Mikhail Fradkov

Mikhail Yefimovich Fradkov (Михаи́л Ефи́мович Фрадко́в; born 1 September 1950) is a Russian politician who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 2004 to 2007.

He studied at both the Moscow Machine Tool Design (станкоинструментальный) Institute (graduated 1972) and the Foreign Trade Academy (graduated 1981).

In 1973, he was posted to the economic section of the Soviet Union's embassy in India, where he remained for two years.

He later held several positions back in Russia.

In 1991, he was Russia's representative to General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in Geneva.

In late 1992, Fradkov was appointed Deputy Minister for Foreign Economic Relations.

Less than a year later, in October 1993, he became First Deputy Minister for Foreign Economic Relations.

On 15 April 1997, a presidential decree by Boris Yeltsin appointed Fradkov Minister of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, a post which he kept for nearly a year.

In the middle of 1999, another presidential decree made him Minister of Trade.

He was made director of the Federal Tax Police by Vladimir Putin in 2001, having previously been Deputy Secretary of the Security Council.

In 2003 he was made Russia's representative to the European Union.

On 1 March 2004, he was nominated by Putin as the next Prime Minister, and this appointment was approved by the Duma on 5 March.

Fradkov's nomination as Prime Minister was a surprise to many observers, as he was not seen as part of Vladimir Putin's inner circle.

Some commentators, such as the Carnegie Moscow Center's Lilia Shevtsova, have speculated that his "outsider" status might have been an important factor in his nomination, saying that Putin selected him as someone who was "not a representative of any of the warring clans" in the Kremlin.

Former Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, whom Fradkov has served under, called Fradkov "absolutely independent from any sort of political clan or group."

Putin and his allies praised Fradkov as experienced, professional, and honest.

On 12 May 2004, Fradkov was appointed Prime Minister for the second time, as Vladimir Putin had won the presidential election and been inaugurated on 7 May (see also Mikhail Fradkov's Second Cabinet).

Replacing his predecessor Mikhail Kasyanov in March 2004, Fradkov took over as Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.

In early March 2004, the State Duma overwhelmingly agreed to the appointment of Mikhail Fradkov as Chairman of the Government: he was supported by the United Russia and LDPR factions, as well as some of the deputies from the Motherland, and opposed by the Communist Party faction.

Of the non-parliamentary parties, Fradkov's candidacy was supported by the Union of Right Forces, noting his experience in the government in various areas and international authority, thanks to his work as Russian Plenipotentiary Envoy to the European Union.

According to many analysts, he was the so-called "technical prime minister" who did not pursue an independent policy.

All key decisions were made by the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, said Alexei Makarkin, deputy general director of the Center for Political Technologies.

The following steps marked the activities of the Fradkov government:

On 14 November 2005, Vladimir Putin introduced two new positions in the government, further curtailing the prime minister's powers.

An Independent, he was the longest serving director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service from 2007 to 2016.

On 12 September 2007 Fradkov announced his resignation to President Putin, which Putin accepted, nominating Viktor Zubkov as Fradkov's successor.

Putin bestowed an award on Fradkov and said that he would remain in office until the confirmation of a successor by the Duma.

Zubkov was confirmed on 14 September 2007.

On 6 October 2007, President Putin announced that he would appoint Fradkov as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

Fradkov's appointment as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, combined with his service in India, are suggestive of a KGB background.

This calls into question earlier assumptions that he was an "outsider" in Kremlin circles and provides an explanation for Putin's trust in him.

In November 2010, reports emerged that one of Fradkov's intelligence officers, a Colonel Shcherbakov, had defected to the United States on 21 June 2010, having betrayed a Russian spy ring in the United States.

Critics alleged that the suspicions that Shcherbakov was a double agent which emerged when Shcherbakov turned down a promotion requiring a lie detector test should have been followed up more aggressively.

Shcherbakov also had a daughter in the United States.

Kommersant, which broke the story, speculated that Fradkov might be replaced by Sergei Naryshkin and/or Russian intelligence services reorganized.

Pavel Fradkov, the son of Mikhail Fradkov, is a deputy head of the state property watchdog Rosimushchestvo.

Since 4 January 2017, Fradkov has been Director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies.

The cabinet of Fradkov was the first government in the history of Russia that voluntarily resigned in accordance with part 1 of Article 117 of the constitution.

He has the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation.

Fradkov was born near Samara to a family of Jewish origin on his father's side.