Dmitry Nikolayevich Kozak (, ; ; born 7 November 1958) is a Russian politician who has served as the Deputy Kremlin Chief of Staff since 24 January 2020. He previously served as the

Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation () is a member of the Government of Russia The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body o ...

from 2008 to 2020. He has the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation. Known as the Cheshire Cat () because of his smile, Kozak is part of the Vlast' () or power group from St. Petersburg close to Putin. He served previously as the Regional Development Minister in the Russian cabinet headed by

Viktor Zubkov Viktor Alekseyevich Zubkov ( rus, Ви́ктор Алексе́евич Зубко́в, p=ˈvʲiktər ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ zʊpˈkof; born 15 September 1941) is a Russian civil servant, politician and businessman who served as the List of h ...

from 2007 to 2008. From 2004 to 2007, he served as Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Southern Federal District (

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

and Southern European Russia). Dmitry Kozak is a close ally of

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

, having worked with him in the St Petersburg city administration during the 1990s and later becoming one of the key figures in Putin's presidential team. During the

2004 Russian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Russia on 14 March 2004.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1642 Incumbent President Vladimir Putin was seeking a second full four-year term. It was a landslide v ...

, he worked as the head of Putin's election campaign team. Kozak was one of several members of Putin's circle touted in the media as a possible candidate to succeed Putin as president in 2008.

Early life and career

Dmitry Kozak was born on 7 November 1958 in the village of Bandurove, in the Kirovohrad region of the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

(part of the

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 ...

). He is of Ukrainian ethnicity. From 1976 to 1978, Kozak served in the special forces (Spetsnaz GRU) of the Soviet military's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). After Spetsnaz, he studied at the Vinnitsa Polytechnic Institute before he moved to Leningrad. Kozak graduated from Leningrad State University (now St. Petersburg State University) in 1985 with a degree in law. From 1985 to 1989, he worked in the Leningrad prosecutor's office as a

Prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

and Senior Prosecutor. He moved into the business sector in 1989, working as head of the legal department at Monolit-Kirovstroy construction company and chief legal consultant for the Association of Trade Ports.

Political career

Kozak worked as a public prosecutor in Leningrad and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, holding various legal offices in the city's administration. In 1998 he became Deputy Governor of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. In 1999, along with other St. Petersburg city officials, he joined the government of

. He was Chief of Staff from 1999 to 2000. Dmitry Kozak became deputy head of the presidential administration and remained in this position under various titles until 2004. In 2003, he briefly entered international politics and unsuccessfully attempted to solve the conflict between

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

and

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

(see Kozak memorandum). In September 2004, Kozak was appointed Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Southern Federal District, replacing Vladimir Yakovlev. On 24 September 2007, he was appointed to the new Russian cabinet headed by

as regional development minister, succeeding Vladimir Yakovlev again, and leaving his previous position. On 14 October 2008, he became deputy prime minister of Russia and served until 2020. On 15 January 2020, he resigned as part of the cabinet, after

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

delivered the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, in which he proposed several amendments to the constitution. According to Stanislav Belkovsky, Kozak is not well liked by Putin's entourage, but Vladimir Putin does like Kozak, apparently wanting to appoint Kozak as prime minister in 2004 and tapping Kozak as the successor to Putin as president in 2008, however, Dmitry Medvedev won the presidential race. Alexei Makarkin of the Center for Political Technologies said that Putin trusts Kozak as one of his men. Dmitry Kozak was the main overseer for the XXII Olympic Winter Games in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

. Following Russia's intervention into Crimea, Kozak was appointed to greatly strengthen Crimea's social, political, and economic ties to Russia. On the first day of Russian's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kozak rang Zelensky aid

Andrii Yermak Andriy Borysovych Yermak (; born 21 November 1971)
1 ...

stating it was time for Ukrainians to surrender. Yermak swore and hung up. According to sources close to the Kremlin, Kozak was against the invasion of Ukraine. Putin wanted to annex southeastern Ukraine, and for that reason he allegedly rejected a peace deal brokered by Kozak guaranteeing that Ukraine would not join

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

if Russia stopped attacking Ukraine.

Sanctions

On 28 April 2014, following the Crimean status referendum, the U.S. Treasury put Kozak on the Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN), a list of individuals sanctioned as “members of the Russian leadership’s inner circle.” The sanctions freeze any assets he holds in the US and ban him from entering the United States. On 29 April 2014, Kozak was added to the European Union sanctions list due to his role in the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...

. He is barred from entering the EU countries, and his assets in the EU are frozen. He was sanctioned by the UK government in 2014 in relation to the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

Honours and awards

Order of Merit for the Fatherland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

**1st class (2014) **2nd class (6 November 2008) *

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Tradit ...

– 2014 (withdrawn on 28 February 2022 due to invasion of Ukraine) * Paralympic Order – 2014 (withdrawn on 3 March 2022 due to invasion of Ukraine)

Notes

References

External links

Dmitry Kozak: Biography on Russian government website (in Russian)Dmitry Kozak: Biography on Renaissance Capital website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozak, Dmitry 1958 births People from Kirovohrad Oblast Russian people of Ukrainian descent Deputy heads of government of the Russian Federation 1st class Active State Councillors of the Russian Federation Living people GRU officers Ukrainian emigrants to Russia Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 1st class Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Recipients of the Paralympic Order 21st-century Russian politicians Russian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions