Vladimir Yevgenyevich Churov (russian: Владимир Евгеньевич Чуров; born March 27, 1953, 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 ...

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, ...

) is a Russian official and politician. From March 2007 to March 2016, he served a member (delegated 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 ...

) and the Chairman of the

Central Election Commission of Russia Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

. Since June 2016 he has been working as an Ambassador for Special Tasks at the

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MFA Russia; russian: Министерство иностранных дел Российской Федерации, МИД РФ) is the central government institution charged with lea ...

. In 1977 he graduated from the Department of Physics at

Leningrad State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the ...

. In 1992–2003 he worked on the Committee for External Relations of the Saint Petersburg Mayor's Office, in 1992–1996 under

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 ...

, in 1995–2003 as a deputy head of the Committee. According to Marina Salye, Churov worked for

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

. In December 2003 – March 2007 he was a deputy in the

(of LDPR faction). On January 30, 2007, amendments to the Russian election legislation, which would allow people without a law degree to become members of the Central Election Commission, were passed by the

President of Russia The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...

. This enabled Churov to be elected to the Commission. From the beginning, Churov created an image of a person who would remain loyal to president Putin under any circumstances. During his tenure, he made a number of controversial statements, which were interpreted as his willingness to rubber-stamp election results favorable to Putin even if there were reports of widespread violations. Participation of independent observers was made considerably more complicated. In the

2011 Russian legislative election Legislative elections were held in Russia on 4 December 2011. At stake were the 450 seats in the 6th State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly (the legislature). United Russia won the elections with 49.32% of the vote, taking 238 se ...

, Churov maintained that the elections were free of falsifications, although the media reported a number of instances when the data of

differed with the protocols of election districts. One of the demands during the 2011–13 Russian protests was the resignation of Churov.''Russian election protests – follow live updates''
Guardian, retrieved 10/12/2011 On the other hand, the Central Electoral Committee did not falsify the results itself, and Churov was even instrumental in creating the efficient appeal system, which helped to strike down some decisions of lower level electoral committees. On 27 March 2016, the executive term of Churov expired, and he was not reappointed by Putin. The new Chairperson of the Central Election Commission of Russia became

Ella Pamfilova Ella Aleksandrovna Pamfilova (; born 12 September 1953) is a Russian politician, former deputy of the State Duma, candidate for president in 2000 and former chairman (2004 - 2010) of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights. On ...

. In June 2016 Churov was appointed an Ambassador for Special Tasks at Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

References

External links

Biography
Lenta.ru (in Russian)
Interview with Vladimir Churov

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 ...

, April 9, 2007. (in Russian)
Vladimir Churov
at Armen Oganesyan's talkshow " Vis-a-Vis with the World" (in English)
Vladimir Churov at Armen Oganesyan's talkshow "Vis-a-Vis with the World"
(in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Churov, Vladimir 1953 births Living people Fourth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Members of election commissions Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Russian Federation)