KHLOPONIN, Alexander Gennadyevich

Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District 09/30/2010

Alexander Khloponin (Александр Геннадьевич Хлопонин) was born on March 6, 1965, in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.  
From 1982 to 1989 he studied in the Moscow Financial Institute, before joining Vnesheconombank as the head of the Government Loans Department.

In 1992, Khloponin joined International Financial Company and was named president of the firm in 1996. On June 28, 1996, the board of directors of Norilsk Nickel appointed Khloponin as president and CEO.

In 2001, at the age of 36, Khloponin became the youngest Russian governor, when he won a poll in the Siberian district of Taimyr, the home of Russian nickel production.

In 2002, he became governor of Krasnoyarsk Territory, after the incumbent Alexander Lebed was killed in a helicopter accident. While at the helm in Krasnoyarsk, Khloponin earned a reputation for being an effective manager and dramatically improved the region’s economy.

In 2004, he was among those who advocated the merger of Krasnoyarsk Territory with the Evenki and Taimyr Autonomous districts. On April 17, 2005, the majority of the population in Krasnoyarsk Territory itself, as well as the autonomous areas, voted in favor of the merger in a referendum.

In 2007, then President Vladimir Putin, who had introduced Kremlin appointment of regional governors, reconfirmed Khloponin in his post.

In January 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev appointed Khloponin a deputy prime minister and the presidential envoy to the North Caucasian Federal District. Previously part of the Southern Federal District, the North Caucasus district was established to strengthen the federal government’s control in the region, which continues to struggle against terrorism.

Khloponin’s first eight months in power failed to see much improvement in terms of the terrorist threat and attacks on the region’s security services and strategic infrastructure as well as civilians continue to blight the region. In September 2010, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that he would take personal command of the region, although Khloponin will continue to sit on the commission which oversees the region.

Khloponin is also a member of the Presidential Council on the implementation of the national priority projects and demographic policy, the Presidential Council on developing local self-government, the Government Commission on the assessment of the performance of the federal and regional state agencies, the State Council working group on infrastructure development in aviation, and the Russian Commission for UNESCO.

Khloponin holds a masters in economics and is married and has a daughter.

Related sources:

Kremlin Web site

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