Saratov, the administrative center of the oblast. ...

cathedral **2nd class (2006) - for his contribution to the restoration of Holy Transfiguration Monastery in

Murom Murom ( rus, Муром, p=ˈmurəm; Old Norse: ''Moramar'') is a historical city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which sprawls along the left bank of the Oka River. Population: History In the 9th century AD, the city marked the easternmost settle ...

* Order of the Commonwealth (CIS Interparliamentary Assembly) * Diploma of the Government of the Russian Federation (2 October 2006) - for his great personal contribution to the development and strengthening of public financial control, more efficient use of the federal budget * Honour of the State Duma of the Russian Federation "For merits in development of parliamentarism" (2006) * Honorary Citizen of Murom (2006) *

Order of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker The Imperial Military Order of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker ( in Russian: Импepaтopcкий Boeнный Opдeн Cвятитeля Hикoлaя Чyдoтвopцa) was originally a medal, instituted in 1929 by the Russian pretender, Grand Duke ...

, 1st class (Russian Imperial House) * Honorary Doctor of the Diplomatic Academy of Russia (25 October 2011) * Order the "Community"

References

External links

*
A biography of Stepashin by V. Pribylovsky (in Russian)Sergei Stepashin
at

Armen Oganesyan Armen Garnikovich Oganesyan (russian: Оганесян, Армен Гарникович; born April 4, 1954) is the CEO of Russian state radio station ''Voice of Russia Voice of Russia ( rus, Голос России, r=Golos Rossii), commonly abb ...

's talkshow " Vis-a-Vis with the World" (in English)
Sergei Stepashin at Armen Oganesyan's talkshow "Vis-a-Vis with the World"
(in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stepashin, Sergei 1952 births Interior ministers of Russia Justice ministers of Russia Living people KGB officers Heads of government of the Russian Federation Third convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Courage Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Commanders First Class of the Order of the Polar Star Directors of the Federal Security Service Lenin Military Political Academy alumni Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation alumni