Oleg Dmitriyevich Davydov (; born 25 May 1940) is 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 ...

economist who formerly served in the

Russian government 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 ...

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 ...

as the minister and Deputy Chairman of Government responsible for foreign economic relations. In this position he led negotiations for Russia's first bid to join the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

Career in government

After being appointed

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 foreign trade in the fall of 1993, he began to liberalize Russia's export regulations in order to appeal to Western economic partners. This was also part of an effort to eventually join the

. The first meeting with WTO officials took place in July 1995, with Davydov leading the Russian delegation, but the process to enter was postponed after the

1998 Russian financial crisis The Russian financial crisis (also called the ruble crisis or the Russian flu) began in Russia on 17 August 1998. It resulted in the Russian government and the Russian Central Bank devaluing the Russian rouble, ruble and sovereign default, defau ...

. Davydov paid a visit to

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

and praised increased Russian–Iranian cooperation in 1995. In Europe he negotiated to reschedule Russia's debt payments to some six hundred banks. In September of that year, at an economic forum in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, Davydov stated that Russia's strategic goal is to increase cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries. In March 1996 he identified

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

as the country's main strategic partner in the region. Davydov stated: "Moscow's turn to the Asian Pacific region is dictated by its firm conviction that the center of global trade in the 21st century will move to this region, which already accounts for 40 percent of global turnover." Later, in December of the same year, he traveled to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and met with then- Brigadier General

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former military officer who served as the third Prime Minister of Singapore, prime minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024, thereafter serving as a Senior Minister of S ...

, future

Prime Minister of Singapore The prime minister of Singapore, is the head of government of Singapore. The President of Singapore, president appoints the prime minister on the advice and consent of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent prime minister is Lawrence Wong, ...

. In 1997 Davydov also referred to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

as an important strategic partner for Russia, stating that the country did not allow

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

a license to export parts of

T-80 The T-80 is a main battle tank (MBT) that was designed and manufactured in the former Soviet Union and manufactured in Russia. The T-80 is based on the T-64, while incorporating features from the later T-72 and changing the engine to a gas turbi ...

and other tanks, as the Russian government did not want Ukraine to sell it to India's traditional adversary

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Other work

In 2000, he worked with Valery Oreshkin to publish a book titled ''Liberalization of Russian Foreign Trade: Problems and Prospects''.Liberalization of Russian Foreign Trade: Problems and Prospects

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

. Retrieved 8 September 2017.

Sources

References

Books

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davydov, Oleg 1940 births 20th-century Russian politicians Deputy heads of government of the Russian Federation Government ministers of Russia Living people Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Russian diplomats Economists from Moscow Moscow State University of Civil Engineering alumni