PUTIN, Vladimir Vladimirovich
President of the Russian Federation

Born October 7, 1952 in Leningrad

1975 - graduated from Leningrad State University law faculty, where he specialized in international law. Graduate thesis: “Most Favored Nation Status in International Law.”

1996 - received a Ph.D. in Economics from the St. Petersburg Mining Academy. Dissertation: “Strategic Planning of Regional Raw Material Operations in a Market Economy.”

1975 - after graduation from Leningrad State University, Putin joined the KGB and was appointed to the First Chief Directorate (PGU), an elite division of the KGB in charge of intelligence abroad. Putin was assigned to intelligence service in the German unit of the PGU. In the mid-1980s, he worked for over three years as deputy director of the House of Soviet Science and Technology in Leipzig

1990-1991- adviser to the chairman of the Leningrad City Council
1991-1996 - chairman of the Committee for External Relations, St. Petersburg Mayor's Office under mayor Anatoly Sobchak; in 1992-1994, vice-mayor and in 1994-1996, first vice-mayor of St. Petersburg
August 1996-March 1997 - deputy chief of the Presidential Budget and Management Office under head of the Presidential Business Management Department Pavel Borodin
March 1997-1998 - deputy head of the Presidential Administration, head of the Main Presidential Control Department
May-July 1998 - first deputy head (in charge of regional policy) of the Presidential Administration
July 1998-August 1999 - director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation
April - August 1999 - secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation
August 1999-May 2000 - prime minister of the Russian Federation
December 31, 1999- May 2000 - acting president of the Russian Federation
March 26, 2000 - elected president of the Russian Federation with 53% of the vote
March 14, 2004 - reelected president of the Russian Federation with 71% of the vote

Hobbies: Martial arts (has the title Master of Sports in sambo), jogging.

Married to Lyudmila Alexandrovna Putina, with two daughters, Yekaterina and Maria.  Putin’s mother, Maria Nikolaevna Putina, died in February 1999, and his father, Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin, died August 2, 1999.

Contact information
Office of the President
The Kremlin
Moscow 103132
Tel.:  +7 (095) 206-5204
www.kremlin.ru/eng

Related articles:
Putin's Risks  Leon Aris, The American Enterprise Institute  (Jan. 12, 2005)
Is Putin too authoritarian for his own good?  Financial Times CDI summary
(Dec.  17, 2004)
What Has Become of Putin's Russia?  Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace  (Sept. 23, 2004)
Terror Attacks Eroding Putin's Legitimacy  Jamestown Foundation Eurasia Daily Monitor  (Sept. 7, 2004)
Beneath Putin's Pedestal  New York Times CDI summary (Sept. 1, 2004)
The First Five Years  Novye Izvestia  CDI summary (Aug. 26, 2004)
The Putin Paradox  Michael McFaul, Center for American Progress
(CDI summary -- June 28, 2004)
Poker Face  The Moscow Times  (June 11, 2004)
Tired of the Victory Yet to Come  Russia Profile  (Feb. 2, 2004)
Svetlana Babayeva, The Two Sides of One President, Russia Profile, (March 30, 2005)

Speeches/Press Conferences:
Putin's Annual News Conference, BBC Monitoring (Jan. 31, 2006)
Putin Comments on British Spy Incident, BBC Monitoring (Jan. 25, 2006)
Press Conference with President Putin 
Moscow, the Kremlin  (Dec. 23, 2004)
President Putin's Press Statement and Answers to Questions Following Russian-German Bilateral Consultations (Dec. 21, 2004)
Address to the Plenary Session of Russian Ambassadors
Moscow, The Foreign Ministry  (July 12, 2004)
Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation
Moscow, the Kremlin  (May 26, 2004)

last updated January 19, 2005