SOBYANIN, Sergei Semyonovich
Deputy Prime Minister & Chief of Staff of the Government of the Russian Federation

Sergei Semyonovich Sobyanin (Сергей Семёнович Собянин) was born June 21, 1958 in Nyaksimvol village, Beryozovsky District, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Area.

In 1980 Sobyanin graduated from the Kostroma Technological Institute.

On graduation from university he began work as a mechanic and a craftsman in the large tube-rolling factory in Chelyabinsk.

From 1982 to 1984 he worked with Komsomol in Chelyabinsk.

From 1984 to 1985 Sobyanin worked as a vice-chairman of the Kogalym selsovet (administrative division of lowest level in rural areas in the Soviet Union).

In 1984-88 Sobyanin headed the service of housing and communal services of Kogalym; in 1988-90 he was the assistant manager for the organizational department of the Khanty Mansiysk district committee of the Communist Party.

In 1989 Sobyanin graduated from the All-Union Correspondence Institute of Laws. 

In 1990 Sobyanin took charge of tax inspection in Kogalym. In 1991, under the order of the head of Khanty Mansiysk administration Alexander Filipenko, Sobyanin was appointed as the mayor of Kogalym.

In 1993 Sobyanin became first deputy of the head of Khanty Mansiysk administration.

In 1994, he was elected the chairman of the Duma of Khanty Mansiysk Autonomous Area.

In January 1996 Sobyanin became a member of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament – the Federation Council.

In October 1996 he was re-elected as the chairman of the Duma of Khanty Mansiysk Autonomous Area.

In June 1998 Sobyanin headed the committee of the Federation Council on constitutional legislation and judicial-legal issues.

On July 12, 2000 he was appointed as first deputy to Pyotr Latyshev, the Plenipotentiary of President of Russia in the Urals Federal District.

On January 14, 2001 Sobyanin was elected governor of Tyumen Region, having received 52.22 % of votes. According to observers, Sobyanin has received this post in many respects thanks to resolute support from the heads of Khanty Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets autonomous regions – Alexander Filipenko and Jury Neyelov.

In December 2001 he was selected by a member of the High council of party United Russia.

With his post as governor Sobyanin tried to find the compromise between requirements of the Kremlin about the merging of Khanty Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets areas with the Tyumen region and a position of opponents against Filipenko's and Neyelov's union. In the end it was decided that the proposed unification, as well as the creation of the union of three governors and a common investment fund, would be suspended.

Observers and the media have judged Sobyanin's role as governor in a positive light. He has managed to secure the registration and construction of the central office buildings of some of the largest oil companies in Tyumen. According to media reports, since 2002 Tyumen was the leading region in carrying out reforms in the housing and communal services, public health services and education, the expenses of which have doubled.

In January 2005, following the enforcement of the law on cancellation of elections of governors, Sobyanin sent a request to the then President of Russia Vladimir Putin about a vote of confidence. Vladimir Putin nominated him for election by the Duma of the Tyumen Area and he was finally re-elected on February 17, 2005. In October of the same year, Sobyanin was included in a council under the President on the realizations of National Priority projects.

In June 2006, Sobyanin was appointed as Chairman of the Board at TVEL, state nuclear power company.

On December 14, 2005, Putin appointed Sobyanin as the head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation. By attaining this position, Sobyanin replaced Dmitry Medvedev who would become the first deputy chairman of the Russian government. Some experts regard Sobyanin as a notably technical figure through which the Kremlin keeps in touch with the heads of regions and of oil companies. At the same time other analysts assumed that Sobyanin, being the skilled governor and functionary, could have become Putin's successor as President of the Russian Federation. In December 2007, following Putin's nomination of Medvedev as his successor, Sobyanin headed Medvedev's pre-election staff. In March 2008 Medvedev  won on presidential election. Following Medvedev's inauguration, on May 12, 2008 it was announced that Sobyanin has been appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and the government's chief of staff under Prime Minister Putin's Second Cabinet.

Sobyanin has been awarded with a Medal of Honor, a Medal of Honor in Education, and 'L'Ordre du Mérite agricole' (French Republic Medal of Honor in Agriculture). He is also the Laureate of the "2003 Russia's Man of the Year: Politician" prize.

Sobyanin is married and has two daughters.

Related Sources

Government.ru, Profile of Sergei Semyonovich Sobyanin (In Russian)

last updated June 20, 2008