Putin names new Russian PM
Viktor Zubkov, nominated to the post of Russian prime minister on Wednesday, is little known but like others in the Russian leadership his links with President Vladimir Putin go back a long way.
By Agencies |
MOSCOW: Viktor Zubkov, nominated to the post of Russian prime minister on Wednesday, is little known but like others in the Russian leadership his links with President Vladimir Putin go back a long way.
Zubkov, 65, started his working life as a metal worker, then became a state farm boss before rising through agricultural posts in the Leningrad province of northwest Russia, home to the city of Saint Petersburg.
After the Soviet Union's 1991 collapse he worked as a deputy to Putin, when the future president headed the Saint Petersburg city council's external affairs committee, a controversial period due to accusations by city councillors of financial impropriety.
Zubkov moved on to positions in the tax authorities before in 1999 standing for election to the post of Leningrad governor.
In this move he was carrying out a "political order" from Moscow not aimed at winning the post per se, but at helping to force out another candidate, according to the muckraking website kompromat.ru.
Zubkov went on to become deputy finance minister in 2001 and as head of a committee on combating money-laundering had effective responsibility for securing Russia's removal from a money laundering blacklist of the Western-led Financial Action Task Force.
This task was accomplished in 2002, earning praise from Putin's leadership.
Zubkov's son-in-law is Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. On Wednesday Zubkov was named as Putin's candidate to replace outgoing prime minister Mikhail Fradkov.
Zubkov, 65, started his working life as a metal worker, then became a state farm boss before rising through agricultural posts in the Leningrad province of northwest Russia, home to the city of Saint Petersburg.
After the Soviet Union's 1991 collapse he worked as a deputy to Putin, when the future president headed the Saint Petersburg city council's external affairs committee, a controversial period due to accusations by city councillors of financial impropriety.
Zubkov moved on to positions in the tax authorities before in 1999 standing for election to the post of Leningrad governor.
In this move he was carrying out a "political order" from Moscow not aimed at winning the post per se, but at helping to force out another candidate, according to the muckraking website kompromat.ru.
Zubkov went on to become deputy finance minister in 2001 and as head of a committee on combating money-laundering had effective responsibility for securing Russia's removal from a money laundering blacklist of the Western-led Financial Action Task Force.
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This task was accomplished in 2002, earning praise from Putin's leadership.
Zubkov's son-in-law is Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. On Wednesday Zubkov was named as Putin's candidate to replace outgoing prime minister Mikhail Fradkov.
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