Vitaly Gennadyevich Savelyev (; born 18 January 1954) is a Russian businessman and politician serving as the Deputy Prime Minister for Transport since May 2024. He was previously Minister of Transport from November 2020 until May 2024 and he served as the chairman and CEO of

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (, ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; , , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. Aeroflot is headquartered in the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, with its hub being Sheremetyevo Interna ...

, Russia's largest airline, from 2009 to 2020.

Biography

Vitaly Savelyev was born on January 18, 1954, in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

. In 1977, he graduated from the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute (Mechanical Engineering), and earned a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in economics in 1986 from the Leningrad Engineering and Economics Institute. From 1977 to 1984, Vitaly Savelyev worked at 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 ...

Ministry of Energy ( Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam). He became deputy director of the All-Union SevZapMetallurgMontazh Trust in 1984, and deputy director of the GlavLeningradEngStroy Chief Directorate in 1987. In 1989, he was named President of Russian-American DialogInvest JV, chairman of the executive board of Rossiya Bank in 1993, and chairman of the executive board of Menatep in 1995. In 2001–2002, he was Deputy Chairman of the executive board of OJSC

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...

, * 2001 − present — Member of the Council of the Association of Russian Banks * 2002 − 2004 — Gros United Company, Vice-president * 2004 − 2007 — Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Deputy Minister * 2007 − 2009 — AFK

Sistema AFK Sistema PAO is a large Russian conglomerate company, founded by Vladimir Yevtushenkov, who was chairman of the corporation's board of directors until 2022. In April, Yevtushenkov's shareholding in Sistema has decreased to 49.2%, and he also ...

, First Vice-president * 2009 − present — OJSC

– Russian Airlines, Director General * 2020 − 2024 - Minister of Transport * 2024 − present -

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 Transport Vitaly Savelyev served as chairman of the boards at All-Russia Exhibition Centre, OJSC Russian Development Bank, MTS, Komstar, OJSC SMM, CJSC SkyLink, and Shiam Telelink. In 2010, Russian 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 ...

tasked Vitaly Savelyev to transform Aeroflot in Russia's first full-fledged airline group. Many regional carriers were merged with Aeroflot. In 2013, he made Aeroflot the main sponsor of the UK soccer team

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. He introduced Aeroflot's new low-cost airline Pobeda in 2014 and actively contributed to bend Russia's aviation code to favor the development of airline activities. In June 2017, he announced that 40% of Aeroflot's fleet would be composed of domestic aircraft (including Irkut aircraft). Between 2009 and 2017, the number of passengers carried by Aeroflot grew from 8.9 million to 50.1 million. In August 2018, he was reelected CEO of Aeroflot. In 2018, the US added Vitaly Saveley in its "Kremlin List", not a sanction, rather a way to identify Russia's top economic agents. In May 2022 the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

placed sanctions on him pursuant to as 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 of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...

Sanctions

He 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 ...

Minister of Transport

On 9 November 2020, Prime Minister

Mikhail Mishustin Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin (born 3 March 1966) is a Russian politician and economist serving as the current prime minister of Russia since 16 January 2020. He previously served as the director of the Federal Taxation Service from 2010 to ...

nominated Savelyev for the Minister of Transport after the resignation of Yevgeny Dietrich. On 10 November, Savelyev's candidacy was approved by 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 ...

and on the same day, President

signed a decree appointing Savelyev to the post of Minister.

Personal life

Savelyev was a boxer and achieved the rank of Candidate for Master of Sport of the USSR. He is married and has two sons and one daughter.

Honours and awards

* Order of Honour (Russian Federation) * Medal "In Commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of Saint Petersburg" * Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan" * “Leader of the Year” category winner at “Person of the Year 2011” award according to RosBusinessConsulting (RBC), Russia's leading Internet holding company (2012).RosBusinessConsulting
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References and notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Savelyev, Vitaly 1954 births Aeroflot Living people 21st-century Russian businesspeople Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) Engineers from Tashkent Chief executives in the airline industry Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University alumni United Russia politicians Government ministers of Russia Deputy heads of government of the Russian Federation Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions Politicians from Tashkent