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SECHIN, Igor Ivanovich
Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rosneft
Igor Ivanovich Sechin (Игорь Иванович Сечин) was born on September 7, 1960 in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. A Russian deputy prime minister, he joined oil giant Rosneft in 2004 and has been chairman of the board of directors since 2006.
Sechin studied romance languages at Leningrad State University from 1979 to 1984, specializing in Portuguese and French. Upon graduation he worked in Mozambique and Angola as a translator and interpreter as well as with Soviet trade and diplomatic missions. Private intelligence agency Stratfor has alleged that during his time in Africa, Sechin was heavily involved in the Soviet Union's smuggling of weapons to Latin America and the Middle East. A number of sources also indicate that he had links with suspected arms dealer Viktor Bout, although Bout has denied this.
From 1988 to 1991 Sechin worked in the Leningrad local administration. He then moved to serve a number of posts in the office of the St. Petersburg Mayor. In 1994 he was named chief of staff to Vladimir Putin, then first deputy mayor. He remained close to Putin as his deputy in various departments of the St Petersburg Mayor’s office until July 1998.
Following Putin’s election to the post of Russian prime minister in August 1999, Sechin was appointed first deputy chief of staff. He served in this post from November 1999 to January 2000. Later in 2000, following Putin’s promotion to Russian president, Sechin was named deputy chief of the presidential administration, a position he served in until 2008. For the last four years of this post, he was also a presidential aide.
In July 27, 2004 he was named chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft, the Russian oil company which was the main beneficiary of the demise of Yukos. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of Yukos, who was jailed on tax evasion charges, has accused Sechin of destroying Yukos for his own material gain.
Sechin is married and has a daughter, who is married to the son of the former Justice Minister and former Public Prosecutor Vladimir Ustinov.
Related Sources:
Russian government profile of Igor Sechin
Rosneft Web site
In Interview, Bout Denies Links to Sechin (03/17/2009 The Moscow Times)
Jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky 'framed' by key Putin aide (05/18/2008 The Sunday Times)
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