Viktor Alekseyevich Zubkov ( rus, Ви́ктор Алексе́евич Зубко́в, p=ˈvʲiktər ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ zʊpˈkof; born 15 September 1941) is a Russian civil servant, politician and businessman who served as the 36th

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 ...

from September 2007 to May 2008. He was

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 ...

's First Deputy Prime Minister during the presidency of

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...

. A

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

who held various positions in the

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, although it was not until 1 ...

under the Soviet regime, he later served as advisor to Cabinet Ministers. Zubkov was a financial crime investigator until he was nominated on 12 September 2007 by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

to replace Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, who had resigned earlier that day. The nomination was approved in 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 14 September 2007. On 7 May 2008 Zubkov's cabinet was automatically dismissed. This procedure, following an inauguration of 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 federa ...

is required by the

Russian Constitution The Constitution of the Russian Federation () was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993. Russia's constitution came into force on 25 December 1993, at the moment of its official publication, and abolished the Soviet system of go ...

. After Putin became Prime Minister, Zubkov was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia. Zubkov is also the current

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, 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 group ...

of the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the large ...

, Russia's largest corporation and one of the largest oil and natural gas companies in the world.

Life and career

Born in

Sverdlovsk Oblast Sverdlovsk Oblast ( rus, Свердловская область, Sverdlovskaya oblast) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia located in the Ural Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Yekaterinburg, formerly known as ...

, Zubkov graduated from the Economic Department of the

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 ...

Agriculture Institute in 1972. In 1966, he was drafted to the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

for an 18-month term. From 1967 to 1985, he worked on leading positions in kolkhozes of

. From 1985 to 1991, he occupied several leading positions in the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union " Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspape ...

in Leningrad Oblast: Chairman of the Priozersk City Executive Committee, First Secretary of the Priozersk City Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and head of the Department of Agriculture and Food Industry and the Agricultural Department of the Regional Committee of the CPSU. He was also First Deputy Chairman of the Leningrad Oblast Executive Committee from 1989 to 1991. In January 1992 to November 1993, he was a deputy Chairman of the External Relations Committee of the Saint Petersburg Mayor Office led by

. From 3 November 1993, to 30 November 1998, Zubkov was the Chief of the Saint Petersburg Department of the State Tax Inspection and simultaneously a Deputy Chairman of the State Tax Inspection for Saint Petersburg. In December 1998, during the term of Yevgeny Primakov's Cabinet the State Tax Inspection was reorganized into the Tax Ministry of Russia and Zubkov's deputy head position was abolished, but he was immediately reappointed Chief of the Saint Petersburg Directorate of the Tax Ministry. On 23 July 1999, Zubkov was appointed Deputy Tax Minister of Russia for the Northwestern region. In a few days he was also appointed Chief of the Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast Directorate of the Tax Ministry. On 12 August 1999, he was registered as a contender in the

governor election, assisted by Boris Gryzlov as his election campaign manager, but lost the election to Valeriy Serdyukov on 19 September 1999, with 8.64 percent of the vote (4th place out of 16). On 5 November 2001, he left his positions in the Tax Ministry and was appointed First Deputy Finance Minister of Russia and Chairman of the Financial Monitoring Committee of the ministry, aimed to fight

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdicti ...

. On 16 March 2004, after the dismissal of Mikhail Kasyanov's Cabinet, the Financial Monitoring Committee was renamed to Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Finance Ministry, but Zubkov retained his position in Mikhail Fradkov's First Cabinet and Mikhail Fradkov's Second Cabinet. In a 2006 survey of political experts, Zubkov was ranked as Russia's 84th most influential politician. Zubkov's daughter is married to

Anatoly Serdyukov Anatoly Eduardovich Serdyukov (russian: Анатолий Эдуардович Сердюков; born 8 January 1962) is a Russian politician and businessman. He was Russia's Minister of Defense from 15 February 2007 to 6 November 2012, and made ...

, the former Russian Defense Minister.

Prime Minister

On 12 September 2007,

proposed his candidacy for the post of

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 ...

and on 14 September, 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 hous ...

approved him in the post (he was voted 381 MP). Zubkov resigned 8 May 2008, after

became President. Some

Kremlinologists Kremlinology is the study and analysis of the politics and policies of the Soviet Union while Sovietology is the study of politics and policies of both the Soviet Union and former communist states more generally. These two terms were synonymous un ...

viewed Zubkov as one more technical Prime Minister, interpreting the move as a way to renew a competition between possible successors. Another theory suggested that Putin chose a man of unquestioning loyalty to help him control powerful factions jostling for position inside the Kremlin. Another clue to his usefulness lies in Zubkov's experience under Putin as the man leading the fight against financial crime. Putin said that there were five people who can run for president and can be elected, including Zubkov. On 13 September, Zubkov himself said he might run for President of Russia in 2008. However, in December 2007, Putin officially gave his support to

for the 2008 presidential election, effectively dashing Zubkov's hopes for the presidency. After Medvedev took office, Zubkov succeeded him as Chairman of Gazprom.https://www.globaldata.com/company-profile/gazprom/executives/

Honours and awards

* Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" ** 1st class ** 2nd class (19 September 2008) - for his great personal contribution to the economic policy of the state and many years of fruitful activity ** 3rd class (9 May 2006) - for outstanding contribution to protecting the economic interests of the Russian Federation and many years of diligent work ** 4th class (11 April 2000) - for services to the state and a major contribution to the implementation of economic reforms * Ceremonial dagger *

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

(1981) * Order of the Badge of Honour (1975) * Medal "Veteran of Labour" (1986) * Honored Economist of the Russian Federation (16 September 2001) - for services in the field of economics and finance * Diploma of the Government of the Russian Federation (1998) * Honorary Citizen of the Leningrad Region (2009) *

Order of Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow The Order of Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow (russian: Орден святого благоверного князя Даниила Московского) is an award of the Russian Orthodox Church, established in 1988. There are three classes. Hist ...

, 1st class (Russian Orthodox Church, 2011)

References

External links

* *
Biography
by Vladimir Pribylovsky
Profile
at

Profile: Viktor Zubkow
at ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

'', 12 September 2007 * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Zubkov, Viktor 1941 births 20th-century Russian politicians 21st-century Russian politicians Living people 1st class Active State Councillors of the Russian Federation People from Kushva Acting prime ministers of the Russian Federation Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Heads of government of the Russian Federation Gazprom people Our Home – Russia politicians Full Cavaliers of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" Recipients of the Order of Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour