KHRISTENKO, Viktor Borisovich
Minister for Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation

Victor Khristenko (Виктор Борисович Христенко) was born on August 28th, 1957 in Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Region.

In 1979 he graduated from Chelyabinsk Mechanical Engineering Institute (now South Ural State University) with a specialization in construction management and economics. Following his studies he worked as a computer engineer for the university's department of economics of mechanicl engineering. In 1980 Khristenko began chief  at the laboratory of business games. In 1983 he completed his Ph.D at the Moscow Institute of Management.

In March 1990 Khristenko won the elections for the Soviet of People's Deputies from the city of Chelyabinsk, became the chairman of a commission for the conception of urban development in Chelyabinsk and was made a member of the Presidium of Chelyabinsk Town Soviet. Shortly afterwards Khristenko took up the positions of First Deputy Chairman of the Municipal Committee on Economy and of Chairman of the Committee on Management of City Property.

From October 1991 Khristenko served as the Deputy Governor and First Deputy Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region (he would serve in this administration until 1996). In 1995 Khristenko graduated from the People's Economic Academy of the Government of the Russian Federation. In the same year he headed the Chelyabinsk division of the Our Home - Russia political party. In 1996 he became head of the electoral campaign for the Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the Chelyabinsk Region. In March 1997 Khristenko was appointed Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy for the Chelyabinsk Region.

In July 1997 Khristenko was named Deputy Finance Minister in the government of Prime Minister Victor Chenomyrdin. In April 1998, in Sergei Kirienko's cabinet Khristenko became Deputy Prime Minister responsible for financial policy. Following Kirienko's resiganation,  in October 1998 he was First Deputy Minister for Finance in Yevgeniy Primakov's cabinet.

In May 1999 Khristenko was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Sergei Stepashin, and would retain his post in Vladimir Putin's first cabinet. In January 2000 Khristenko was named Deputy Prime Minister under Mikhail Kasyanov's government. From February 24 to March 5 2004 following Kasyanov's dismissal Khristenko took the duties of Acting Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. In March 2004 Khristenko was appointed Minister for Industry and Energy in Mikhail Fradkov's cabinet. In September 2007 he retained his post under the government of Viktor Zubkov.

On May 12 2008 newly appointed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made Khristenko Minister for Industry and Trade.

Khristenko is the chairman of the board of directors of state-owned oil company Transneft, a member of the board of directors for the electric power holding company Unified Energy System, a member of the board of directors of Gazprom and Russian Railways. He is a Doctor of Economic Sciences. He is married to Tatiana Golikova, has three children from first marriage: Yulia, Vladimir and Angelina.

last updated June 30, 2008