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KOZAK, Dmitry Nikolayevich
Minister of Regional Development of the Russian Federation
 Dmitry Nikolayevich Kozak (Дмитрий Николаевич Козак) was appointed Regional Development Minister in September 2007, though he has long been considered a key member of Former President Vladimir Putin's inner circle. He was reappointed as Minister of Regional Development in May 2008.
Early Life and Personal
Kozak was born November 7, 1958 in the Kirovograd region of Ukraine. He graduated from the law department of Leningrad State University (now St. Petersburg State University) in 1985 and for the next four years he worked in the Leningrad prosecutor's office. In 1989, he entered the business world to work at Monolith-Kirovstroy and the Association of Trade Ports.
In 1990, he started his own private practice as he worked as a legal officer to the Leningrad City Council and another private company.
Kozak is married with two sons.
Political Career
Around 1994, he began working on the law committee of St. Petersburg's mayor, Anatoly Sobchak. He was instrumental in developing a new city charter for St. Petersburg. Also in this position he met Putin and they became close associates. In 1998, he served as deputy mayor of St. Petersburg.
In 1999, President Boris Yeltsin invited Kozak to Moscow, where he worked as Deputy Head of Legal Affairs in the presidential administration. When Putin was named prime minister in August 1999,, Kozak became the chief of staff for the government. In both 1999 and 2003, Kozak was the head of Putin's presidential campaigns.
From 2000 to 2004, Kozak served has the deputy head of Putin's presidential administration with a shifting set of responsibilities. He was assigned to several reform projects that reshaped Russia's legal system starting in January 2001. He was also seen as the architect of the centralization of power in the federal government with he appointment of regional governors and the establishment of a system of presidential envoys to districts.
In September 2004, Kozak was appointed presidential envoy to the troubled Southern Federal District where he was Putin's lead in reconstructing the war-torn region and quieting Chechnya's rebels.
In September 2007, after Putin replaced Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov with Viktor Zubkov, Kozak was appointed regional development minister.
In December 2007 Kozak was appointed deputy chairman to Sergei Prikhodko of the organizing committee for preparations of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
On May 12, 2008 Kozak was reappointed as Minister of Regional Development under Vladimir Putin's second cabinet.
Sources
Dmitry Kozak Biography (In Russian), lenta.ru
Biographies of Cabinet Members (In Russian), newsru.com
RenCap Profile of Kozak, Renaissance Capital
Last Updated: July 3, 2008
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