Nikolay Fyodorov (politician)

Summary

Nikolay Vasilyevich Fyodorov (Russian: Никола́й Васи́льевич Фёдоров, Chuvash: Фёдоров Николай Васильевич, Fyodorow Nikolay Wasilyewich; born 9 May 1958) is the First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council. He is also the former President of the Chuvash Republic in Russia.

Nikolay Fyodorov
Николай Фёдоров
Fyodorov in 2018
First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council
In office
30 September 2015 – 23 September 2020
ChairmanValentina Matviyenko
Russian Federation Senator
from the Chuvash Republic
Assumed office
20 September 2015
Preceded byKonstantin Kosachev
In office
22 September 2010 – 23 May 2012
Preceded byVladimir Sloutsker
Succeeded byGalina Nikolayeva
Minister of Agriculture
In office
21 May 2012 – 22 April 2015
PremierDmitry Medvedev
Preceded byYelena Skrynnik
Succeeded byAleksandr Tkachyov
1st President of the Chuvash Republic
In office
21 January 1994 – 29 August 2010
Vice PresidentEnver Ablyakimov (1994–97),
Lev Kurakov (1997–2000)
Succeeded byMikhail Ignatyev
Minister of Justice
In office
14 July 1990 – 24 March 1993
PresidentBoris Yeltsin
Preceded byVladimir Abolentsev (under RSFSR)
Succeeded byYury Kalmykov
Personal details
Born (1958-05-09) 9 May 1958 (age 65)
Chyodino, Chuvash ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Political partyUnited Russia
SpouseSvetlana Yuryevna Fyodorova
Alma materKazan State University
AwardsAlt textOrder of Honour Order of Merit for the Chuvash Republic»

Early life edit

Nikolai Fyodorov was born in 1958 in the village of Chyodino, Mariinsko-Posadsky District of the Chuvash ASSR (now part of Novocheboksarsk), into a large family of a WWII veteran. In 1980, after graduating from the law faculty of Kazan State University, he came to Cheboksary and taught the disciplines "Soviet law" and "Scientific communism" in 1980–82 and 1985–89 at the Chuvash State University.

Career edit

Federal minister edit

In 1989 he was elected People's Deputy of the USSR. He was one of the leaders of the committee on legislation of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He was the Justice Minister of Russia from 14 July 1990 to 24 March 1993. In December 1991, Fyodorov stated that the 79-year-old former leader of the GDR Erich Honecker, who was in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, must leave the USSR territory (six months later, in July 1992, Honecker was extradited to Berlin). In March 1993, during the power struggle between the reformist cabinet and anti-reform legislature Fyodorov resigned protesting against the unconstitutional introduction of a "special procedure for governing" by Boris Yeltsin. Fyodorov critically assessed the dispersal of the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet of Russia in October 1993.

President of Chuvashia edit

In December 1993, he ran simultaneously to the 1st State Duma and for the president of Chuvashia, his home region. Fyodorov was elected to the State Duma on the list of the Democratic Party of Russia, became a member of the Defense Committee. In the Chuvash presidential elections, none of the candidates received the required 25% of the vote. Fyodorov with 24.9%, and Lev Kurakov, the rector of the Chuvash University, who gained 21.9%, entered the second round. On December 26, Fyodorov won the majority of the vote.[1] On 21 January 1994, he took office as president of the Chuvash Republic, and in February he resigned as a State Duma deputy.

He was reelected in 1997 and 2001, and appointed by president Putin in 2005. As a head of the region, he was a member of the second Federation Council from 1996 to 2001. In December 2000, Fyodorov was the only senator who voted against the new law on the National Anthem of Russia, adopting Alexandrov's melody (lyrics by Sergey Mikhalkov were adopted later; Oleg Chirkunov was the only one voting against it).

He served as the first President of Chuvash Republic to 29 August 2010. He was a supporter of market reforms.[citation needed] Fyodorov opposed Russian President Boris Yeltsin's policies in Chechnya and Vladimir Putin's 2000 federal reform initiatives.[2]

Post-presidency edit

On 8 September 2010, at the session of the State Council of Chuvashia, he was approved as a member of the Federation Council of Russia.

He had been the Minister of Agriculture from 21 May 2012 until April 2015. Two days after his appointment he sent a letter to Mikhail Ignatyev, who was his successor as the president of Chuvashia. Fyodorov criticized the economic policy of Ignatyev's administration.[3] From April to September 2015 Fyodorov was an advisor to the President of Russia on agroindustrial complex issues.

In January 2014, Fyodorov arrived in Berlin for the Green Week agriculture exhibition on a business-class Cessna private jet, which was registered in Serbia.[4] The photo of Fyodorov leaving the cabin was first retouched[5] and then removed from the website of the Ministry of Agriculture.[6] In March 2015 deputy chairman of the Committee on Agrarian Policy of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Pavel Grudinin criticized Fyodorov's department for imposing transport tax on agricultural machinery operating in the fields, despite the fact that this transport is not intended to use the motorways.

After his resign from the federal cabinet Fyodorov was appointed a member of the Federation Council from Chuvashia for the second time. In 2015–2020 he was the First Deputy Chairman of the council.

Sanctions edit

Sanctioned by the UK government in 2022 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War.[7]

Personal life edit

He is an ethnic Chuvash. He is married and has one son and a daughter. His son Vasily is a lawyer. In addition to his native Chuvash, he speaks Russian and German.

 
Fyodorov (right) with his Hungarian colleague Sándor Fazekas (center) - OMÉK, 2013

Honours and awards edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ Gubernatorial Elections — 1993, politika.su
  2. ^ Robert W. Orttung; Danielle N. Lussier; Anna Paretskaya (2000). The republics and regions of the Russian Federation: a guide to politics, policies, and leaders. M. E. Sharpe. pp. 104–106. ISBN 978-0-7656-0559-7. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  3. ^ "Письмо не счастья". Kommersant (in Russian). 2012-05-23.
  4. ^ "Улетаешь? Лети, пожалуйста!". Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2014-09-10.
  5. ^ С официальной фотографии главы Минсельхоза стерли самолет
  6. ^ "С официального сайта Министерства сельского хозяйства удалили скандальную фотографию прибытия главы ведомства Николая Федорова в Германию" [The scandalous photo of Nikolay Fyodorov's arrival in Germany was removed from the official website of the Ministry of Agriculture]. Echo of Moscow (in Russian).
  7. ^ "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  8. ^ Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 27 June 2017 No. 288 "On awarding state awards of the Russian Federation"

References edit

  • Political System. Government of the Chuvash Republic. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  • Administrative Structure of the Republic. Administrative Centre and Largest Cities. Government Authorities. Government of the Chuvash Republic. Retrieved January 2011.
Political offices
Preceded by
None
President of the Chuvash Republic
21 January 1994 – 29 August 2010
Succeeded by