Igor Khanukovich Yusufov (; born 12 June 1956) is a former Russian energy Minister from 2001 to 2004. Founder and

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of a company engaged in consulting and co-operation projects in the

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

sector in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the USA.

Education and early life

1979-1991

Yusufov graduated from Novocherkassk Polytechnic Institute, then worked for " Mosenergo",

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

’s major power plant and later spent four years in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

as the technology expert at

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Thermal Power Plant construction site. Following this he continued his academic studies and graduated from the Foreign Trade Academy.

Government service

1991

As a Foreign Trade Academy graduate Yusufov entered the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

. He was appointed officer of the Committee for the Protection of Russia's Economic Interests reporting to the Vice-President

Alexander Rutskoy Alexander Vladimirovich Rutskoy (; born 16 September 1947) is a Russian politician and former Soviet military officer who served as the only vice president of Russia from 1991 to 1993. He was proclaimed acting president following Boris Yeltsin' ...

, one level below the President of the ex-USSR. When this post was in opposition to President Yeltsin, the committee was dissolved, but Yusufov moved to Chair of Deputy Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, with responsibility in promoting International Trade.

1994

Yusufov was appointed as Director General of state and private enterprise “R.-Vostok Trading”.

1996

The functions of "R.-Vostok Trading" were integrated to the parent state-owned company. The Prime Minister

Viktor Chernomyrdin Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin (, ; 9 April 19383 November 2010) was a Soviet and Russian politician and businessman. He was the Minister of Gas Industry of the Soviet Union (13 February 1985 – 17 July 1989), after which he became first chairm ...

recommended to Yusufov his return to Government service at the post of Deputy Minister of Industry with oversight of Gold and diamond recovery.

1997—2000

Yusufov worked as Deputy General Director then as General Director of Goskomrezerv (from 1999 renamed- “ Federal Agency for State Reserves, Rosrezerv”) thus being responsible for Russia’s mineral reserves. This State agency reporting to the Prime Minister manages and withholds state strategic reserves in case of war and natural disasters in the protected storage system across the country.

2001–2011

In 2001-2004 Yusufov worked as Minister of Energy for the Russian Federation. Vladimir Putin appointed Yusufov to the post of Minister of Energy in 2001. Till late 2011 he served as Special Envoy of the Russian President for International Energy Cooperation, Ambassador at Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs whereby the Minister was profiled across the Global Energy Players from U.S. Policy Makers to the

Saudi King The king of Saudi Arabia, officially the king of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (; ''Malik al-Mamlakat al-ʿArabiyat as-Suʿūdiyya''), is head of state and of the Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who holds absolute monarchy, absolute powe ...

and

OPEC The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize Profit (eco ...

opening to the world Russia's Energy resources. In 2002, while serving as Minister of Energy, he initiated the first Russian-American Business Energy Summit (

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, USA), which took place on October 1–2. Yusufov was a co-chairman and one of the organizers, and signed a joint statement together with

U.S. Secretary of Energy The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was created on October 1, 1977, when Pr ...

Spencer Abraham Edward Spencer Abraham (born June 12, 1952) is an American attorney, author, and politician who served as the 10th United States secretary of energy from 2001 to 2005, under President George W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party, he previousl ...

and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans on cooperation between major oil, gas and energy companies in Russia and the United States, as well as promising projects. He also co-chaired the second summit held in St. Petersburg on September 22–23, 2003, together with Spencer and Evans. The second summit focused on energy cooperation, including new areas of cooperation on

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

development and

alternative energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

sources. In the mid-2010s, he was engaged in establishing cooperation with the Export-Import Bank of the United States as part of development of oil and gas projects.The Bank planned to invest $50 million, Igor Yusufov participated in profile meetings held in Washington in 2014 and 2016. Also in 2014, an agreement was signed with

Halliburton Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's second-largest oil service company which is responsible for most of the world's fracking operations. It employs approximately 55,000 people through its hundreds of su ...

to develop design documentation for the construction of exploration and production wells, build a sedimentological model and interpret geophysical well surveys (GIS), as well as data analysis from previously drilled wells for their possible re-conservation and retesting. Later, a memorandum was signed on service support for exploratory drilling in the 2014-2015 season.

Retirement from Government Service and Current Business Activity

Since 2011, Igor Yusufov has been active exclusively as a businessman and investor, notably in energy, renewables and mining projects. Fund Energy was acting as brand name in the energy industry. In 2012, media reports linked Fund to a potential purchase of the Coryton Refinery in Essex, England. In September 2021 Igor Yusufov ceased to be a participant at Fund Energy. “Fund Energy” is one of the leading investors in energy industry. The majority of the group’s projects are focused on exploration and extraction of energy resources and development of renewable energy projects

In 2012, media reports linked Fund Energy to a potential purchase of the Coryton Refinery in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

2023–present

Since 2020 Igor Yusufov does not participate in the projects management, in September 2021 he ceased to be a participant at Fund “Energy”, and since March 2022 he no longer owns all the declared assets.

Timeline

*1979–1984: Engineer at Mosenergo. *1984–1988: Head of Expert Group at the Havana thermal power plant (

). *1988–1991: Foreign Trade Academy, Moscow, Foreign Economic Relations Economist *1991–1992: Administration of the President of the Russian Federation Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Economic Interests of Russia *1992-1993: Deputy Minister of Foreign Economic Relations of Russia *1994–1996: Minority shareholder and Director General of public-private joint company “R.-Vostok Trading” *1996–1997: Deputy Industry Minister of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. *1998–2001: Chairman of the Russian Federal Agency for State Reserves. *2001–2004: Minister of Energy of the

. *2001-2004: Board Director of RAO UES of Russia; Board Director of Transneft. *2002-2004: Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC Rosneft Oil Company and Transnefteproduct. *2003–2013: Member of the Board of Directors of

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...

. *2004–2011: Special Presidential Envoy for International Energy Cooperation, Ambassador at Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, non-governmental, non-staff and advisory roles. *2011––2021: private investment activity in mining, renewable and alternative energy industries.

Wealth

Awards and titles

* 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation (2001). *Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005). *

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree 442. Until the re-establishment of the Order of St. Andrew in 1998, it was the highest order of ...

, IV Class (2006).

References

Reuters article, December 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yusufov, Igor 1956 births Living people People from Derbent 1st class Active State Councillors of the Russian Federation Energy ministers of Russia Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Russian Federation) Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Gazprom people