Sholban Valeryevich Kara-ool (, ; born 18 July 1966) is a Russian politician of Tuvan ethnic origins. He was the

Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

of the

Republic of Tuva Tuva (; ) or Tyva (; ), officially the Republic of Tyva,; , is a republic of Russia. Tuva lies at the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders the federal subjects of the Altai Republic, Buryatia, Irkutsk O ...

, a Russian republic, from 2007 to 2021.

Biography

Kara-ool was born into an ethnic Tuvan family on 18 July 1966 in the village of ,

Ulug-Khemsky District Ulug-Khemsky District (; ) is an administrativeResolution #1648 ZP-1 and municipalLaw #268 VKh-1 district (raion, or ''kozhuun''), one of the seventeen in the Tuva Republic, Russia. It is located in the center of the republic and borders Yermako ...

in the Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, and has spent most of his life in

Tuva Tuva (; ) or Tyva (; ), officially the Republic of Tyva,; , is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. Tuva lies at the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders the Federal subjects of Russia, federal sub ...

. He spent several years as a sports instructor, eventually taking up engineering. From 1998, he was a member of the

Federation Council The Federation Council, unofficially Senate, is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, with the lower house being the State Duma. It was established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. Each of the 89 federal s ...

, serving as Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. In December 2001, he resigned as a member of the council, then was elected as a deputy of the Great Khural of the Tuva Republic of the third convocation. On 17 March 2002, he ran for the post of the Head of the Republic — Chairman of the Government with 22% of the votes, but lost to the former President of Tuva Sherig-ool Oorzhak (53%). Afterwards he held the position of the First Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Tuva Republic, and then, from September 2003 to January 2005, the Minister of Trade, Consumer Services and Entrepreneurship Development of the Tuva Republic. In April 2007, he became chairman of the government of the Republic of Tuva. One of Sholban Kara-ool's first steps in this position was to fully rehabilitate the founder of

Tuvan People's Republic The Tuvan People's Republic (TPR), known simply as Tannu Tuva, was a partially recognized socialist republic that existed between 1921 and 1944 in North Asia. It was located in the same territory as the former Imperial Russian protectorate of ...

, Mongush Buyan-Badyrgy. Since 2013, the governor's project "One village — one product" has been implemented in Tuva: the study of the resources of each municipality, then opening and development of the production of competitive agricultural goods. Another project called "''Kyshtag'' for a Young Family" aimed to help young villagers to organize family livestock farms. Other initiatives of Kara-ool's administration include (re)involving of males in education and increasing of number of male teachers in Tuva; development of sports infrastructure, recreation sites, cultural and natural monuments. On 23 May 2016, he resigned at his own request in order to set a snap election on September the same year. He was later elected head of the Tuva Republic and served in that position from 22 September 2016 to 7 April 2021. On 7 April 2021, President

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 ...

accepted his resignation at his own request from the post of Head of the Tuva Republic. Kara-ool was succeeded by

Vladislav Khovalyg Vladislav Tovarishchtayovich Khovalyg (; ; born on 24 December 1967) is a Russian politician who is currently the 3rd Head of the Republic of Tuva since 7 April 2021. He is a member of United Russia, the largest and ruling party of Russia. He ...

, former mayor of

Kyzyl Kyzyl ( ) is the capital city of the Republic of Tuva within the Russian Federation. Kyzyl's population is approximately History The city was founded in 1914 as Belotsarsk. It was renamed Hem-Beldir from 1918 to 1926. When the city was the ca ...

Sanctions

Kara-ool was sanctioned by the UK government in 2022 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 ...

Personal life

Kara-ool is married, and has three children. In addition to his native Tuvan, he is fluent in

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 ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Awards

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

(26 January 2017) — ''for the achieved labor success, social activity and many years of conscientious work'' *

Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a Russian medal. It was established on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree No.442. Its award criteria were modified on 6 January 1999 by Presidential Decree 19 and again on 7 September 201 ...

2nd class (23 March 2015) * Order of Glory and Honor 2nd class (

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

, 2011) * Medal "For Contribution to Strengthening the Defence" (

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, 2019)Глава российского военного ведомства вручил награды за взаимодействие с Минобороны
''mil.ru'', 22 November 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kara-ool, Sholban 1966 births Living people People from Ulug-Khemsky District Tuvan people United Russia politicians Heads of the Republic of Tuva Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions Recipients of the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Ural State University alumni Eighth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)