Anatoly Borisovich Chubajs – Wikipedia

Anatoly Borisovich Chubajs ( in Russian: Anatoly Borisovich Chubais ^? ; BARYSAŭ, June 16, 1955) is a Russian economist and politician, considered the father of the great state privatizations made in Russia in the early nineties ^[first] under the government of Boris El’cin who entrusted him with the management of the economy. During this period Čubajs introduced the market economy and the principles of private property in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union, also raising criticism for the favors of the great post-Soviet oligarchs.

From 1998 to 2008 he was head of the state monopoly of electric energy Rao Ues. A 2004 survey conducted by PricewaterHousecopers and from Financial Times This was named the 54th most respected business leader in the world. ^[2] He is later head of the Russian Nanotechnology Corporation (Rusnan). ^[3] He left the company in December 2020. ^[4] He worked as a special envoy of the President of the Russian Federation for relations with international organizations. ^[5] In March 2022, following the aggression of Russia against Ukraine, he resigned and left the country. ^[6]

Čubajs was born on June 16, 1955 from Father Russo and Jewish mother in the city of Borisov, in Belarus, at the time still part of the Soviet Union, where father Boris Matveevič Čubajs, veteran of the Second World War, was the colonel of the army in pension and taught philosophy. ^[7] The mother, Raisa Efimovna Sagal, a Lithuanian Jew, had graduated in economics but had decided to stay at home to take care of her children in the military bases where her husband was regularly assigned. ^[8] Anatolij Čubajs has an older brother, Igor ‘(born in 1947), philosopher. ^[8]

In 1977, Čubajs graduated from the Institute of Engineering and Economics of Leningrado (Lei), current St. Petersburg, and joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union until 1991, when he left him. ^[9] While later he worked at Leii, Čubajs created a club called a reform, which contributed to transforming the city of Leningrado into a political reform model by building platforms for both local and national elections. Reform also engaged in the drafting of the reformist legislation, an important step along the road when Čubajs would have worked in the administration of the city. In 1982 he became associate professor (доцент) at Leii, while in 1983 he achieved his doctorate (Ph.D.) in economics with a job entitled “outo” иranged ления в о отраслевых науч …. Development of methods for the planned management of management in research and industrial development organizations). ^[8]

Dissident economist [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

Starting from the early 1980s, Čubajs became the leader in Leningrad of an informal circle of market -oriented economists. In 1982, together with the economists Jurij Jarmagaev and Grigorij Glazkov, he published an article entitled “вопросы расширениа хозnyйственной саizzii illedi кого проtent “(issues of expansion of the autonomy of commercial enterprises in the conditions of scientific and technological progress), in to which the authors argue that no quantity of central planning can provide for the final demand for products. In 1982, Čubajs was presented to the future Prime Minister of Russia Egor Gajdar, who attended seminars led by Čubajs. ^[8]

In 1987, Čubajs had become the organizer of the Perestrojka club of Leningrado, whose mission was to promote and discuss democratic ideas between local intelligentsia. Among the people involved were his brother, Igor ‘, who had founded the section of the Perestrojka and Perestrojka-88 clubs, the future deputy prime minister Aleksej Kudrin, the future president of the Banca di St. Petersburg Vladimir Kogan, based in Moscow in Moscow, The future minister of antimonopoly politics and support for entrepreneurship Il’ja Južanov and the future deputy governor of St. Petersburg Michail Manevič. ^[8]

The dissident economists organized a farm of tulips to finance their seminars. In the four days preceding the International Women’s Day (March 8) they managed to obtain an income equivalent to the price of several Lada cars. The “Tulipan money” was used to finance the elections of Anatolij Sobčak, Jurij Boldyrev and many other democratic candidates. As a result, two thirds of the deputies who won the 1990 elections at the Leningrad Soviet came from the opposition. ^[8]

At the end of 1990, the economist Vitali Najšul proposed the idea of ​​using vouchers to facilitate mass privatization in order to transform the Soviet Union into a market economy. Čubajs strongly criticized the scheme at the time, citing the inevitable inequality and social tensions that would derive from it if implemented as suggested. Ironically, only several years later Čubajs would then become the champion of the same concept. ^[8]

Head of privatization [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

In 1990, at the election of Anatolij Sobčak as President of the Leningrado City Council, Čubajs took on the position of his deputy in an attempt to implement the idea of ​​Sobčak and that is to create a free economic area in Leningrado. In 1991 he refused the offer to become the president of Leningrado DipoPolkom to instead become a councilor of the administration of the mayor of Leningrado (now renamed St. Petersburg) where Sobčak had just been elected mayor. At the same time, Čubajs worked as president of the new Wassily Leontief Center for Research in Economics.

In November 1991, Čubajs became minister in the El’cin cabinet, where he managed the portfolio of Rosimuščestvo (the committee for the management of state property) that dealt with privatization in Russia. ^[8] Originally Čubajs supported rapid privatization in order to increase revenue, similar to the model used in Hungary. However, the Congress of Deputies of the Russian people rejected this model. In the end, a compromise was proposed in the form of a privatization program similar to the program used at the time in the Czech Republic. On 11 June 1991 the Supreme Soviet of Russia adopted this compromise and the massive program was officially started by decree of the President Boris El’cin on August 19, 1991. ^[8] This privatization program was subsequently subject to heavy criticism. While most Russian citizens have lost their savings in a few weeks, some oligarchs have become billionaires, arbitrating the big difference between the old internal prices of Russian raw materials and the prevalent prices on the world market. People who benefited from this arbitrage have become known as “Cleptocrati” ^[ten] Because they have hidden billions of dollars in Swiss bank accounts rather than investing in the Russian economy.

The influence on Russian politics and economy [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

From November 1994 to January 1996, Čubajs held the position of deputy prime minister for economic and financial policy in the Russian government. ^[3] Thanks to the liberalization of the reforms implemented in 1995, the Russian government was finally benefiting from a measure of financial stability, something that politicians were looking for since the resignation of Egor Gajdar in 1993. At the end of 1995, the average annual inflation had fallen from 18 % to 3%. ^[11]

From April 1995 to February 1996, Čubajs has also represented Russia in two international financial institutions: the international bank for reconstruction and development (Ibrd) and the multilateral investment guarantee agency (Miga). ^[twelfth]

After the resignation as deputy prime minister in January 1996, Čubajs managed the Boris El’cin re -election campaign. At this point, according to the polls of public opinion, El’cin’s degree of approval had dropped to about 3%. Čubajs founded the Civil Society Foundation and the Campaign Analytical Group of El’cin, which became a part of the Foundation. The group helped El’cin to regain popularity and win the re -election in the second round of the ballot boxes on 3 July 1994, winning 53.82% of the votes. ^[13]

From July 1996 to March 1997, Čubajs was the head of the Russian presidential administration. During the mandate, his office became increasingly influential. ^[13]

Čubajs participated in the session of the Bilderberg group in Turnberry, in Scotland, in 1998, and co-owned the round table of the industrialists of Russia and EU during the joint session of the government commission of the Russian Federation and the European Union. He was also elected in the Council of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in 2000.

Out of Russia [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

On March 23, 2022, after Russia launched a large -scale invasion of Ukraine, Čubajs left its official positions, including that of envoy for the climate, ^[14] claiming to be contrary to the invasion, according to the media reports. The spokesman for the Kremlin Dmitrij Peskov confirmed that Čubajs resigned, but did not specify because, by affirming: “Whether it has gone or not is a personal question”. Čubajs left Russia, coming the same day in Türkiye ^[15] and planning to stay abroad. The spokesman for Aleksej Navl’nyj, Kira Jarmyš, said that Čubajs had “left Russia only for fear of his own skin and money”. ^[16] It is the highest Kremlin official to resign as a sign of protest against the invasion, even if it is not part of Putin’s restricted circle. ^[17]

Married from 1978 to 1989 with Ljudmila Grigorieva, engaged in the catering sector in St. Petersburg. Two children: Aleksej (born in 1980) and Ol’Aga (born in 1983), economists. He then married a second time, from 1990 to 2011, with Marija Višnevskaja.

Since 2012 he has been married to his third wife, Avdot’ja Smirnova, journalist, screenwriter, director, presenter of the television program “School of Scandal”, daughter of the director and screenwriter Andrej Sergeevič Smirnov.

On March 17, 2005, he survived an attempt at murder. Vladimir Kvačkov was accused of crime but was then acquitted of a jury. ^[18]