Table of names: Alexander AbramovVagit AlekperovSergei BogdanchikovAndrei BokarevSergei ChemezovAnatoli ChubaisOleg DeripaskaMikhail FridmanAlexander FrolovBoris FyoderovBoris GryzlovSergei Borisovich IvanovViktor IvanovGarry KasparovAndrei I. KazminAlexander Vladimirovich KonovalovAndrei KostinVladimir LisinDmitry Anatolyevich MedvedevAlexei MillerReinhard MitschekAleksei MordashovAleksei MurychevSergey Yevgenyevich NaryshkinVladimir PotaninKonstantin PulikovskyDmitry PumpyanskyVictor F. RashnikovIvan SafronovIgor Sechin Anatoly SerdiukovAleksandr ShokhinZakhar SmushkinVladislav SurkovAlisher UsmanovSemyon VainshtokViktor VekselbergVladimir YakuninVladimir YevtushenkovIgor Zuzin

Alexander Abramov

After the fall of communism, Abramov went into business. He established a precursor to his massive Evraz Group in 1992; made a fortune exporting metals and coal from the Urals and Siberia. After Russia's financial collapse in 1998, he bought up steel companies and coal mines on the cheap and also acquired a big stake in Russia's electric monopoly UES. He then incorporated all his raw-material and metallurgical plants into Evraz Group, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange in June 2005. Until 1 January 2006, he was Chairman of the Board and CEO, and until 1 May 2006, Chairman of the Board. Since May 2006 Mr Abramov has been a member at large on the Board with no executive responsibilities. He is also a member of the boards of directors of NTMK and ZapSib.

http://www.evraz.com/about/board/http://www.forbes.com//lists/2006/10/AY0Y.html

Vagit Alekperov

Alekperov was born in 1950. He graduated in 1974 from the Azizbekov Institute of Oil and Chemistry in Azerbaijan. Doctor of Economics, current Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. Awarded four orders and eight medals. He worked from 1968 in the oil industry in Azerbaijan and Western Siberia. From 1987 to 1990 CEO of Kogalymneftegaz (oil production company), a division of Glavtyumenneftegaz within the Ministry of the Oil & Gas Industry of the USSR. From 1990 to 1991, Deputy, then First Deputy to the USSR Oil & Gas Industry Minister. From 1992 to 1993 President of Langepasuraykogalymneft (oil production group). Chairman of the Board of Directors of LUKOIL from 1993 to 2000. He has been President of LUKOIL since 1993.During the past five-year term of V. Alekperov presidency LUKOIL achieved outstanding results. The Company's market capitalization increased from $10 bln to $60 bln. Total shareholder's return rose from 35.2% in 2001 to 99% in 2005. ROACE grew from 16% to 23% during 2001-2005. LUKOIL also significantly improved its financial results: during 2001-2005 sales grew by 315%, net income - by 206%. Dividends doubled and reached 33 rubles/share.

Sergei Bogdanchikov

Rosneft's president, is one of the few people with direct access to Putin, and is also one of the only major players surrounding Putin to have no obvious background in either St. Petersburg or the security services. He rose from the position of engineer through the administrative ranks of state-run oil-drilling concerns on Sakhalin. In 1993, he was appointed general director of Sakhalinmorneftegaz. In 1997, he was named vice president of Rosneft, where he began coordinating the Company’s projects on the Sakhalin shelf as well as other projects in the Far East. When Bogdanchikov became the CEO at Rosneft in 1998, the company, which the state had hoped in the 1990s would become the leader of Russia's oil industry, was faced with falling production and had lost out on some properties to aggressive moves by oligarch-controlled interests – including Sibneft and Abromovich. Bogdanchikov quickly moved to consolidate the company's control over its holdings and has since made a number of moves, including the Yuganskeneftegaz purchase, to strengthen the company's position. Most experts believe that much of this success is due to Bogdanchikov's ties to the siloviki and, in particular, Sechin.

Born in 1957, Sergey Bogdanchikov received a first class honors degree from the Ufa Petroleum Institute in 1981 where he studied methods and integrated mechanization of

developing oil and gas fields. He holds a Doctorate of Science in Engineering and is the author of several academic works.

Sergey Bogdanchikov currently serves as Rosneft’s president, a position which he has held since his appointment by the Russian government on October 14, 1998.Mr. Bogdanchikov began his career in the oil and gas industry on Sakhalin Island in 1981.  In 1993, he was appointed general director of Sakhalinmorneftegaz.  In 1997, he was named vice president of Rosneft, where he began coordinating the Company’s projects on the Sakhalin shelf as well as other projects in the Far East.Born in 1957, Sergey Bogdanchikov received a first class honors degree from the Ufa Petroleum Institute in 1981 where he studied methods and integrated mechanization of developing oil and gas fields.  He holds a Doctorate of Science in Engineering and is the author of several academic works.

Vladimir Bogdanov 51 , self made

Track This Person Source: oilNet Worth: $1 bil Country of citizenship: RussiaMarital Status: married , 1 child Bachelor of Arts / ScienceMasters of Business AdministrationGained control of Surgutneftegaz, Russia's fourth-largest oil company, during the privatization auctions of 1994 and 1995. Is known in Russia as a competent and honest industrial tycoon; many regard Surgutneftegaz to be the best-managed oil company in Russia, though outside investors have been grumbling at the company's paltry dividends, primitive accounting and underutilized cash horde. Exceptionally private: dubbed the "Hermit of Siberia", Bogdanov rarely leaves his remote oil town, never grants interviews and shuns the trappings of wealth; often walks to work and does his own grocery shopping.

Bogdanov, the President of Surgutneftegaz, Russia's second largest oil company, was born in Suyerka in 1951, a small village in the Tiumen region of west Siberia. This also was the prime location of most of Russia's oil fields. He attended the Tiumen Industrial Institute and specialized in oil and well drilling.After graduating in 1973 he went to work as a technician in the nearby oil fields of Nizhnevartovsk, Nefteyugansk and Surgut. He eventually became deputy general director of drilling in Surgutneftgaz and then general director. He remained as general director when the oil company was privatized in 1993. Unlike Lukoil, Surgutneftegaz consisted primarily of producing fields and only in 1994 did it branch out to encompass oil refineries and gasoline service stations.

Andrei Bokarev

Andrei Bokarev is chairman of coal concern Kuzbassrazrezugol’s board of directors. Kuzbassrazrezugol has been Russia’s largest coal producer using open-cut mining methods since it was set up in 2003.

http://www.metal.com.ru/analytics/publication.php?id=350http://kru.ummc.rbc.ru/ru/#

Sergei Chemezov

Sergei Chemezov is the general director of Russia’s arms exporting monopoly, Rosoboronexport, studied at the Armed Forces’ General Staff Academy and has the rank of lieutenant-general. He met Putin in the mid-1980s when the latter was stationed as a spy in Dresden. Chemezov, employed at a Soviet industrial association, lived in the same building and socialized with Putin and his wife Lyudmila. On behalf of Rosoboronexport, Chemezov took over the country’s largest automobile company, Avtovaz, in 2005 and assigned a fellow General Staff Academy graduate, Igor Yesipovsky, to run it. The new executives flew in hundreds of shock troops to fight the criminal gangs stealing cars for black market sales. There has been talk of merging two other automobile companies, GAZ and KAMAZ, with Avtovaz. In mid-2006, Chemezov was negotiating to buy the world’s largest titanium producer, VSMPO-Avisma, as well as considering takeovers of two St Petersburg military shipyards and four jet engine manufacturers

Anatoly Chubais

Probably the most unpopular of all the Russian politicians, Anatoly Chubais is the head of the Unified Energy System of Russia, Russia's largest power company. One of Russia's original market reformers, Anatoly Chubais oversaw the mass privatizations of state property in the 1990s. He served in the government in various capacities throughout the 1990s. Of all the oligarchs, Anatoly Chubais has the least experience as a businessman. Until he became the president of UES, the electricity monopoly, in April 1998, most of his work had been as an academic, political reformer and then a government bureaucrat. He was born in Leningrad in 1955 and graduated from the Leningrad Engineering Economic Institute. With the coming of Gorbachev's glasnost and democratization, he joined the political reform and ultimately joined the reform administration of Mayor Anatoly Sobchak.

When Yegor Gaidar was asked to draw up a reform program for Boris Yeltsin, he brought in Chubais and put him in charge of the State Committee on Privatization. He designed and implemented the voucher program and the subsequent privatization of state enterprises.

More bio info:

# Full Name: Anatoly Borisovich Chubais# Born: June 16, 1955 in Belarus# Office: Chairman of the Board of the Unified Energy System of Russia# In 1990, appointed Deputy Mayor, then the First Deputy Mayor of Leningrad and Chief Economic Adviser to the City Mayor.# In November 1991, became Chairman of the State Property Committee of the Russian Federation, member of the Cabinet# In June 1992, appointed Vice-Premier of the Russian Government.# In June 1993, took part in establishing the liberal Vybor Rossii (Choice of Russia) electoral block. Elected to the State Duma in 1993.# From November 1994 — January 1996, he was First Vice-Premier in charge of economy and finance# In July 1996, was appointed Chief of the Presidential Administration.# In March 1997, appointed First Vice-Premier and Minister of Finance.

# In April 1997, appointed Director of the Russian Federation to the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).# In 1998, appointed Chairman of the Board of the Unified Energy System of Russia# Married, has two children

LINKSPBS Profile: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitextlo/int_anatoliichubais.htmlhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4357755.stm http://www.ulfsbo.nu/ussr/anatoly_chubais.html

1990: Appointed Deputy Mayor, then the First Deputy Mayor of Leningrad and Chief Economic Adviser to the City Mayor.

Nov. 1991: Became Chairman of the State Property Committee of the Russian Federation, member of the Cabinet.

June 1992: Appointed Vice-Premier of the Russian Government. June 1993: Took part in establishing the liberal Vybor Rossii (Choice of

Russia) electoral block. Elected to the State Duma in 1993. Nov. 1994 – Jan. 1996: First Vice-Premier in charge of economy and finance July 1996: Appointed Chief of the Presidential Administration. March 1997: Appointed First Vice-Premier and Minister of Finance. April 1997: Appointed Director of the Russian Federation to the International

Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). 1998: Appointed Chairman of the Board of the Unified Energy System of

Russia

http://www.mosnews.com/mn-files/chubais.shtml

Oleg Deripaska

Born in 1968, is Russia's youngest billionaire at age 35. Deripaska accumulated a business empire through a series of ruthless and elaborate, though technically legal, takeover raids. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, he was a 23-year-old student at

Moscow State University. He soon got a job in the fledgling metals trading market. By 1994, he was chief financial officer of Aluminprodukt. Through the company, he bought a stake in a Siberian smelter plant, beginning his ascent to the top of one of Russia's roughest industries. Deripaska became the plant's manager to protect it from a takeover by its former owner, who once threatened him with a grenade launcher. Later, Deripaska waged his own revolt to take over the shares of the London-based Transworld Group, then owned by controversial multimillionaire Mikhail Chernoi. Fellow oligarch Roman Abramovich became Deripaska's partner; in early 2000, the two created a joint venture called Russian Aluminum (RusAl). Today, RusAl has $4 billion in annual sales and is the world's second-largest aluminum producer. Deripaska owns 75 percent of the company. His other businesses include power stations, Russia's largest car and commercial vehicle manufacturer, and the country's largest insurance company.

Mikhail Fridman

Mikhail Fridman is the Chairman of Alfa Group which holds TNK-BP and AlfaBank. He’s 39, was born in 1964 in Lvov, on the western border of Ukraine. Fridman's first entrepreneurial stints, which he worked at while attending the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, included window washing, running a discotheque, and scalping Moscow theater tickets -- all illegal under Soviet rule. When then-Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev passed a series of economic reforms relaxing the prohibitions on private business, Fridman and his classmates started a co-op, arranging for courier delivery of goods and a hodgepodge of other services. In 1988, Fridman set up his own photo cooperative, Alfa Foto, and subsequently ALFA/EKO, a commodities trading firm, which gave him the capital to establish AlfaBank, today one of Russia's largest banks. He recruited a Russian foreign trade minister to head up the bank. After a series of profitable debt securities deals, Fridman's wealth grew exponentially, positioning him to acquire significant oil interests in Russia.

In 2003 merged his oil company, TNK, with BP-quite an achievement, considering that six years prior BP was in a bitter fight with Fridman, protesting his methods of taking over a partly BP-owned oilfield. In 2006 Fridman paid more attention to his telecom assets; bought 13% stake in Turkcell, Turkey's largest cellular operator, adding to the

group's stakes in Vimpelcom and Megafon (Russia), Kyivstar (Ukraine), Golden Telecom (USA), Buztel and Uzmacom (Uzbekistan).

41 yrs. Old 50th richest man 1999: Founded Alfa Group with college friends German Khan and Alexei

Kuzmichov, now a diverse conglomerate with oil, retail, telecom and banking interests.

Strong Kremlin connections, including a former subordinate who now serves as a political adviser to Putin.

2003: Merged his oil company, TNK, with BP 2005: Fridman bought a 13% stake in Turkcell, Turkey's largest cellular

operator, adding to the group's stakes in Vimpelcom and Megafon (Russia), Kyivstar (Ukraine), Golden Telecom (USA), Buztel and Uzmacom (Uzbekistan).

http://www.forbes.com//lists/2006/10/FND3.htmlhttp://www.alfagroup.org/142/16984/About.aspx

More bio info:

Estimated Worth:$9.7 billion – up from 4.3 billion

Current Position:Chairman, Alfa Group

Major Holdings:TNK-BP (formerly Tyumen Oil) and AlfaBank

Other Interests:Telecom businesses Golden Telecom and Vimpelcom; retailer Trade House Perekriostock, which operates a leading chain of supermarkets, and vodka producer Smirnov Trade House

Political Connections:Fridman's partner, Peter Aven, was Russia's minister of foreign economic affairs. Fridman was one of the Big Seven, the original group of oligarchs who bankrolled the 1996 reelection of President Boris Yeltsin and who claimed to then control 50 percent of Russia's assets.

New Plays:Fridman recently sold 50 percent of Tyumen Oil to British Petroleum in a landmark $6.75 billion deal, creating TNK-BP, the 10th-largest private-sector oil and gas company in the world in terms of production.

Lifestyle:Fridman is known for keeping a low profile, although his Moscow flat is said to be larger than 12,000 square feet; Fridman's wife and two children live in Paris.

Notoriety:The oil tanker Prestige, which sank off the Spanish coast in 2002 and released an oil slick that spread 250 miles, was chartered by a company owned by Fridman.

Mikhail Fridman is Chairman of the Supervisory Board and principal founder of Alfa Group Consortium, one of the leading business enterprises in Russia. He has built the Alfa Group into a market leader in Banking, Energy, Telecommunications and Retail sales. Fridman chairs the Board of Directors of two of the group’s leading companies — Alfa-Bank, which is one of Russia’s largest privately owned banks, and TNK-BP, formed by the historic joint venture between British Petroleum and Tyumen Oil Company, completed in 2003. Mr. Fridman also serves as member of the Board of Directors of VimpelCom, the second of three major market leaders in the Russia’s rapidly growing mobile communications market.

Mikhail Fridman is one of Russia’s most influential and successful business leaders. His strategies of acquisition, growth and integration have made the Alfa Group among the most attractive partners for international investment in Russia. The historic joint venture with British Petroleum, announced in the summer of 2003 was, at that time, the largest foreign investment deal in Russian history, valued at over US$7 billion.

The Group has significant investment in cellular communications providers VimpelCom (traded on NYSE, symbol: VIP) and MegaFon as well as Kyivstar, a leading cellular provider in Ukraine. In addition, the Group invests into fixed-line and internet provider — Golden Telecom (traded on NASDAQ, symbol: GLDN). Also, the Group invests in Turkcell, a leading GSM operator in Turkey (traded on NYSE and Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB)).

The Group’s other interests include Pyaterochka Holding N. V. (traded on LSE, symbol: FIVE), one of the largest discount grocery retailers in Russia in terms of sales, Perekrestok Group of Companies, which runs a leading chain of supermarkets in Russia, and Russian Technologies, a company focusing on the development of promising technologies.

The Group typically focuses on value-oriented, longer-term opportunities, primarily in Russia and the CIS, but also invests in other markets which form part of the Group’s strategic business objectives.

In November 2005 Mikhail Fridman was elected to Russia’s Public Chamber. The Chamber is comprised of business and social leaders who have made significant

contributions to Russian life and oversees official bodies and reviews and advises on legislative initiatives undertaken by the government.

Fridman is a Member of the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations, and his achievements have been recognized by prestigious international publications and organizations in the world of finance and business. He was named to the list of “Europe’s Power 25” by FORTUNE in 2004, as well as the Financial Times list of the “2004 Leaders of the New Europe”. In 2003 Mikhail Fridman was honored with the Golden Plate Award of the International Academy of Achievement in Washington, presented personally by former US President Bill Clinton.

Mikhail Fridman started out in business while still a student at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. He graduated in 1986 and two years later founded Alfa Eco, a trading company out of which Alfa Group Consortium developed. Fridman was born in Lvov, Ukraine on 21 April 1964.

Alexander Frolov

A 41 year-old atomic physicist, Frolov is deputy CEO of Evraz and responsible for all of the company’s operations. Frolov owns the second biggest stake in the company, claiming 31.11%. However, it is also reported that billionaire Roman Abramovich and his partners own 41.3% and that co-founders Alexander Abramov and Frolov own 41.3% together, with Abramov owning two times as many as Frolov. He was part of the original group of investors in the company that also includes Maxim Boiko, a St. Petersburg crony of Russia's privatization chief Anatoly Chubais who was reported to hold 1/3 of the shares as of 2001. Another of the original investors was Iskander Makhmudov who was a partner at least through 2001. It is assumed that Boiko’s and Makhmudov’s shares in the company were transferred to Abramov and Frolov respectively; however, there does not appear to be any direct evidence. In any case, Frolov himself is now worth $2.3 billion and was largely unknown until Evraz went public. It is interesting to note that Frolov recently turned down $2.5 million in salary and bonuses, calling it “unethical.” He is not to be confused with the LA Kings hockey star of the same name.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/6ZVY.html

http://icms.iac.iafrica.com/pls/cms/iac.page?p_t1=1310&p_t2=3195&p_t3=0&p_t4=0&p_dynamic=YP&p_content_id=443066&p_site_id=73http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=20886

Boris Grigoryevich Fyodorov (Boris Fedorov)

Boris Fedorov (born 1958) was a Russian economist, political figure, and reformer. He is doctor of economics and author of 200 publications. He served as Russian finance minister from 1993 until 1994. His term was ended with his resignation. Boris Fedorov was minister of finance of Russian Federation also in 1990. From 1991-1992 he worked for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In 1992 he was director of the World Bank. He was a member of Duma from 1994-1998 and in 1998 he was tax minister for about 3 months until he was fired -- during Russia’s financial crisis. He is currently a member of various boards including Gazprom, founder of investment bank UFG, which was sold to Deutsche Bank in 2005. He is a general partner of UFG Private Equity Fund I from 2006.

Boris Gryzlov

Internal Affairs Minister Boris Gryzlov plays a unique role in Russian politics. He is one of the few Russian politicians to head an important federal-level ministry as well as represent, even if indirectly, a powerful State Duma faction.

Gryzlov is Russia's top cop, though he was appointed internal affairs minister without any experience in law enforcement or work within the security agencies. (His background includes engineering, trade-union activities and running a trade company.) Unlike the rest of the government, his appointment to a federal ministry was the result of his political activities, which made Unity (now part of the bloc of Kremlin-controlled parties' United Russia) the most powerful political entity in the Duma. He is credited with being a very efficient and energetic organizer as well as a loyal (to a fault) executor of Putin's Duma agenda to strengthen the Kremlin's vertical power structures. Gryzlov is perceived as being able to "organize a victory," as the Bolsheviks used to put it, and organizing one in the Duma was just the beginning.

Gryzlov's appointment in March 2001 to head the Internal Affairs Ministry surprised most of the political establishment. That he was an Internal Affairs Ministry outsider and political appointee surely meant he had been given a mandate to completely reorient this part of Russia’s security apparatus away from the 'family loyalist' Vladimir Rushailo toward officials more acquiescent to Putin and his subordinates. It did not take long for Gryzlov to replace Rushailo's proteges, while Rushailo himself was "promoted" to head the very nebulous Security Council - a place where powerful, though politically out of favor, figures often seem to wind up. Now that he has succeeded in subordinating the ministry to Putin and his people, many are curious about what the Kremlin will direct him to do next.

Biography and history with Unified Russia party:

Born in 1950, Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov moved to Leningrad with his parents when he was 4 years old. His father was in the military, and his mother was a teacher. Young Gryzlov was a model student and Young Pioneer, according to "Profile" on 14 February 2000.

In 1968, he entered the Leningrad Electronic Institute, where he specialized in radio engineering. There, Gryzlov was also an accomplished student and a "most active" member of the Komsomol. Gryzlov remained in Leningrad, and in 1985 while working for a trade union, he became acquainted with "most useful people" in the raion administration and played soccer on the raion administration's team. It was there he met Nikolai Patrushev, the current director of the Federal Security Service (FSB). At that time, Patrushev was a deputy in the raion council.

In 1998, Gryzlov became actively engaged in politics, waging an unsuccessful campaign for the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly. In August-September 1999, he headed the campaign headquarters for Viktor Zybkov, a candidate for governor of Leningrad Oblast. Zybkov got only 10 percent of the vote, but his campaign was considered very successful in terms of organization, according to "Nezavisimaya gazeta."

Vladislav Reznik, a well-known St. Petersburg businessman acquainted with Gryzlov, told "Itogi": Gryzlov "is a brilliant organizer and splendidly led the campaign for Unity in St. Petersburg. He is a systematic and consistent person." Zybkov's headquarters was

supposed to have been headed by Dmitrii Kozak, but Kozak was summoned at the last minute to work in Moscow, according to "Profil." Kozak, who is now deputy head of the presidential administration, recommended that Gryzlov take his place.

In October 1999, during the run-up to the December 1999 State Duma elections, Gryzlov ran Unity's St. Petersburg headquarters and topped the movement's regional list. The movement polled around 17 percent in the city, and Gryzlov won a deputy's mandate. Kozak again played an important role in Gryzlov's career, recommending him for the job that would catapult him into the national spotlight, -- head of the Unity faction in the Duma, according to "Profil." The Kremlin tapped Gryzlov, who was completely unknown at that time on the national level, to head the Duma's second-largest faction.

In his role as Unity head, Gryzlov developed a reputation for being both loyal and ambitious. The Unity faction has, on most issues, voted unanimously and according to the Kremlin's wishes. As a rule, only its top officials speak publicly. A number of Moscow newspapers suggested that it was Gryzlov's loyalty that prompted President Vladimir Putin to tap Gryzlov for the post of interior minister in March 2001.

In November 2002, Gryzlov was named the chairman of the Higher Council of the successor party to Unity, the Unified Russia party. A struggle for power among competing clans within the party had been on going in the party for some months, and most observers believed Putin tapped Gryzlov to introduce a firmer hand within the party's top ranks although they were uncertain whether Gryzlov had the political stature to do the job.

Sergei Borisovich Ivanov

First Deputy Prime Minister

Just three months younger than Vladimir Putin, Sergei Ivanov’s background has much in common with that of the president. Both are from St. Petersburg and served in the KGB. Both men went to specialized schools (Putin in chemistry, Ivanov in English language) before moving on to study at the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) State University. Even though their paths continued in parallel as they both moved on to the Higher KGB School

in Minsk, Ivanov says that it wasn’t until they were both assigned afterward to work in the same KGB division in Leningrad that they became acquainted.

In 1999, when former President Boris Yeltsin named Putin director of the Federal Security Council, the latter brought Ivanov, then a Lieutenant General with the FSB to Moscow to head the council’s information-analytical department. Ivanov was also responsible for liaising with foreign security services and counter intelligence. Their paths have not parted since and, when Putin was picked by Yeltsin as prime minister, Ivanov replaced him as secretary of the Security Council.

Ivanov's November 2005 appointment as Deputy Prime Minister made him second in line to the presidency, after Dmitry Medvedev. His February 2007 promotion, giving him a position equal to that of Medvedev while removing him from the much criticized and tarnished Defense Ministry increases the chance that Ivanov will become Putin's successor.

Basic bio info: Born January 31, 1953 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg)

1976 - graduated from the translation department of the philological faculty, Leningrad State University, where he majored in English and Swedish1977 - graduated from the Higher Courses of the KGB at the USSR State Security Committee in Minsk; and in 1981 from School No. 101 of the KGB First Main Directorate (now the Andropov Red-Banner Institute)1976 - began his service in the KGB. Upon graduating from the Higher Courses of the KGB in Minsk, Ivanov was sent to work at the State Security Department of Leningrad and the Leningrad region, where he met Vladimir Putin.late 1970s - began working in foreign intelligence, held various posts in Africa and Europe; appointed deputy department chief in the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR); in the mid-1990s, became one of the youngest generals in the SVR.August 1998-March 2001 - deputy director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), chief of the Department of Analysis, Forecast and Strategic planning of the FSB.March 2, 1999 - joined the Interdepartmental Commission in charge of Russia's participation in G8 activities.November 15, 1999-March 28, 2001 - secretary of the Security Council of the Russian FederationMarch 28, 2001-present - minister of defense; remains a member of the Russian Security CouncilMay 2001- present - chairman of the Council of CIS Defense Ministers (SMO).November 2005 - appointed Deputy Prime MinisterFebruary 15, 2007 - appointed First Deputy Prime Minister, removed from position of Defense Minister. His duties in the new role will include overseeing the development of Russia's military-industrial complex.

Rank: Lieutenant-General, retired.

Awards: Rank II Order For Services to the Fatherland (2003).

Hobbies: Fishing and reading detective novels in original languages.

Fluent in English and Swedish.

Married, with two sons.

Viktor Ivanov

Viktor Ivanov is a longtime Putin associate. His biography records a more than 20-year career in the Soviet KGB and Russian FSB, ending as deputy director. Ivanov spent a year in the late 1980s “providing international assistance” to the Soviet-backed government of Afghanistan. He retired with the rank of colonel in 1994, and worked along with Putin and Sechin in St Petersburg’s city hall, later coming to Moscow, where he is now anaide to the president, responsible for personnel. Simultaneously, he chairs the boards of Almaz-Antei, a conglomerate of more than 40 defense companies, and Aeroflot, the national airline, formerly controlled by Berezovsky.

Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov was born to Armenian and Jewish parents in the city of Baku in Azerbaijan in 1963. He was a child chess prodigy, qualifying as an International Chess Master at the age of 16. In 1985 at the age of 22, he became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion when he defeated Anatoly Karpov for the title. Garry Kasparov is the highest rated player in the history of chess. Since his retirement from playing competitive chess, Garry Kasparov has been writing a regular column in New in Chess magazine. Kasparov has been active in Russian politics and heads the anti-Putin party, the United Civil Front.

More Bio info:

Widely believed to be the strongest player in the history of the game, Kasparov has successfully defended his crown four times: three times against Karpov (London/Leningrad 1986, Seville 1987, New York/Lyon 1990) and once against Nigel Short (London 1993) and once against Vishwanatan Anannd (New-York 1995). In 1993, Kasparov and Nigel Short helped form the Professional Chess Association (PCA).

Beyond his interests in chess, Kasparov is an accomplished mathematician and computer expert who speaks 15 different languages. He has authored four books and has gained international recognition as a prominent spokesperson for political, educational and social reforms in Eastern Europe.UPDATE: Garry Kasparov retires from professional chess and attacks Putin. Read the full story at Garry Kasparov News

http://www.biogs.com/famous/kasparovnews.html

13 December 2006: Garry Kasparov's United Civil Front offices searched in Moscow

Security and criminal police officers raided the office of the United Civil Front headed by Garry Kasparov, according to his aide, Marina Litvinovich.

An AP article in The Washington Post quotes Garry Kasparov as saying:

"That's an important message not only for people in Russia, but also for the rest of the world to see how new laws, which are supposed to fight extremism, are used against political opposition."

11 March 2005: Garry Kasparov retires from professional chess to spend time on battles off the board.

Dramatic news today as the world's greatest ever chess player Garry Kasparov announced that he is to give up competitive chess and devote his time to writing and to Russian politics, in particular, his opposition to President Vladimir Putin.

Kasparov made the announcement after he had succeeded in winning the famous Linares chess event. He scored 8 out of 12 points as did Bulgarian Veselin Topalov (who beat Kasparov in the last round), but Kasparov took the title as he has scored the most wins with the black pieces.

Kasparov said: "Before this tournament I made a conscious decision that Linares 2005 will be my last professional [tournament], and today I played my last professional game."

Kasparov told the press conference at Linares:

"... by the end of this year my new book will appear ... the tentative title of the book is How Life Imitates Chess. It is a very important project because I want to demonstrate to a mainstream audience how the game of chess can explain the decision-making process in many walks of life."

Kasparov added:

"I devote a certain amount of time to Russian politics, as every decent person should do, who opposes the dictator Vladimir Putin."

It is a blow to the chess world to lose Garry Kasparov, but it is fitting that he went out on a high. After being increasingly frustrated by the chess authorities, Kasparov has proven beyond doubt that he is still the world's number 1 player, officially or not.

Kasparov will be hoping that the title of his new book "How Life Imitates Chess" is prescient. Although he was sitting across the chessboard from Anatoly Karpov when he claimed the crown of world champion, Kasparov was, in parallel, taking the Russian authorities on and defeating them. A feat that he now hopes to repeat.

Garry Kasparov was born Gary Weinstein on 13 April, 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan, USSR.

Kasparov’s chess talent was evident from an early age. Taught to play by his father, he later joined the Botvinnik Chess School where he made significant progress. After his father died he changed his name to a Russian version of his mother’s maiden name.

From the age of 12 Kasparov was setting new standards. After becoming the youngest player to win the USSR Junior Championship he went on to win the World Junior Championship at age 16.

On his seventeenth birthday he achieved Grandmaster status. But his most notable achievement was the title of World Champion, the youngest ever, at the age of 22. This match was against the reigning champion Anatoly Karpov and the match was to last fully six months. However, a re-match was ordered and this took place in November 1985 and Kasparov was victorious.

Kasparov was to fall out with the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and he set up a rival organisation called the Professional Chess Association (PCA) and a World Championship match was arranged in 1993, in which Kasparov played Britain’s Nigel Short. Although Kasparov was to win the match, FIDE held their own World Championship match and Karpov was also to claim the position of World Champion after beating Dutchman Jan Timman.

In recent years Kasparov has been under the spotlight for his matches against the world’s strongest computers. In 1996 Kasparov played a six game match against Deep Blue, beating the machine 4-2.

However, he was defeated a year later by an improved version of the computer 3.5-2.5.

Garry Kasparov is the highest rated player in the history of chess.

Since his retirement from playing competitive chess, Garry Kasparov has been writing a regular column in New in Chess magazine. Kasparov has been active in Russian politics and heads the anti-Putin party, the United Civil Front.

Andrei I. Kazmin

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sberbank

Andrei I. Kazmin was appointed as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sberbank in January 1996.  He also serves as Vice President of the World Savings Bank Institute.  From 1993 to 1996, Mr. Kazmin served as a Deputy Minister of Finance in the Russian government, where he oversaw the banking system and government securities.

From 1988 to 1993, Mr. Kazmin served as a Senior Associate at the Russian Academy of Sciences, prior to which he was an Assistant Professor and Deputy Dean at the Moscow Institute of Finance.  From 1982 to 1983, he served as an Economist at the State Bank of the USSR .

Mr. Kazmin graduated from the Moscow Institute of Finance, where he also pursued his graduate studies.

Alexander Vladimirovich Konovalov

Presidential Representative for the Volga Federal DistrictAlexander Vladimirovich Konovalov, 37, was appointed Presidential Representative for the Volga Federal District on November 14, 2005. He was appointed Procurator of Bashkiria in early 2005 after having served as Assistant and First Deputy Procurator for St. Petersburg. He joined the Procurator’s office in 1992.Mr. Konovalov holds a J.D. from St. Petersburg State University.

Born June 9, 1968, in Leningrad.

Graduated in jurisprudence from St Petersburg State University in 1992.

Holds a Ph.D. (kandidat nauk) degree in law. Holds the title of senior legal councillor.

Served in the Soviet Army from 1986–1988.

From 1988–1992, studied at the Law Faculty of St Petersburg State University.

In 1992, worked as assistant to the prosecutor of Vyborg District, St Petersburg.

From 1992–1994, was an investigator at the Vyborg District Prosecutor’s Office, St Petersburg.

From 1994–1997, was prosecutor at the Federal Security Law Enforcement Supervision Department at the St Petersburg Prosecutor’s Office

From 1997–1998, was Deputy Prosecutor of Moskovsky District, St Petersburg.

From 1998–2001, was Prosecutor of Moskovsky District, St Petersburg.

From 2001–2005, was Deputy Prosecutor of St Petersburg.

In 2005, became Prosecutor of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Was appointed Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy in the Volga Federal District in November 2005.

Is a member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

Andrei Kostin

President of Vneshtorgbank 1979 to 1992: served for the USSR Foreign Affairs Ministry

1979 to 1982: served for the USSR Consulate General in Australia 1985 to 1990: served for the USSR Embassy in the United Kingdom. 1992: A.Kostin joined those who founded the Russian Investment and Finance

Company (RIFK, as the Russian acronym), which was a player in the securities and debt instrument markets.

1993 to 1995: Deputy Head of Foreign Investment Department of the Imperial Bank.

1995: Elected First Deputy Chairman of the National Reserve Bank. 18 October 1996: By Presidential Decree appointed Chairman of

Vnesheconombank. 14 October 1999: the President extended his mandate for the next three-year

period. 1998 and later in 2001: Awarded the Russian Government Honorary

Diplomas for his substantial personal contribution to economic development of Russia.

1999: A. Kostin was presented with a state reward, Order of Honour, for his contribution to the development of the Russian financial and banking sector.

10 June 2002: A. Kostin was appointed Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank for Foreign Trade.

http://www.vtb.ru/rus/web.html?l=2

Vladimir Lisin

Net Worth: $ 4.8 billionPrimary Source: Novolipetsk Metallurgical , metalsAge: 48Marital Status: married, three children. A proletarian success story, Lisin's career began in 1975 when he took his first job--as a welder in a coal mine. Later he took a job as a steel worker, rose up the ranks, earned further educational degrees and eventually became deputy head of one of the USSR's biggest steel mills. In 1991, when his boss was appointed Minister of Metallurgy, Lisin came with him to Moscow. In 1992, Lisin joined up with a tough group of traders who called themselves the Trans-World Group. They came to dominate Russia's aluminum and steel exports. Lisin managed the factories.

When the partners went their separate ways in 2000, Lisin got a majority stake in Russia's giant Novolipetsk steel mill as his share.

Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev

Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation

Dmitry A. Medvedev was born on September 14, 1965, in Leningrad. He graduated from Law Department, Leningrad State University, in 1987. Upon completion of the post-graduate program at the University in 1990, he obtained Ph. D. (Law), and assistant professorship. Mr. Medvedev taught at St. Petersburg State University from 1990 to 1999. From 1990 to 1995 he served as Adviser to the Chairman, Leningrad City Council, and Expert Consultant, Committee for External Relations of the St. Petersburg Mayor's Office. Mr. Medvedev was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the Government of the Russian Federation in 1999. In 1999 - 2000 he was Deputy Head, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration. Mr. Medvedev was Chairman of the Board of Directors, Gazprom, from 2000 to 2001, and Deputy Chairman of the Board in 2001-2002. He has been Chairman of the Board of Directors, Gazprom, since June, 2002. Mr. Medvedev was Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office from October, 2003 to November, 2005. Mr. Medvedev was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation on November, 2005

Experts characterize Medvedev as 100% a Putin protege, part of the group of “Petersburg lawyers,” along with Dmitry Kozak, Presidential Envoy to the Southern Federal District. Throughout his years working in the Presidential Administration, Medvedev is said to have deliberately avoided aligning himself with either the camp of the security service officials (the “siloviki”) or the group around Alexander Voloshin (one of the major figures of the so-called “family” of the Boris Yeltsin era and Medvedev’s boss in the Kremlin until October 2003, when he resigned and was replaced by Medvedev). Medvedev is considered Putin's appointed successor following his November 2005 appointment as First Deputy Prime Minister.

Married, with one son (Ilya, born 1996).

Contact informationAdministration of the President of the Russian Federation4 Staraya PloshadMoscow 103132Tel.: +7 (095) 206 62 55Fax: +7 (095) 206 09 83www.kremlin.ru/eng/administration.shtml

Alexei B. Miller

Alexei Millerwas born on January 31, 1962, in Leningrad. He graduated from high school in 1979 and attended the Leningrad Finance and Economics Institute, where he studied economics. He earned his degree in 1984 and went on to work as an engineer-economist in the general planning division of the Leningrad Research Institute of Civil Construction. He went back to school at the Finance and Economics Institute in 1986, earning his PhD in economics in 1989. He worked for a variety of organizations before President Vladimir Putin appointed him as chairman of Gazprom with responsibility for turning the company around. He had been the director of development and investments at the St. Petersburg Seaport, the largest seaport in northwestern Russia, and later the general director of the Baltic Pipeline System Company. In 2001 he became Gazprom's management committee chairman. Miller's appointment was surrounded by much controversy, as he had many opponents.

1990: Appointed Researcher, Leningrad Finance and Economics Institute, and then Head of Section, Committee on Economic Reform, Leningrad City Council.

1991 to 1996: Served with the Committee for External Relations, St. Petersburg Mayor’s Office. He was Head, Markets Monitoring Section, Foreign Economic Relations Department. Later he was appointed head of the Department, and Deputy Chairman of the Committee.

1996 to 1999: Director, Development and Investments, at Morskoy Port of St. Petersburg Open Joint Stock Company.

1999 to 2000: Served as General Director, Balttiiskaya Truboprovodnaya Sistema (Baltic Pipeline System).

2000: Appointed Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation. Since 2001: Chairman of the Management Committee, Deputy Chairman of

the Board of Directors of Gazprom.

http://www.gazprom.com/eng/articles/article8824.shtml

More bio info:

Alexey B. Miller was born on January 31, 1962, in Leningrad. In 1979, he graduated from high school and became a student of the Leningrad Finance and Economics Institute named after N. A. Voznesenskii.

After graduation Alexey Miller worked as an engineer-economist in the general planning division of the Leningrad research institute of civil construction, “LenNIIProekt”.

In 1986, A. B. Miller became a postgraduate student at the Leningrad Finance and Economics Institute, and in 1989 he received the Ph. D. in economics.

In 1990 he was employed as a researcher at the Leningrad Finance and Economics Institute, and then as head of section of Leningrad City Council Committee on economic reform.

From 1991 to 1996, Mr. Miller served in St. Petersburg Mayor’s office Committee on external relations. He was the head of Markets monitoring department at the Foreign Economic Relations directorate. Later, he was head of the directorate, and vice-chairman of the Committee.

From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Miller was Director (Development and Investments) at the St. Petersburg Seaport.

From 1999 to 2000, he held a post of General Director at the Baltic Pipeline System company.

In 2000, Mr. Miller was appointed Deputy Energy Minister of the Russian Federation.

He is Chairman of the Management Committee of OAO Gazprom since 2001.

Alexey Miller has been awarded with 4th Degree Order for the Outstanding Services to the Fatherland; the Medal of the Outstanding Services to the Fatherland II Degree Order; II Class Order of the Hungarian Republic Cross for his outstanding services to the energy cooperation; St. Mesrop Mashtots Order (Republic of Armenia); Sergiy Radonezhsky II Degree Order of the Russian Orthodox Church; Patriarchal Merit Certificate.

Alexei Miller (1962–) [The below information casts quite the rosy glow about Miller…]

Chairman of the Management Committee, Gazprom

Nationality: Russian.

Born: January 31, 1962, in Leningrad, Soviet Union.

Education: Leningrad Institute for Finance and Economics, BA, 1984; PhD, 1989.

Career: Leningrad Research Institute of Civil Construction, 1984–1986, engineer-economist; Leningrad Finance and Economic Institute, 1990, researcher; St. Petersburg Mayor's Office, Foreign Economic Relations directorate, 1991–1996, head of markets monitoring department; St. Petersburg Seaport, 1996–1999, director; Baltic Pipeline System Company, 1999–2000, general director; Russian Federation, 2000, Deputy Energy Minister; Gazprom, 2001–, chairman of the management committee.

Awards: Merits before Fatherland Award of II degree, Russia; Award of Sergiy Radonezhskiy of II degree of the Russian Orthodox Church; Patriarch Honorable Award, Russia.

Address: Gazprom, 16 UI. Nametkina, Moscow 117884, Russia; http://www.gazprom.ru/eng.

Alexei Miller became the chairman of the Gazprom management committee in 2001 after the board of directors removed Rem Vyakhirev. Under Vyakhirev Gazprom was mismanaged, turning into a gas giant that was struggling both financially and internally; Miller was chosen to transform Gazprom back into a successful company again. Bearing a doctorate in economics, he took a more technical view of company finances and made difficult and controversial desicions. His significant changes in Gazprom's management brought profits and company unity in only three years.

Education and Early Career

Miller was born on January 31, 1962, in Leningrad. He graduated from high school in 1979 and attended the Leningrad Finance and Economics Institute, where he studied economics. He earned his degree in 1984 and went on to work as an engineer-economist in the general planning division of the Leningrad Research Institute of Civil Construction. He went back to school at the Finance and Economics Institute in 1986, earning his PhD in economics in 1989. He worked for a variety of organizations before President Vladimir Putin appointed him as chairman of Gazprom with responsibility for turning the company around. He had been the director of development and investments at the St. Petersburg Seaport, the largest seaport in northwestern Russia, and later the general director of the Baltic Pipeline System Company. In 2001 he became Gazprom's

management committee chairman. Miller's appointment was surrounded by much controversy, as he had many opponents, but he met with substantial success through hard work and determination.

Gazprom

After taking over as chairman of Gazprom, Miller achieved early victories in gaining firm control of the Russian gas giant. Many interest groups, old Gazprom managers, and other oil companies had been especially displeased with Miller's appointment; they did not want to see a strong leader at the helm because they wished to take advantage of the company, which had been in chaos. Allegations surfaced that managers had been stealing from the company and that many of Gazprom's business deals had not been in its own favor. Miller made rapid progress in asserting his authority when he forced the board to buy back Purgaz, the gas-producing subsidiary of which Gazprom had lost control in 1999. Miller's goal was simple: to recover Gazprom's lost assets.

While his goals were straightforward and clearly good for the company, many still did not want Miller to succeed. In fact rumors about him were spread around, including allegations that he had been fired after only five months on the job. Other oil companies especially wanted Gazprom to remain in disarray so that they could attain cheap assets. Sabrina Tavernise wrote in the New York Times, "Miller took the helm at Gazprom after years of mismanagement and lack of investment had driven the company into decline" (December 19, 2001). Miller needed to create a coherent plan for turning Gazprom back into the gas giant it had been in the past.

Focuses on Immediate Problems, Not Restructuring

Miller decided that the company's problems would be solved in focusing on three areas in particular: he would reacquire gas assets lost in previous years, reversing Gazprom's declining gas output; he would ensure that no employees were stealing from the company; and he would "concentrate on consolidating government control over Gazprom by replacing people associated with ex-CEO Rem Vyakhirev with executives loyal to Putin" (January 31, 2002). Miller did not immediately conceive a precise reorganization plan for the company, however, because he did not feel it to be necessary.

In June 2002 Miller attended Gazprom's annual shareholders' meeting as one of six state representatives, at which meeting he related some of his successes. He had been able to rein in theft by top managers and had recovered production assets that had been sold to controversial gas traders.

Continues to Reshape Gazprom

Miller thought it necessary to reachieve financial stability at Gazprom before increasing capitalization. The deputy chairman and financial chief Vitaly Savelyev left the company in 2002 because he had been unable to reduce short-term debt. Miller replaced him with Boris Yurlov, who he believed would introduce a more conservative plan for financial

recovery. Miller took criticism for the appointment; an FSU Energy article suggested, "Former Gazprom chairman and Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin—deemed by many to be the godfather of the asset-stripping schemes at Gazprom before Miller's arrival—is trying to persuade the presidential administration that Miller should be removed" (May 31, 2002). Miller worked through such rumors, reshaping the company's board by replacing members who bore allegiance to the former chairman.

By 2003 Miller had made sizable progress at Gazprom, having devised a long-term strategy that would be implemented over a period of 25 years. He centered his plan around the development of five core production areas. As stated in an article in Gas Connections, he moved toward "improving tax and pricing policies, setting up a favorable investment climate, and creating a competitive domestic market" (June 12, 2003). His plan relied on the European market, which he stated would continue to be a priority for Gazprom. Miller also wanted to expand into the Asia Pacific region when the company had gained sufficient strength.

Gazprom had bought back many of its lost assets, and the company was slowly moving toward financial stability. Yet not everyone appreciated Miller's hard work and difficult decisions, arguing that he was paying excessive prices to buy back assets that had been lost under the previous management.

Gazprom Begins to Grow

Under Miller's guidance Gazprom reached financial stability in only three years. The company met its gas production goals for 2003 and moved from a state of restabilization to one of growth. Net profits were expected to exceed RUR 200 billion in 2003. Miller worked concertedly during his tenure to bring together a team of like-minded professionals who would work their hardest to pull Gazprom out of debt and chaos. He established a new corporate spirit, wherein employees persevered and cooperated in order to achieve common goals. Miller chose his employees with care and treated them with respect. In bringing Gazprom out of its crisis, he gave much of the credit to his dedicated employees.

Looked Toward Expansion

While he stated that Europe would be Gazprom's major export market, Miller looked for additional channels through which to spur the company's growth. He hoped to expand into Asia Pacific and studied the markets in China, Japan, and Korea, where Gazprom might increase both production and profits. The company planned to diversify its services to include offerings of electricity and liquefied natural gas; Miller even hoped to gain access to the liquefied gas market in the United States, for which Gazprom was still in the preinvestment study phase by mid-2004. Miller also looked to raise gas prices in Russia as part of his long-term growth strategy. He did not plan on breaking Gazprom apart into smaller companies, nor did he agree with the idea of privatization. Gazprom had been created as a large, public company and would stay that way under Miller's leadership.

Management Style

Miller had an assertive management style and was able to overcome many obstacles when he became Gazprom's chairman. He nurtured a new office climate, in which employees were loyal to both him and the company. He fired top employees who lacked such loyalty, sending a message throughout the company's ranks. Gazprom's staff became comprehensively supportive and filled with professionals who all wished to better their company.

During his leadership at Gazprom, Miller dealt with criticism from many individuals; his tactics proved successful in the end. He bought back many of the assets Gazprom had lost during its years of mismanagement, increasing gas production.

After three years Gazprom had reached the point where it was making a profit and looking toward new ways to expand.

Sources for Further Information "Gazprom Finance Chief Resigns," FSU Energy, May 31, 2002, p. 11.

"Gazprom Replaces CEO, Improves Prospects for Eurobond," Euroweek, June 1, 2001, p. 14.

"Miller Bullish on Russian Gas," Gas Connections, June 12, 2003, p. 9.

"Miller Rules Out Gazprom Reform," NEFTE Compass, January 31, 2002, p. 3.

Tavernise, Sabrina, "Did Russia's Gas Giant Just Glimpse the Future?" New York Times, December 19, 2001.

Reinhard Mitschek

Mitschek graduated from the University of Vienna in 2000 with a Diploma in Economy and Business Administration.

Currently Mitschek is Head of International Pipeline Projects Division of OMV Gas International GmbH. OMV (Austria) is a shareholder in the

Nabucco Gas Pipeline International, of which he is also Managing Director.

Mitschek started his career in 1984 as member, on behalf of OMV, of a bilateral working group OMV/SNAM (actually ENI) whose scope was the construction of the Trans Austrian Gasline Loop.

Since then, he has moved within the company holding different positions such as: Head of Gas Marketing Western Europe Department, Head of Gas Marketing Department, Head of Transport and Storage Department, Member of Construction Committee for West Austria Gasline and for Trans Austria Gasline, Shareholders Representative of BOG GmbH and of TAG GmbH.

Between 2000 and 2001 he was Managing Director of BOG GmbH and between 2001 and 2002 he was Managing Director of TAG GmbH.

reinhard.mitschek@nabucco-pipeline.comreinhard.mitschek@omv.com

Aleksei Mordashov

Head of Severstal 64th weathiest man in Forbes 2006 Self-made man (bought the steel-mill he worked for, became general director

and built it into a conglomerate, acquiring automakers, coal companies, ports and transportation companies.)

2004: outbid U.S. Steel to buy bankrupt Rouge Industries for $285 million. 2005: Severstal bought 70% stake in Italian steel producer Lucchini. Acquired the last private state-owned TV channel in Russia, Ren-TV, which

attracted international attention when it canceled anchorwoman Olga Romanova's program after she criticized Russian authorities on air.

A leading proponent of Western-style management training, Mordashov is advocating for Russia's entry into the WTO.

http://www.forbes.com//lists/2006/10/QW68.html

Aleksei Murychev

Head of the Association of Regional Banks of Russia Has led/participated in many international conferences on banking

Was all over the news in the fall saying how great deputy head of the Russian Central Bank, Andrei Kozlov was when he was gunned down

http://www.asros.ru/?pid=1001http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/International/2006/9/51216/

Sergey Yevgenyevich Naryshkin

On February 15, 2007, President Vladimir Putin announced that Naryshkin had been appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Russia for external economic activity, focusing on collaboration with the Commonwealth of Independent States. Some analysts suggest that the Cabinet reshuffle indicates a primary role for Sergei Naryshkin. The role of balance-keeper seems to have been assigned to Naryshkin: someone who reconciles interests between the identified successor candidates and the Kremlin factions behind them. In the late Yeltsin era this role was played first by Sergei Stepashin, then by Vladimir Putin himself, who eventually became the president.

(b. October 27, 1954 in Leningrad, Soviet Union)

In 1978 he graduated from Leningrad Institute of Mechanics with a degree in engineering. In the 1990s he also graduated from Petersburg International Management Institute with a degree in economics.

In 1982 he was appointed Deputy Vice-Rector of Leningrad Polytechnical Institute.

In the 1980s he served in the Soviet Embassy to Belgium. According to some sources, there he worked for KGB after he had been a fellow student of Vladimir Putin at a group of KGB High School. [1]

In 1992 - 1995 he worked in the Committee for Economy and Finance of Saint Petersburg Mayor Office.

In 1995 - 1997 he was the chief of the external investment department of Promstroybank.

In 1997 - 1998 he led the Investment Department of the Leningrad Oblast government.

In 1998 - 2004 he was the Chairman of the Committee for External Economic and International Relations of the government of Leningrad Oblast.

In February - March 2004 he was a deputy head of the economic department of the Russian presidential administration.

In March - September 2004 Naryshkin was a deputy chief of staff of the Russian government.

Since 2004 he has been a member of the board of directors of Sovkomflot and a deputy chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft.

Since August 31, 2004, Naryshkin has also been Chairman of the Board of Directors of Channel One of the Russian television.

Since September 13, 2004, he has been a Minister, Chief of Staff of the Government of Russia.

On February 15, 2007, President Vladimir Putin announced that Naryshkin had been appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Russia for external economic activity, focusing on collaboration with the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Vladimir Potanin

Vladimir O. Potanin is the president and founder of Onexinbank,.With Mikhail Prokhorov, he built the large holding company Interros by winning over the corporate customers of two huge Soviet-era banks in 1992. Potanin and Prokhorov later took control of metals giant Norilsk Nickel and oil company Sidanco in controversial "loans-for-shares" auctions. Has variously served as a deputy prime minister of the economy and as partner to George Soros in telecom monopoly Svyazinvest. Recently stepped down from the day-to-day management of his business. Now spends much of his time and money on charities: Potanin supports students and athletes, donates to the Russian Orthodox University of St. John the Theologian, Saint-Petersburg State University, and the state TV channel Kultura. He is a trustee on two boards: the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the State Hermitage Museum.

President/founder of Interros 1983 – 1990: Worked in the USSR Ministry of Foreign Trade. 1992: Built large holding company Interros with Mikhail Prokhorov by

winning over the corporate customers of two huge Soviet-era banks. 1992 – 1993: Vice-president and then President of the Joint Stock

Commercial Bank «International Company for Finance and Investments» (MFK).

1993: Became President of the United Export Import Bank (UNEXIM BANK).

Potanin and Prokhorov later took control of metals giant Norilsk Nickel and oil company Sidanco in controversial "loans-for-shares" auctions.

August 14, 1996 to March 17, 1997: Appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Government.

Since May 1997: President of UNEXIM BANK. Since May 26, 1998: Due to the reorganization of the «UNEXIM – MFK -

Renaissance» Group, he holds the positions of the President and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the «Interros» Company.

Served as partner to George Soros in telecom monopoly Svyazinvest. Mr. Potanin has been awarded the government’s memorial medal «850th

Anniversary of Moscow». Recently stepped down from the day-to-day management of his business.

Now spends much of his time and money on charities:

http://www.forbes.com//lists/2006/10/KZ32.htmlhttp://www.interros.ru/eng/about/direction/Potanin/Vladimir Potanin Foundation: http://eng.fund.potanin.ru/

More bio info:Vladimir Potanin, import/export, heavy industry, media and banking.

The president and founder of Onexinbank, Vladimir O. Potanin was listed by Forbes' Magazine in 1998 as the richest of all the Russians with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion. Forbes' also selected him as one of the world's top ten smartest businessman. Born in 1961, Mr. Potanin attended the Moscow Institute for International Relations, an elite school for those headed for work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and the KGB.

Calling on his early career connections, Potanin managed to utilize the funds of Vneshekonombank, the foreign trade bank, to provide the capital in 1993 for his new start up Oneximbank -- in English, for United Export/Import Bank -- and became its president.

From August 1996 to March 1997 he served as First Deputy Prime, a post that meant that he was the number two man in the government but he left after criticism that he couldn't divorce his political from his business interests.

Mr. Potanin has become most notable however, for creating the country's largest industrial empire. Bundled under Interros, his original cooperative, Mr. Potanin has acquired control over twenty formerly state owned enterprises. Potanin's industrial enterprises now encompasses Norelsk Nikel, the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium; Svyazinvest, a telecommunications company; Sidanko oil and number of other industrial and metallurgical firms, including Perm Motors, Northwest Shipping, Magnitogorsk, the Gas automobile plant, various metallurgical plants. There are also a host of newspapers including Izvestia, Komsomolskaya Pravda and the magazine Expert.

Konstantin Pulikovsky

Konstantin Pulikovsky is the head of Russia's technological watchdog, Rostekhnadzor, and was in the news April 2007 for demanding that Transneft repair dangerous defects on two sections of the Druzhba oil pipeline. He was a representative in Russia’s Far Eastern Federal district, a former commander of Russian Troops in Chechnya and had accompanied Kim Jong Il during his three-week train journey through Russia in the summer of 2001. He was recently part of the delegation to the Russian-North Korean intergovernmental commission for economic and technological cooperation that met on March 23 – the first commission meeting in six years – where the delegates discussed various issues, including trade, power-generation cooperation, transport and North Korea's $8.8 billion Soviet-era debt to Russia. He was removed as envoy to North Korea for being too close to Kim Jong Il.

Dmitry Pumpyansky

Pumpyansky began his career in the early 1990s trading metals produced at plants in the Urals. And he is the only businessman in Russia who has gotten the better of MDM Group in an ownership battle. In 2001, he fought off a takeover bid from MDM for his company, Sinarsky Pipe Works in the Sverdlovsk region. Pumpyansky then worked a merger with his former rivals in 2002 and formed TMK. By early 2003, he had gained control of 67% of TMK stock, and he is now general director of Trubnaya Metallurgical, Russia's biggest pipe producer.

http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/75/2004/LIR.jhtml?passListId=75&passYear=2004&passListType=Person&uniqueId=CFCY&datatype=Person

Victor F. Rashnikov

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Open Joint Stock Company Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, Chairman of Strategic Planning and Corporate Governance Committee, President of Limited Liability Company MMK Managing CompanyVictor Rasnikov was born on 13.10.1948 in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Region . In 1974 he graduated from Magnitogorsk Institute of Mining and Metallurgy specializing in “Metal-forming process”. In 1994 Mr. Rashnikov got another diploma in “Organization of production administration”. Mr. Rashnikov started his career in Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works in 1967 as a fitter in the metallurgical equipment repair shop. Then he was an operator, crew leader, foreman, shift manager, shop superintendent, head of administration for production and shipments. In 1991 Mr. Rashnikov was appointed Chief Engineer and First Deputy General Director. In 1997 Mr. Rashnikov was appointed

General Director of OAO MMK. Since April, 2005 he is Chairman of the Board of Directors. Since 2006 Mr. Rashnikov is President of Limited Liability Company MMK Managing Company Mr. Rashnikov holds a doctor’s degree in technical sciences (1998) and has been elected Honoured Professor of Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (2002) and Academician of the Russian Academy of Quality Problems. Mr. Rashnikov is the author of many research papers, engineering solutions and scientific reports. He won a prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in science and engineering (2001 and 2002). Mr. Rashnikov got the national prize of Peter the Great “For the outstanding contribution into the Russian economy” (2000). He has numerous governmental and public awards, such as the Medal of Labour Merit (1986), Order of Honour (1995), Order of Merit for Motherland of IV degree (1998) and III degree (2004), Order of Peter the Great (2004), Order of the Reverend Sergiy of Radonezh from the Russian Orthodox Church (2001), Order of the Holy Blessed Grand Prince Daniil of Moscow (2005). Mr. Rashnikov was three times elected Member of the Legislative Assembly of Chelyabinsk region. He is the Chairman of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Chelyabinsk region, President of the Peter the Great International Club of Best Managers, President of Metallurg-Magnitogorsk Ice Hockey Club. Mr. Rashnikov is a member of the Management Bureau of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. He was declared Honorary Citizen of Chelyabinsk region.

Ivan Safronov

Ivan Ivanovich Safronov -- January 16, 1956 – March 2, 2007 -- was a Russian journalist and columnist who covered military affairs for Kommersant. He died after falling from the fifth floor of his Moscow apartment building. His apartment was on the third floor. There are speculations that he may have been killed for his critical reporting. The Taganka District prosecutor's office in Moscow has initiated a criminal investigation into Safronov's death. He allegedly commited suicide, but acquaintances categorically reject this. There were no drugs or alcohol in his system.

Ivan Safronov was born in 1956 in Moscow. In 1979, he graduated with a major in computer engineering from the Engineering Faculty at the Dzerzhinsky Military Academy and began to serve as a military engineer at the 15th Command near Ussuriysk in the Russian Far East. In 1983, Safronov was transferred to the Titov Space Center in Krasnoznamensk, a closed town in the Moscow District. As of January 1993, he worked in the press-service at the Russian Space Troops. On October 2, 1997, Safronov retired

from active duty and was transferred to the army reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel. In December 1997, he became a military columnist at the newspaper Kommersant in Moscow. In December 2002, Safronov was made a Colonel in the army reserve.

His work has angered government officials and security service bosses at the Federal Security Service (FSB). He wrote about changes in the defense leadership and problems in military training that had led to the deaths of young soldiers. He also wrote about defense technology and military testing failures that often went unacknowledged and unreported by the army.

In December 2006, Safronov wrote about the third consecutive launch failure of the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile. The military did not acknowledge the failure. There have been further allegations that Safronov disclosed classified information in his articles. FSB agents questioned him in 2006 over a story about the Samara-based TsSKB-Progress, the manufacturer of the Soyuz launch vehicle. The agents wanted to know where the columnist had unearthed some sensitive data, but once Safronov showed them the website where he got his facts, the FSB dropped its case.

Safronov had returned in late February from a reporting trip to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he covered the annual IDEX 2007 arms exhibition's gathering of defense manufacturers. He had stated that he would check information that he had received on possible new deliveries of Russian weapons to the Middle East while at the arms exhibition in the United Arab Emirates. Safronov was interested in the sale of Su-30 fighter jets to Syria and S-300V missiles to Iran. He had information that those deals would be concluded through Belarus, in order for Moscow to avoid accusations in the West of selling weapons to pariah states. Safronov called the editorial office at Kommersant from Abu Dhabi to say that he had found confirmation of his facts. On February 27, he attended a press conference held by the head of the Federal Service of Military and Technical Cooperation Mikhail Dmitriev at ITAR-TASS. There he told colleagues that he had found information that more contracts had been signed between Russia and Syria for the sale of MiG-29 jets and Pantsir-S1 and Iskander-E missiles. He added that he would not write about those deals, however, because he had been warned that doing so would cause an international scandal and the FSB would make charges against him of revealing state secrets stick. He did not say who had warned him. The same day, Safronov called Kommersant and said that he would dictate his story about arms deliveries through Belarus over the telephone.

Igor Ivanovich Sechin

Second only to Putin is the president’s longtime friend and adviser, Igor Sechin, who currently serves as deputy head of staff, supervising the flow of documents and the president’s schedule. Like Putin and many other Kremlin insiders, Sechin was born in St Petersburg and graduated from Leningrad State University, where he studied French and Portuguese. Although his biography on the Kremlin website does not mentionthe security organs, Sechin served in the mid-1980s as a military interpreter in Mozambique and Angola, which would have been unusual without some intelligence background. In the early 1990s, he worked for St Petersburgmayor Anatoli Sobchak along with Putin, whom he followed to Moscow in 1996. In 2004, the state-owned oil company Rosneft elected Sechin chairman of its board. Rosneft was then the country’s sixth largest oil producer, but after swallowing the main production unit of Khodorkovsky’s Yukos in 2004 it jumped to second place. According to the newspaper Kommersant, owned by a businessman loyal to the Kremlin, Sechin recently appointed the 25-year-old son of FSB chief Nikolai Patrushevas his personal adviser in Rosneft; the young Patrushev is himself an FSB captain who had been working on the oil sector.

More bio info:

Igor Sechin was born in Leningrad on September 7, 1960, and is a graduate of Leningrad State University.

From 1988 to 1991, he worked in the Leningrad City Soviet’s Executive Committee.

From 1991 to 1996, he worked in the St. Petersburg City Hall.

From 1996 to 1998, he worked in the Presidential Household Affairs Department and in the Presidential Chief Control Department.

In 1999, he was in charge of the secretariat of the First Deputy Prime Minister.

In August 1999, he was appointed to head the Prime Minister’s secretariat.

Since 2000, he has been Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office.

In March 2004, he was made an aide to the President as well as being Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office.http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/subj/22166.shtml

Anatoly Serdiukov

The appointment of Anatoly Serdiukov as the country’s 44th defense minister on February 15, 2007 flabbergasted and angered the Russian public, even as it passed almost unnoticed in the West. No one in the army had the slightest clue about Serdiukov or his background. No journalist could hearken back to one of Serdiukov’s public speeches or interviews. The Russian generals did not recognize their minister as he appeared for the first time at a gathering at the defense ministry.

After Serdiukov’s appointment, the country and the world learned that he had graduated in 1984 from a trade college with very low prestige in the USSR. He had been such a mediocre student that the president of the school could not utter a single word about his merits when he was swarmed by journalists after Serdiukov’s appointment. In 1985, he started working in Leningrad in the furniture business and after fifteen years became the deputy head of a furniture shop. While working in this lucrative industry, he received a diploma from the law department of Petersburg University, an educational “achievement” considered by most Russians as fake. It was amusing that the minister’s official website did not offer any information about the “commercial period” in Serdiukov’s life, leaving readers to guess what he had been doing for fifteen years after graduating from college.

In 2000, Serdiukov moved from selling furniture to the Office of Tax Inspection; he was initially stationed in Petersburg and later in Moscow. In 2004, he became the head of Federal Tax Inspection, his last job before becoming minister of defense. One Russian author, who could not hide his acrimony about the new defense minister, compared his biography with that of the new secretary of defense in the United States. He derisively noted that when Serdiukov was attending a second-rank Soviet college, Robert Gates was preparing his doctoral dissertation on Russian history at Georgetown University. Then, while Serdiukov made progress in the furniture business, Gates became Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, then Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser and finally Director of Central Intelligence.

Serdiukov served as a drafted soldier for only a year and a half (1984-1985) and left the army as a lieutenant. Some authors predicted that the new appointment would drastically increase the role of Yurii Baluievsky, the head of the General Staff, while others foretold the emergence of tense relations between the seasoned General Baluievsky and Serdiukov. When Baluievsky learned of Sergei Ivanov’s resignation, he was confident that he would be the next defense minister. There were even rumors that Putin had already signed an edict for Baluievski’s appointment, but then had second thoughts.

Meanwhile, Soviet history does not know of a military minister without an army background or long-term ties to the army. Some members of the Kremlin’s pool of journalists, such as Viacheslav Nikonov, justified the choice of Serdiukov because of his “financial expertise” and his ability to control the military budget. Others focused on the high level of corruption in the army, which demands a person with knowledge and experience with corporations that try to avoid paying taxes.

Whatever his objective qualities, contended Kurginian, Serdiukov was perceived as a “furniture dealer” and already became a hero of many jokes that have damaged the military might of the country more than an antimissile defense system in Eastern Europe. Serdiukov’s elevation was characterized as “a rude offense against the army.” There is a consensus in the country that the appointment of the new defense minister is unique in Russian history. Hard to explain the appointment, given the fact that it pitted Putin against officials from the army.

Theories on his appointment range. It’s possible that Serdiukov, with his background in furniture, could not present any danger to the president. Besides, his Petersburg’s origin and personal ties with Putin, along with his active role in the destruction of Khodorkovsky’s oil company “Yukos,” as the head of the Federal Tax Inspection agency, could only enhance the president’s trust in him. Serdiukov does not belong to any clan in the army.

Another interpretation of Putin’s decision is that he wanted to get rid of Sergei Ivanov as the minister of defense in order to diminish his chance of being nominated as his successor. Separating Ivanov from the army would take away one of his major political trump cards. However, other analysts, claiming to have access to the mysterious Kremlin, argued just the opposite, suggesting that the promotion of Ivanov to the position of first deputy prime minister was in fact evidence that Putin had chosen him as an heir.http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/2007-76-33.cfm

Aleksandr Shokhin

Employment HistoryVice-Prime MinisterRussian Federation; Chairman State Duma's Defense Committee; DeputyState Duma's Defense Committee

Board Membership and Affiliations: MemberRussian Duma; Chairman Coordination Council of Unions of Entrepreneurs of Russia; Chairman of Trustees Renaissance Capital

Zakhar Smushkin

Zakhar Smushkin, currently chairman of the board of directors of Ilim Pulp Enterprise, is indebted to the forest wars for his entry into the forest industry complex as one of the most influential people in the business – those who are determining its development. As one of several partners and co-owners of Ilim Pulp, he had to coordinate the operations of the largest Russian forest industry holding under near-frontline conditions. And Zakhar Smushkhin won in a big way. Effectively defending the corporation from an attack by the country's most influential people and simultaneously expanding its business at rates far above the industry average is a task that only a handful of managers in Russia are capable of.

Born in Leningrad in 1962. Graduated from the Leningrad State Technological Institute of the Pulp-and-Paper Industry.Following post-graduate studies, worked at a scientific research institute.In 1992, together with a group of aspiring businessmen founded the forest industrial company Ilim Pulp. As its General Director, was involved in building Russia's largest vertically-integrated forest industry corporation.In 2001 was elected Chairman of the Board of Ilim Pulp.Zakhar Smushkin is a member of the Presidium of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, serves on the Board of Trustees of the St. Petersburg State Technological Institute of Polymers, and is a member of the Presidium of the Confederation of Timber Industrialists of North-Western Russia. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Foundation of Early Music.In 2003 Zakhar Smushkin was awarded an honorary doctorate by the St. Petersburg Forestry Engineering Academy.

Vladislav Yuryevich Surkov

Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration,Aide to the President

Born on September 21, 1964, in the village of Solntsevo, Lipetsk region.

Vladislav Yuryevich SURKOV is a Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential administration and a top aide to Vladimir Putin. Vladislav Surkov is widely seen as the main ideologist of the Kremlin. He made a widely-discussed but secret speech "How Russia Should Fight International Conspiracies" to members of the Delovaya Rossiya (Business Russia) economic forum [http://www.mosnews.com/interview/2005/07/12/surkov.shtml]. Surkov graduated from Moscow International University with a master's degree in economics. During the 1990s he held key managerial positions in top Russian banks such as Menatep (1991-1996) and Alfa (1996-1997). After a brief career as a director for public relations on the Russian television ORT channel (1998-1999) he was appointed deputy head of the Russian presidential administration in 1999. In March 2004, Surkov was appointed an aide to the president, with the official title of Deputy Chief of Staff. He is seen as the "Grey Cardinal", a behind the scenes actor with much influence. Surkov speaks English. He is married to Yulia Vishnevskaya, the sister of Anatoly Chubais's wife. Surkov and Vishnevskaya have one son.

His father was an ethnic Chechen and he spent the first five years of his life in Chechnya in Duba-yurt and Grozny. Surkov's birth name is Aslambek, he was born in Shali.

More bio info:Studied at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys and at the Institute of Culture, but did not graduate from any.Graduated in from the International University, master’s degree in economics.

1983-1985, served in the Soviet Army.1990-1992, head of "Metapress" agency of market communications, president of the Russian Association of AdvertisersOctober 1992, vice-president of the Russian Association of Advertisers (according to the official version, Surkov's dismissal was the result of his participation in 2 structures that founded the Association)January 1992 - May 1992, member of the Board of "MENATEP" MFOMay 1992 - September 1992, head of an advertising department at "MENATEP" MFO

September 1992 - December 1992, head of a department for work with clients at "MENATEP" AKIB NTPDecember 1992 - March 1994, deputy head of the department for work with clients, head of the advertising section of MENATEP bankMarch 1994 - April 1996, deputy head of MENATEP bank's public relations serviceMarch 1996 - February 1997, vice-president, head of the department for relations with state organisations at the Closed-end Joint-Stock Company "Rosprom." Member of the Board of Directors of MENATEP bank. Member of the Board of the Mortgage Crediting AssociationFebruary 1997, first deputy chairman of "Alfa-Bank" BoardJanuary 23, 1998, first deputy general director of the Closed-end (since February 1998, Open-end) Joint-Stock Company "Public Russian Television" (abbreviation in Russian - ORTV) in charge of public relations and contacts with mass mediaApril 2, 1998, approved of as a member of the Open Supervision Board at the Open-end Joint-Stock Company "Public Russian Television." Aid to the Head of Presidential Administration – Alexander Voloshin.May 20, 1998, at the first meeting of the Council, elected First secretary of the Open Supervision Board at the Open-end Joint-Stock Company "Public Russian Television."September1999, deputy head of the Russian Federation Presidential Administration. (Before that, he worked shortly in the Kremlin as an assistant of Head of President Administration.),was commissioned with supervising the work with the Russian Federation State Duma deputiesSince June 2000, monitored the strategically important Main Directorate of Domestic Policy and cooperation with the Duma, Federation Council, Central Election Commission, and the Constitutional Court. Surkov also handled ideological aspects of the work of the Presidential Administration.

Speaks English fluently.

Hobby: playing the guitar, writing music and short stories.

Married, with a son. Wife, Yulia Vishnevskaya, is a collector of dolls and founder of Russia's largest doll museum, as well as being the sister of the wife of Anatoly Chubais.

“In spite of the high degree of integration of the Western economies, French elite is considered as French, and German as German ... as long as the Russian ruling elite remains an offshore aristocracy, as long as it fails to understand that …it is a national bourgeoisie, we will have nothing good in this country. We will dangle in a critical gap. It is because of this gap that we have not yet succeeded in anything”

Contact InformationAdministration of the President of the Russian FederationStaraya pl. 4, Moscowtel.: +7 (095) 910-0445 or 910-1367

Vladislav Surkov is widely seen as the main ideologist of the Kremlin. Allegedly he contributed greatly to Vladimir Putin electoral victory in 2004 and was accused of media manipulation. He made a widely-discussed but secret speech "How Russia Should Fight International Conspiracies" to members of the Delovaya Rossiya (Business Russia) economic forum. Surkov graduated from Moscow International University with a master's degree in economics. During the 1990s he held key managerial positions in top Russian banks such as Menatep (1991-1996) and Alfa (1996-1997). After a brief career as a director for public relations on the Russian television ORT channel (1998-1999) he was appointed deputy head of the Russian presidential administration in 1999. In March 2004, Surkov was appointed an aide to the president, with the official title of Deputy Chief of Staff. He is seen as the "Grey Cardinal", a behind the scenes actor with much influence.

Surkov speaks English. He is married to Yulia Vishnevskaya, the sister of Anatoly Chubais's wife. Surkov and Vishnevskaya have one son.

In June 2005 it became public for the first time after his interview was published in the German Der Spiegel magazine (original article: [1] ; Russian translations: [2] [3] ; English translation: [4]) that his father was an ethnic Chechen and he spent the first five years of his life in Chechnya in Duba-yurt and Grozny. Follow-up articles published in Russian newspapers ( [5] ) said that his father's name was Andarbek Dudayev (though not closely related to Dzhokhar Dudayev). Surkov's birth name is Aslambek, he was born in Shali. After his parents got divorced, his mother moved to Lipetsk and changed his name to the Russified version - Vladislav Surkov. His official biography still lists Surkov as name and Solntsevo village of Lipetsk province as birthplace.

Vladislav Yuryevich Surkov

Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office, Aide to the President

Responsible for organizational and information and analytical support of the President’s activity on issues of domestic policy, federal and interethnic relations.

Coordinates the activity of independent departments of the Presidential Executive Office on issues of domestic policy.

Ensures coordinated activity between Presidential Aides and advisers on issues put under his jurisdiction by this order.

General supervisor of the Presidential Directorate for Domestic Policy.

Ensures interaction of the President and the Presidential Executive Office with the Federation Council, the State Duma, the Central Election Commission, political parties, public and religious organizations, and trade unions.

Ensures interaction of the Presidential Executive Office with federation subjects bodies of power, and bodies of local self-administration.

Together with the press attache of the President, ensures interaction of the Presidential Executive Office with the media, on the order of the President or the Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office.

Coordinates activity of advisory and consultative bodies under the President.

Disposes with funds in accordance with the budget of the Presidential Executive Office, and signs civil agreements on behalf of the Presidential Executive Office.

Coordinates activity of Presidential Plenipotentiary envoys in the Federation Council, the State Duma and the Constitutional Court.

Coordinates drafts of Presidential decisions on awarding state prizes of the Russian Federation and Presidential prizes for education, culture, literature and art.

Organises the activity of the Presidential Culture and Art Council, the Presidential Council for Interaction with Religious Organisations, and the Presidential Commission on State Prizes in Literature and Art.

Approves official regulations for federal state civil servants occupying civil service posts in the Presidential Domestic Policy Directorate and the Presidential Directorate for Inter-regional and Cultural Ties with Foreign Countries.

Surkov, Vladislav Yuryevich Biography

Born on September 21, 1964, in the village of Solntsevo, Lipetsk region.

Education: International University, master’s degree in economics.

1983-1985: Served in the Soviet Army.

Mid-80s-early 90s: Ran a number of private organizations and enterprises.

1991-1996: Held senior positions at the Menatep Credit and Financial Enterprises Association, later called Menatep Bank.

1996-1997: Deputy head, then head of public relations at Rosprom (closed joint-stock company); first deputy council chairman of Commercial Innovation Bank Alfa Bank.

1998-1999: First deputy general director, director for public relations of Public Russian Television (ORT).

1999: Aide to the Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office.

Since August 1999: Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office.

Since March 2004 - Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office, and Aide to the President.

Alisher Usmanov

Forbes 278th richest man 52 yrs. Old 1976, he graduated from University Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR

in the field of international law 1990 - 1994: First Deputy General Director of JSC "Intercross. 1994 – 1995: the Adviser to the Director of the Moscow Aircraft Production

Association (cancer). 1995-1997: first Vice-Chairman of the Board Mapo-banka. Nov. 2000 - July 2001: Adviser to the President of the JSC Gazprom. CEO Gazprominvestholding and owner of Gallagher Holdings Partner with Vasiliy Anisimov Owner of Oskol Steel Mill, the Ural Steel industrial complex, and the

Lebedinsky Iron Ore Mining and Processing Facility (through Gazprom) Beginning of 2005: Acquired Mikhailovsky GOK, an ore mining and

processing plant, in the Spring 2005: Failed attempt to annex Russia's largest ferrous metals producer,

Magnitogorsky metallurgical complex Partners now say they will acquire enterprises in Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/GIPI.htmlhttp://www.rusnet.nl/encyclo/u/usmanov.shtmlhttp://www.gazprominvestholding.ru/

Semyon Vainshtok

Semyon Vainshtok, the clever and self-confident head of the pipeline group Transneft, manages Russia's giant oil distribution network. Vainshtok has managed the state-owned pipeline monopoly since 1999 -- he took up his position as head of Transneft under Putin's predecessor Boris Yeltsin. Vainshtok isn't regarded as a close confidante of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he describes himself as Putin's "soldier" and he must be doing something right if he is still around. Some say the intelligence agency faction within the Kremlin would prefer to get rid of him and install their own man.

Semyon Mikhailovich Vainshtok was born in 1947 in the village of Klimauzy in Moldova. After studying at a technical college and an institute of building engineering, he continued his training at the University for the Gas and Oil Industry in the Siberian city of Tyumen. Rumor has it that he was a protégé of the late railways minister Nikolai Axjonenko and of oil billionaire Roman Abramovich

http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,458803,00.html

Viktor Vekselberg

44th richest man Self-made

1990: Became one of the founders and Chairman of the Board of the Russian-American investment group Renova. Renova invests primarily in the metals & mining, oil & petrochemical and banking industries.

1994: Renova orchestrated Russia's first successful hostile takeover of the Vladimir Tractor Factory.

1996: Bought medium-size aluminum smelters and bauxite mines and united them into Sual Holding, Russia's second-largest aluminum company.

April 2002: Appointed Chairman of Tyumen Oil Company (TNK) Became Chairman of the Board of SUAL in January 2003. Before that, held

the position of President. 2003: Made the bulk of his fortune when he and Mikhail Fridman's Alfa

Group took over TNK, which merged with BP in 2003 Currently Chief Operating Officer for TNK-BP. Currently heads up a committee on international cooperation at the Russian

Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, a group representing the interests of oligarchs and other big businessmen.

http://www.forbes.com//lists/2006/10/CGPE.htmlhttp://www.sual.com/company/management/bod/1/

Vladimir Yakunin

Vladimir Yakunin, president of the state-owned Russian Railways company, met Putin in St Petersburg in the early 1990s. An engineer specializing in ballistic missiles, Yakunin headed the international department of a Leningrad physics institute, from where he was appointed in 1985 to the Soviet Union’s UN mission. Although his official biography does not mention intelligence work, this diplomatic posting and Yakunin’s close ties to key siloviki have invited speculation. In the mid-1990s, Yakunin headed a business association in St Petersburg and had a dacha near to Putin’s. After Putin’s election, Yakunin worked in the Transport Ministry, before managing Russian Railways. Among the silovarchs, he is one of the most ideological, calling for closer ties between the Slavic nations and a revival of Orthodox Christian values. He chairs the council of trustees of an organization called the Center for the National Glory of Russia, and has been dubbed by Russian journalists the “Orthodox Secret Policeman”. Current rumors suggest Putin may

soon bring Yakunin into the government, and perhaps even considers him a possible successor. He has a dacha next to Putin’s… they’re buddies.

Vladimir Yevtushenkov

Chairman of the board of Sistema, the largest private sector consumer services company in Russia and the CIS

1975 - 1982: Worked as Deputy Director and Chief Engineer at the Karacharovo Plastics Works.

1982 – 1987: Chief Engineer and subsequently first Deputy General Director of the Polymerbyt Scientific and Production Association.

1987: Appointed head of the Technical Administration of the Moscow City Executive Committee

1988: Became head of the Central Administration on Science and Engineering of the Moscow City Executive Committee.

1990: Moved to chair the Moscow City Committee on Science and Engineering.

1993: formed Sistema. 1993-1995: President of Sistema January 1994 - January 2005: Chairman of the Board of Sistema. Mr. Evtushenkov is the majority shareholder of Sistema. Since 2000: Member of the Bureau of the Board of Directors of the Russian

Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. 2001: became head of the Union’s Committee on industrial policy. Since 2002: Member of the Board of Directors of the Russian Chamber of

Commerce and Industry.

http://www.sistema.com/section.html?s=111&id=15

Igor Zuzin

Since Dec. 2006: CEO/President of Mechel 2001: His company, Yuzhny Kuzbass, bought a controlling stake in the

Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant from Glencore. Out of these assets he created Mechel Group, which went public in 2004 on the NYSE.

Since March 2003: served as chairman of the board of directors of Mechel Since 1999: Has been the chairman of the board of directors of Southern

Kuzbass Coal Co. ’97-’99: chairman of the board of directors of Mezhdurechensk coal co.,

which was merged into Southern Kuzbass Coal Co. Member of board of directors of Kuzbass central processing plant 2005: Mechel paid $400 million for a 25% stake in coal mining company

Yakutugol to make up for Mechel’s dearth of natural resources.

http://www.mechel.com/about/direction/directors_soviet/index.wbphttp://www.forbes.com//lists/2006/10/PYCI.html