Vadim Viktorovich Bakatin (russian: link=no, Вадим Викторович Бакатин; 6 November 1937 – 31 July 2022) was a Russian politician who served as the last chairman of the
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 1991. He was the last surviving former chairman of this organization. He was appointed to dismantle the KGB, but he was unable to control this organization and to fulfill the task
Yevgenia Albats
Yevgenia Markovna Albats (russian: Евге́ния Ма́рковна Альба́ц, born 5 September 1958J. Michael Waller. Ibid. He ran for the Russian presidency as an independent candidate in June 1991.
Early life and education
Vadim Bakatin was born in
Kiselyovsk
Kiselyovsk (russian: Киселёвск) is a town in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, located in the foothill belt of the Salair Ridge, at the source of the Aba River, south of Kemerovo. Population:
The Kuzbass region, where Kiselyovsk is located, s ...
,
Kemerovo Oblast
Kemerovo Oblast — Kuzbass (russian: Ке́меровская о́бласть — Кузба́сс, translit=Kemerovskaya oblast — Kuzbass, ), also known simply as Kemerovo Oblast (russian: Ке́меровская о́бласть, label=non ...
From 1960 to 1971, Bakatin was supervisor, chief engineer, and director of construction works. From 1964 to 1991, he was the member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. From 1986 to 1990, he served as the member of CPSU Central Committee. Bakatin was appointed Minister of Interior of the Soviet Union in 1988, replacing Alexander Vlasov. Bakatin's tenure lasted until 1990. In 1991, he was made the head of KGB. Eventually, he was able to disintegrate the KGB, dismiss Fourth Department of the Chief Directorate "З", Fifth Chief Directorate, the actual political police apparatus that ran the secret informants, political dossiers, and dissident-hunting machinery.
After the disintegration of the KGB, he served as head of the Inter-republican Security Service of the Soviet Union.
Bakatin had been put forth as a candidate for the Communist Party's nomination for the
1990 Soviet Union presidential election
Presidential elections were held in the Soviet Union on 14 March 1990 to elect a president for a five-year term. This was the only presidential election in the Soviet Union, as the post of president was introduced in 1990, and the Soviet Union ...
. However, he decided not to compete.
In 1991, Vadim Bakatin as Chief of the KGB revealed to the U.S. ambassador Robert Schwarz Strauss to the Soviet Union the methods that had been used to install covert listening devices in the building that had been intended to replace Spaso House as the American embassy in Moscow. Strauss reported that this revelation was made out of a sense of cooperation and goodwill, with "no strings attached". Bakatin's action was met with harsh criticism, including allegations of treason which were eventually retracted.
In 1992, Bakatin was appointed vice-president and director of the department of political and international relations of the international "Reforma" fund. From 1997 on, Bakatin was a director/advisor of Baring Vostok (Moscow).
1991 presidential campaign
Bakatin was a candidate in the
1991 Russian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) on 12 June 1991.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1642 This was the first Russian presidential election ...
. His running mate was
Ramazan Abdulatipov
Ramazan Gadzhimuradovich Abdulatipov ( av, Рамазан ГІабдулатІипов; russian: Рамазан Гаджимурадович Абдулатипов; born 4 August 1946) is a Russian politician and professor of Avar heritage. He s ...
. He ultimately placed last in the election out of six candidates, receiving 2,719,757 votes (3.5% of the votes cast).
Personal life
Vadim Bakatin, his grandson, (born 24 June 1998) is an International football player and plays for
AS Monaco FC
Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...
.
Bakatin died on 31 July 2022 at a hospital in Moscow, Russia, at the age of 84.