Biography:
Sergey Kirienko was born on July, 26, 1962 in Sukhumi to Vladilen Yakovlevich Izraitel, the father, and Larisa Vasilievna Kirienko, the mother.
Sergey Kirienko graduated from a well-known school № 7 in Sochi. In 1984 graduated from Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky) Institute of Water Transport Engineers, where his father was head of a department; and then from the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation in 1993.
He began his career as a foreman in the shipyard Krasnoye Sormovo after completing service in the Soviet Army in 1986.In 1986-1991 he was a secretary of the Komsomol of the plant, the first secretary of the Gorky Komsomol. In 1991-1997 he worked in finance and business, holding positions of CEO of AMK JSC, chairman of Garantiya bank, and president of oil company NorSea Oil.In 1997-1998 he became First Deputy Minister and later Fuel and Power Industry Minister of the Russian Federation. Since April 1998 he was Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Mr Kirienko was appointed acting head of government after the resignation of the cabinet of Mr Victor Chernomyrdin.The State Duma refused to consent Mr Kirienko’s appointment as Head of the Government twice, that is on April 10 and April 17, 1998. Only on April, 24, 1998, after the third vote on his candidacy, 251 lawmakers voted in favour of Mr Kirienko’s appointment to the position of the Prime Minister. The same day, President Boris Yeltsin signed a presidential decree on the appointment of Mr Kirienko as Prime Minister. When forming the government Mr Kirienko introduced only one noticeable change. That was the drastic reduction in the number of deputy Prime Ministers and the abolition of First Deputy Prime Minister position. The position of Deputy Prime Minister was given to Mr Boris Nemtsov, Mr Oleg Sysuyev, and Mr Victor Khristenko. The July 22, 1998 appointment of a communist party member, Mr Yuri Maslyukov, as Minister of Industry and Trade came as a surprise.
Mr Kirienko, Mr Boris Nemtsov, and Mr Anatoly Chubais became known as the "young reformers" who tried to implement large-scale liberal economic reforms. The reforms were in fact undermined by a dramatic drop in oil prices which led to fluctuations in financial markets and the rise in costs of public debt service of the Russian Federation.
On August, 17, 1998 Mr Kirienko’s cabinet refused to give the IMF the credit line and stopped OFZ coupon payments announcing the first in global economic history default on domestic debt. Mr Kirienko was dismissed by the President of the Russian Federation.
The default resulted in the elimination of GKO-OFZ pyramid, reduction in government expenditure on debt servicing, and also a jump in inflation and a dramatic drop in the exchange rate of the ruble. As for long-term results, there was a large-scale import substitution and an increase of domestic production competitiveness, which became the initial push in the economic boom of 2000's.
In 1999 he participates in Moscow mayor elections and received 11.2% of votes, ranking second after the re-elected Mr Yuri Luzhkov. Mr Kirienko was the top name on the Union of Right Forces (SPS) list for State Duma elections. The party received 8% of the votes, ranking fourth.
In 1999-2000 Mr Kirienko was the State Duma deputy and leader of the SPS in the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
Since May 18, 2000 he was Presidential Special Envoy to the Volga Federal District. Since 2001 he was chairman of the Russian State Commission on Chemical Disarmament.
On November, 14, 2005 he was dismissed from office of the Special Envoy due to a staff reshuffle carried out by the president.
On November, 15, 2005 Mr Kirienko was appointed head of the Federal Agency for Atomic Energy of Russia (Rosatom).
On December, 12, 2007 he was dismissed from office due to his transfer to a position of Director General of Rosatom, created on the basis of the agency.
Awards:
The Order of Merit of IV degree (2010)
Medal of Honour (2005)
Medal of Anatoly Koni
The Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh of I degree (ROC, 2003)
Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov of II degree (ROC, 2006)
Active State Advisor of the 1st class of the Russian Federation (2000).
In 2010 Mr Kirienko ranked fifth in the top executives list by the newspaper Kommersant in the category "electric utility industry".
Mr Kirienko has the status of the third dan in Aikido. In 2005 he was elected chairman of the National Council of Aikido of Russia (President of the Federation of Aikido "Aikikai Russia").
He is married and has son Vladimir and two daughters, Lubov and Nadezhda.
Dossier:
In 1991 Regional Department for Organized Crime Control in Volga-Vyatka region iniciated a criminal case against Mr Sergey Kirienko. The case № 1 from 03.04.1991 indicted Mr Kirienko of bodily harm and intimidations of such bodily harm inflicted to Mr Abuladze by head of AMK. Among people involved in the case there were Mr Vladimir Voroshukha, deputy CEO of AMK; Mr Kiriyanov, an AMK staff member; Mr Vikyar, senior accountant of Smesh co-op and head of the Tennis Federation of Nizhny Novgorod.
Tennis courts in Nizhny Novgorod provoked a property dispute between Mr Abuladze and Mr Vikyar. Mr Vikyar addressed Mr Kirienko for assistance. Through his connections with criminals Mr Kirienko was able to subject Mr Abuladze to pressure in form of bodily harm infliction and murder intimidations. The businessman was demanded to hand over control over the tennis court.
Mr Kirienko alarmed with a possibility of prosecution managed to stop investigation of the case. In 1993 AMK faced financial difficulties and was officially closed down. However Mr Vladimir Lebedev, CEO of Kirovenergo JSC, spent yet two or three years more cleaning up the mess in AMK finances.
Source; flb.ru, 11.23.2001
In 1993—1996 Mr Sergey Kirienko was head of Garantiya bank in Nizhny Novgorod. With the help of Mr Boris Nemtsov, the governor, Mr Kirienko elaborated and introduced a unique pension circulation plan for the whole Nizhny Novgorod region. Under this plan all the pension money in the region went through the Garantiya bank, reaching a total of 2 trillion rubles by mid 1990s. As a result, by the time Mr Kirienko moved to Moscow his bank owed 540 billion rubles to the government and to those on pension.
Source: Metronews, December 1999
In 1995 Mr Kirienko, head of Garantiya bank, passed a weeklong course at the scientology Hubbard-college in 11, Pamirskaya Ulitsa, Nizhny Novgorod. Mr Kirienko studied administration and sent at least 10 to 15 of his subordinates to study at the college.
Source: SM, 04.07.1998
In 1999 Federal tax police in the Nizhny Novgorod region conducted a search in one of the region’s largest banks, NSKB Garantiya JSC. The officials checked the 1997—1998 financial records for the Pensionnaya Neft (Pension Oil) program which was developed partly by Mr Sergey Kirienko. Garantia bank faced charges over tax evasion under part 2 of art 199
Source: RBK, September 17, 1999
In November 1996 Mr Kirienko was recommended by the Russian government and by Nizhny Novgorod governor for the position of NorSea-Oil company president. Thus he became president of a major source of tax money for the regional budget. This only oil refinery in the region was very ineffective. Mr Kirienko was bound to carry out a rehabilitation of the enterprise that was in a financial abyss. Some sources say that one of Mr Kirienko’s first orders was not to return debts until a further notice. Later he implemented the same mechanism on depositors of all systemic banks of the country, having first used this tool of outright default on the NorSea creditors.
Source: Novye Izvestia, 03.25.1998
In 1996—1997 a system comprised of Garantiya bank, NorSea holding, and a fly-by-night company (Rusnehinvest, Gazenergofinans) was involved in money laundering. NorSea Oil was headed by one of the closest confidents of Mr Kirienko on his team, Mr Vadim Vorobiev, who was a former vice CEO of Aval insurance company used by Garantia bank for money laundering. Through its subsidiaries located in off-shore financial centres (Ekspo Trade in Saratov), NorSea Oil funded most of the establishment expenses for Mr Kirienko (some sources give figures up to thousand dollars a month). In particular, the money covered Hubbard-style workshops held in Beriozka health centre owned by NorSea Oil.
The government owned 85% of NorSea Oil shares. In October 2001 these shares were sold to Lukoil, which was not very easy to do without Mr Kirienko’s interference to assist Lukoil in the competition with Sibneft. Reliable sources claim that Mr Kirienko had an agreement with Mr Vagit Alekperov according to which Mr Kirienko would receive several million US dollars if the shares sale would go in accordance with a plan approved by Lukoil.
Source: Compromat.Ru, 09.06.2002
In the beginning of 2000 Nizhnovenergo, headed by Mr Sannikov, was a major source of income for the Mr Kirienko team. Mr Kirienko received about 5 million US dollars a year through Mr Sannikov for support of Mr Chubais’ reform on restructuring RAO "UES of Russia" supposedly to promote Union of Right Forces (SPS) in Nizhny Novgorod region. Furthermore, Mt Kirienko had an agreement with Mr Abyzov, Mr Chubais’ vice, on various finance projects that annually gave Mr Kirienko about 4 million US dollars.
Mr Kirienko also pooled sufficient funds from individuals. Mr Vladimir Potanin, president of private investment company Interros, and Mr Suleiman Kerimov, a State Duma member from the Liberal Democratic Party, transferred up to 2 million dollars to Mr Kirienko every year. As for Mr Kerimov, Mr Kirienko and him became close friends and several times went on holidays abroad together. Mr Kerimov paid for all their trips and helped Mr Kirienko solve all his issues with the President’s Administration.
Source: flb.ru, 11.23.2001
In 1998 several foreign news agencies that are among sources trusted by Swedish Justice Ministry spokesman Folco Galli found out that Mr Kirienko by means of a Swedish legal service company set up a family savings fund. The company undertook to fix all the formalities concerning privacy of the account where all “savings” of the Kirienko family accumulated. All transactions were endorsed by Mr Kirienko in person.
Sources with the Federal Security Service say that damaging information was received by former officers of the Third Directorate of the Military Counterintelligence. They reported about the existence of a #374501383822017 corporate American Express card, issued by Motolex Internaional registered in offshore Liechtenstein. The card holder was Mr Kirienko.
Moreover, the investigation uncovered a whole bunch of offshore companies linked to Motolex and other enterprises and individuals of Nizhny Novgorod and Kstov. In the beginning of 1999 the Kremlin ordered to stop investigation procedures.
Source: Compromat.Ru, 06.09.2002
In early 2000s Mr Kirienko was doing his best to run for presidency in 2008 elections and win. He continuously talked about his goal among his confidents and tried to persuade business and cultural elite.
Source: Novaya Gazeta, 03.18.2002
On June, 19, 2006 Mr Vladimir Kirienko, Mr Sergey Kirienko’s son, was elected chairman of the board of directors of Nizhny Novgorod Sarovbusinessbank that had taken over Garantiya bank. One of bank’s clients claimed that Mr Kirienko received a share in Sarovbusinessbank in exchange for shares of Garantiya that he always owned thought his confidents. When Mr Kirienko moved to Moscow he left his son in charge.
On November 2005 Mr Vladimir Kirienko became head of the board of directors of Nizhny Novgorod Volga TV network. Proceeding to this appointment Mr Vadim Vorobiev, vice-president of Lukoil and friend of Mr Sergey Kirienko, became the only shareholder of Volga.
Source: Vedomosti, 06.20.2006
In autumn of 2009 mass media publicized a “Fact sheet on Rosatom”. According to this fact sheet annual embezzlement by the corporation and its subdepartments annually ran up to 10 billion rubles. Over several years Rosatom subsidiaries plotted to steal money and take it out of the economy of Russia through offshore affiliates. Most of the company’s earnings were concealed on accounts of offshore enterprises. The fact sheet gave a total figure of 20% embezzlement from certain funds allocated for Rosatom.
Source: Vokrug Novostei, 12.04.2009
On February, 2, 2011 Tverskoy court of Moscow authorized arrest of Mr Alexander Stepanov, CEO of Energomash JSC. The false arrest was conducted over a criminal case № 276078, under art. 159 part 4 of the Criminal Code of Russia (large scale fraud). According to the investigation, Energomash head is involved in illegal take out of a 12.7 billion rubles loan from Central Bank for GT TEC Energy JSC which is not part of Energomash. Mr Alexander Stepanov’s prosecution was initiated on a personal claim from Mr German Gref, president of Sberbank; although he had delegated power to recover debts from Mr Stepanov to Mr Ashot Khachaturyans, head of Sberbank Capital ltd. As Mr Stepanov told his lawyers, the arrest was preceded by several business meetings with blackmailing and treats. One of such meetings took place in Mr German Gref’s office in Mr Kirienko’s presence. During the meeting Mr Stepanov was requested to hand 100 million dollars in cash to Mr Gref and 75% of shares of key Energomash structures along with two GT TEC Energy plants to Mr Sergey Kirienko.
Source: The Moscow Post, 02.16.2011