Boris Georgiyevich Saltykov (; 27 December 1940 – 1 July 2025) was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

politician and engineer. He held several cabinet portfolios in the

government of Russia The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...

during the 1990s. Saltykov was the Minister of Science and Technology from 1992 to 1996 and a

Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation () is a member of the Government of Russia. The post is commonly referred to as "Deputy prime minister, vice premier" both in and outside of Russia. According to the Chapter 6, Article 1 ...

from 1992 to 1993. From 1993 to 1996, he was also a deputy of the

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

Government service

After the collapse of the

Soviet Union 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 ...

, Boris Saltykov was appointed both the Minister of Science and Technology, as well as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

for education, in 1992. Although he would be demoted from that latter post in 1993, he held the former office until 1996. During this time Saltykov was regarded as being a key member of

Yegor Gaidar Yegor Timurovich Gaidar (; rus, Егор Тимурович Гайдар, p=jɪˈɡor tʲɪˈmurəvʲɪtɕ ɡɐjˈdar; 19 March 1956 – 16 December 2009) was a Soviet and Russian economist, politician, and author, and was the Acting Prime Min ...

's reform team. He acknowledged at one point that the Russian middle class was being decimated by the government's economic policies. Although

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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 ...

initially retained most of Gaidar's original team, it ended up disintegrating by March 1993, with Saltykov stepping down from the deputy premiership that month. In the

1993 Russian legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Russia on 12 December 1993 to elect all 450 seats of the 1st State Duma of the Russian Federation. Additionally, the elections were the first and only instance of direct elections to the Federation Council (Ru ...

, Saltykov was elected as a

deputy from the party

Democratic Choice of Russia The Democratic Choice of Russia (DCR), known before 1994 as the "Choice of Russia" Bloc (CR), was a Russian centre-right conservative-liberal political party. Later the party was self-disbanded and most members would merge into the Union of ...

. In March 1996, in his capacity as science and technology minister, Saltykov visited a conference with

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discussing increased scientific cooperation between Russia and the bloc. Other concerns he addressed included property rights of Russian scientists. He was dismissed as science minister in August 1996, at which point the ministry was downgraded to a state committee. It was revived in 1997, however, with Vladimir Fortov appointed to the post in Saltykov's place—a candidate that Saltykov supported for the position.

Later work

From 1996 to 2003, he was a member of the Strategic Committee of the

Open Society Institute Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...

(Soros Foundation), overseeing the "Establishment of Internet Centers Network" program. As of 2004, Saltykov was one of the trustees of

Mikhail Khodorkovsky Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky (, ; born 26 June 1963), sometimes known by his initials MBK, is an exiled Russian businessman, Russian oligarchs, oligarch, and Russian opposition, opposition activist, now residing in London. In 2003, Khodork ...

's foundation in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. From March 7, 1998 to April 27, 2000, he served as Director General of the federal state unitary enterprise Russian Technologies. He was President of the non-profit partnership Innovation Agency, and also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the publishing house Summa Technologies. He was President of the Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology Museums (AMNIT). He taught at the ''Higher School of Economics'' (HSE), where he was a Professor in the Department of Science and Innovation Management, Faculty of Social Sciences. He was also a member of the Academic Council of the Russian Research Institute of Economics, Politics and Law in Science and Technology (RIEPP), and held the title of professor. He was co-head of the working group responsible for developing a long-term forecast for the scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation through 2025. In 1999, he was elected a foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Division of Public Relations and Business Administration. In July 2010, he was appointed Director General of the Polytechnic Museum. In July 2013, it was announced that he had been appointed President of the Polytechnic Museum.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saltykov, Boris 1940 births 2025 deaths Deputy heads of government of the Russian Federation Economists from Moscow Russian educators Russian engineers Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology alumni First convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Academic staff of the Higher School of Economics