Alexander Voloshin: biography, personal life, family, career, photo. Alexander Stalyevich Voloshin - Berezovsky’s man, the eminence grise of the current “liberal” Kremlin Where is Alexander Stalyevich Voloshin now?

Identified: Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, Vladislav Surkov, Oleg Govorun, Mikhail Semenov, Maxim Polyakov, Alexey Chesnakov, Konstantin Kostin, Alexander Ferbert, Voloshin Alexander, Primakov Evgeniy. In relation to these persons, there is information about involvement in US intelligence services.

Alexander Stalyevich Voloshin was born on March 3, 1956 in Moscow. The media wrote little about his family: it was reported that Voloshin’s father died early, and he was raised by his mother Inna Lvovna. At one time she worked at the Diplomatic Academy, and in 1999 she was called one of the most professional English teachers in the capital.

Former head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.

We've known each other since the 1990s. He was the initiator of Surkov’s invitation to the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.

In the spring of 1999, Surkov became an assistant to Alexander Voloshin, the head of the Russian Presidential Administration, and in August 1999 he was appointed Voloshin’s deputy.

Voloshin does not appear openly in public or make statements, but seriously affects the situation. More work is needed on it.

with Voloshin it’s not just the same as with Vladislav Yuryevich Dudayev, let’s focus on the fact that Surkov became Voloshin’s deputy and it was Voloshin who took him into his administration

I came across an old one from 2009 on Forum.msk about the Kremlin clans. Actually, this is a translation of a report by the famous American center Stratfor. You can read the entire article at the link, but I was attracted not only by the view from there on our problems, but by a specific character.

I am more curious about the discovered connection between Surkov and the GRU. Moreover, persons associated with the GRU are indicated: Miller, Shoigu, Lesin, Kadyrov, Chaika.

There is also a paragraph dedicated to this connection:

Surkov and the GRU

Surkov rose from the ranks to distinguish himself in two key episodes in the consolidation of the Russian state: the rebellion in Chechnya and the collapse of Russia's largest private energy firm, Yukos. Coming from Chechnya, Surkov played a role in eliminating a major obstacle for the Kremlin: Chechen President Dzhakhar Dudayev. He also helped lay the foundations for Moscow's victory in the Second Chechen War by creating a strategy to split the rebel camp between nationalists and Islamists. His role in the overthrow of oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky marked the beginning of the consolidation of economic resources plundered by disparate business interests in the 90s.

The basis of Surkov's power is the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). The GRU represents both military intelligence and the army itself. Throughout the Soviet and post-Soviet periods of history, it was a counterweight to the KGB/FSB. The GRU is larger than the FSB and has more influence abroad, although its achievements are less well known.

In addition, Surkov controls Gazprom, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the Prosecutor General's Office. However, Surkov’s rival Sechin controls the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, which are responsible for most of the Russian armed forces. This limits the GRU's ability to control the military.

Surkov strives to weaken the positions of Sechin and the FSB, so he is constantly looking for allies. In 2003, he allied himself with the reformist camp formerly known as the St. Petersburg camp, which had proven its worth during the financial crisis. It is this group, the civilians, who will perhaps help Surkov in his attempt to inflict the final defeat on Sechin.

Surkov’s biography is so gorgeous that suspicions about the secret service agent involuntarily arise:
The place of birth and nationality of Vladislav Surkov are unclear.
Father - Dudayev Andarbek Danilbekovich (nickname Yuri?), worked as a teacher in the Duba-Yurt school, then served in the Main Intelligence Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense. How is that?
In 1983-1985, Surkov served in the Soviet army, in one of the artillery units of the Southern Group of Forces in Hungary.
On November 12, 2006, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced that he was ready to reveal to television viewers a “secret”: Surkov... served in the special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate. Oh how! Hereditary.

In this regard, the remark of Forum.msk editor A. Baranov at the end of the article looks interesting:

From the editor: There is some exaggeration about Surkov’s service in the GRU and the role of military intelligence in the Kremlin situation in general.

Just like that. Is the thief's hat on fire?

So Surkov is connected with the GRU and he is Voloshin’s deputy, who then is the non-public Voloshin his leader?

let us remember one very important episode related to the accession of Vladimir Vladimirovich, by the way, it was Voloshin who insisted on Putin’s candidacy

Maxim Kalashnikov

In 1999, a sensation was heard in a number of domestic media. It was reported that in June, somewhere near the French Nice, in a secluded villa, a meeting took place with the field leader Shamil Basayev, Heads of the Russian Presidential Administration Alexander Voloshin and Anton Surikov, a former GRU agent, already a former employee of the government apparatus of Yevgeny Primakov. Just before Chechen separatists invaded Dagestan and began the war that catapulted Putin to the pinnacle of power. Then they said that Basayev was recruited by the GRU during the Abkhaz war in 1992.

Killed Mansur Natkhoev (GRU Major General Anton Surikov)

On November 23, in Izhevsk, Anton Surikov (Mansur Natkhoev), Major General of the GRU General Staff of the Russian Defense Ministry, was allegedly killed with the help of an “injection” simulating natural death from cardiac arrest.

My friend Anton Surikov died

Surikov - Peskov - Nagorny

it is clear that Surikov had a very definite relationship to intelligence and even most likely to the military, and now he meets with his agent in the company of Voloshin, who then is Voloshin himself?

Voloshin, some researchers include in the “Chubais group” the composition of this group quite correlates with the Starfrs scheme given above

The group includes: Anatoly Chubais - head of RAO UES of Russia, Alexander Voloshin - chairman of the board of directors of RAO UES of Russia, former head of the presidential administration, Alexey Kudrin - minister of finance (controls the diamond mining monopolist CJSC AK ALROSA), German GREF - Head of Sberbank of Russia OJSC, Sergey KIRIENKO - Head of the State Corporation Rosatom, Arkady DVORKOVICH - Head of the Expert Department of the Presidential Administration, Elvira NABIULLINA - Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation, Leonid MELAMED - Head of the State Corporation "Russian Nanotechnology Corporation".

The group of the main ideologist of privatization in the Russian Federation is good evidence of how outside support - American and international financial circles - can allow a group of influence to survive and even covertly oppose the existing government. In addition, Anatoly Borisovich relies on one of the existing management training centers in the Russian Federation - Shchedrovitsky methodologists, whom during his time in power he placed in such numbers and in such positions that it is useless to fight him (on the Internet there are lists of hundreds of methodological managers in the regions of the Russian Federation and top managers of large companies).

at the same time, we have already drawn attention to the fact that the very genesis of the strangely unsinkable Chubas leads us in the same direction

Boris Matveevich Chubais (b. 1918), - retired colonel, teacher of Marxist-Leninist philosophy at the Leningrad Mining Institute.

Career officer, tanker, who met the war on the very first day in Lithuania and ended it not even in Berlin, which he also took, but a little later - in Czechoslovakia, recipient of almost 30 awards. After the war and throughout his entire working life, which ended in Leningrad, he was forced to transport his family from garrison to garrison.

Chubais has relatives in very high positions in the GRU. Through them, he fit into this crowd, and they promoted him to high positions in the civil hierarchy. There, he first provided them with services for the seizure of Western Geographical Property, and then for the creation of a legal and administrative basis for the forceful redistribution of property through bankruptcies, seizures (and murders). This force is behind Chubais. Chubais is the “face” of a power group with large financial interests, headed by his uncle, a former intelligence chief of one of the armies of the Leningrad Military District, who made a career in the GRU and built his own mafia group there.
Kvachkov constantly curses Chubais. This clown is needed so that when the topic of the GRU comes up in connection with Chubais, they do not discuss the connection between Chubais and the GRU, but the conversation turns to the clown Kvachkov: “GRU against Chubais.”
_____________

In general, Chubais’ uncle worked in the GRU; Chubais himself is from a military family; at first they lived in my hometown, and even went to school where my mother went. I studied mediocrely. Then we left for St. Petersburg.
An uncle from the GRU moved him and covered him up.

they said that Yegor Timurovich’s dad was at one time a resident of the GRU in Cuba

Uncurtained windows in the Carnegie Center made it possible to capture Voloshin in the company of a CIA employee

On November 3, Kommersant published an article by Dmitry Sidorov dedicated to Alexander Voloshin’s recent trip to the United States. According to the unanimous opinion of media representatives, this publication was initiated by Voloshin himself. True, the author D. Sidorov in most cases does not write directly about this, preferring to use euphemisms like “the meeting lasted about three hours in one of the rooms on the first floor, the uncurtained windows of which gave the Kommersant correspondent the opportunity to see the guests gathered there from the street. About 20 people, including former US ambassadors to Russia and Ukraine Jim Collins and Steven Pifer, as well as Fiona Hill, recently confirmed by the CIA as the senior officer of the National Intelligence Council in charge of Russia.

this week Chairman of the Board of Directors of RAO UES Alexander Voloshin visited the USA. Over two days, Mr. Voloshin held eight meetings with senior White House administration officials and spoke at a private dinner at the Carnegie Center. According to American experts, the former head of Vladimir Putin’s administration came to discuss the candidacy of a successor to the Russian president. Mr. Voloshin himself denies any political background to his trip. Nevertheless, according to the observation of Kommersant special correspondent DMITRY SIDOROV, who followed Mr. Voloshin, his visit became evidence of a deep crisis in Russian-American relations.

Alexander Voloshin arrived in Washington on Sunday evening. His arrival caused many rumors. Some experts, on condition of anonymity, told Kommersant that “the former head of the Yeltsin and Putin administrations, at the request of the Kremlin, came to discuss the candidacy of a successor to the current president of Russia.” Others argued that "Mr. Voloshin will lobby the interests of Dmitry Medvedev, who is supported by a group led by Anatoly Chubais." Alexander Voloshin himself, in a conversation with Kommersant, said that “he arrived at the invitation of the Carnegie Center, to which the Kremlin has nothing to do, and is not going to lobby for a successor.”

Nevertheless, Kommersant managed to find out that Mr. Voloshin expressed his point of view on this problem at a closed dinner at the Carnegie Center. This meeting lasted about three hours in one of the rooms on the first floor, the uncurtained windows of which gave the Kommersant correspondent the opportunity to see the guests gathered there from the street.

About 20 people attended the event. Notable among them are former U.S. ambassadors to Russia and Ukraine Jim Collins and Steven Pifer, as well as Fiona Hill, recently confirmed by the CIA as the senior National Intelligence Council officer in charge of Russia.

As Kommersant has learned, the director of the Russian program at the Carnegie Center, Andy Kuchins, asked Alexander Voloshin about a successor. As reported by a Kommersant source, Mr. Voloshin’s answer sounded as follows: “Putin is trying to find a collective image, something between Medvedev and Ivanov. But since such a person is not around, there is a possibility that he will nominate one of them for the post of president, and the second for the position Prime Minister."

What seems worthy of attention is not even who sent Voloshin to the USA for negotiations, but the communication channel that they used, the Carnegie Center is a very interesting organization, especially if you look at who works there

Alexey Arbatov is a member of the scientific council of the Carnegie Moscow Center, chairman of the Nonproliferation Problems program.

Alexey Arbatov is a member of the scientific council of the Carnegie Moscow Center, chairman of the Nonproliferation Problems program. Since 2003, Alexey Arbatov has also held the position Director of the Center for International Security of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) RAS. In 2001-2008 A. Arbatov was deputy chairman of the Russian Democratic Party Yabloko, and since 2008 he has been a member of its political committee. He is also chairman of the board of trustees of the Military Families Fund of the 76th Airborne Division.

Alexey Arbatov is a member of the scientific advisory council of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the scientific council of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, and also a member of the presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy. He is Vice-President of the International Luxembourg Forum on the Prevention of Nuclear Catastrophe, as well as a member of the International Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction ("Blix Commission"), the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament ("Evans-Kawaguchi Commission"), the International Advisory Council of the Geneva Center on Civilian Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Threat Initiative Foundation and the International Advisory Council of the Center for the Study of Nonproliferation of WMD. J. Martin Monterey Institute of International Studies (USA).

Alexey Arbatov was a member of the delegation at the START-1 negotiations, a participant in the working groups for the negotiations on the INF Treaty, the CFE Treaty, and the START-2. In the 1990s, he was a deputy of the State Duma; in 1994-2003 served as deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense. In 1986-2002 Alexey Arbatov headed the department, and in 1983-1985. - sector of the IMEMO RAS, where before that - in 1976-1983. — held the position of research assistant.

this is the son of the same Arbatov director of the institute of the USA and Canada who worked at IMEMO

Revold Antonov (from left, front row), George Sherry, David Rockefeller, and Stanislav Borisov; Georgy Arbatov(two on the right, back row) Yuri Bobrakov, Williamsburg, Virginia 1979

Yuri Zhukov, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Heinrich Trofimenko, Georgy Arbatov, and Landrum Bolling, Moscow, 1975

As for the Dartmouth meetings, they were regularly held in order to discuss and bring together the approaches of the two superpowers on issues of arms reduction, searching for a way out of various international conflicts, and creating conditions for economic cooperation. Two institutes played a special role in organizing such meetings - IMEMO and ISKAN, on our side; for the Americans, a group of political scientists, retired executives from the State Department, the Pentagon, the administration, the CIA, current bankers, and businessmen. For a long time, the American group was headed by David Rockefeller, with whom I developed a very warm relationship. For us, first N.N. Inozemtsev, and then G.A. Arbatov. V.V. Zhurkin, M.A. Milshtein, G.I. Morozov actively participated in the Dartmouth meetings. I, along with my partner G. Saunders, former US Deputy Secretary of State, were co-chairs of the working group on conflict situations.
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Alexander Yakovlev is the “architect” of Gorbachev’s Perestroika, Yevgeny Primakov is a veteran of Russian Politics, Chairman of the Russian Government in 1998-1999, Igor Ivanov is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1998-2004, then Secretary of the Security Council, Boris Fedorov and Maxim Boyko (Shamberg ) - former deputy prime ministers in the post-Soviet governments of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shumilin - Minister of Industry in the transitional government of I. Silaev, Vladimir Lopukhin - Minister of Fuel and Energy in the government of E. Gaidar, Valentin Fedorov - the first elected governor of Sakhalin and Vladimir Lukin - one of the leaders Yabloko party, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Alexander Dynkin - economic adviser to the Chairman of the Russian Government in 1998-1999, Viktor Sheinis, Evgeny Ambartsumov (later Russian Ambassador to Mexico), Alexey Arbatov, Alexey Podberezkin and Natalya Narochnitskaya - former and current deputies of the State Duma, the late Sergei Blagovolin - former general director of Public Russian Television (now Channel 1), Igor Bunin, Andranik Migranyan, Mark Urnov and Viktor Kuvaldin - famous political scientists, Rafail Shakirov - editor-in-chief of Izvestia and Vladimir Solovyov is a popular television journalist...

What unites these different people, besides the obvious belonging to the Russian political and business Elite?

One thing unites them. All of them come from the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the USSR Academy of Sciences (now IMEMO RAS), who worked there at different times. Some started there as postgraduate students or as “emenes” (junior research assistants), others occupied leadership positions - from the head of the sector to the director of the Institute.

From the position of scientific and technical employee at IMEMO in the mid-60s, the amazing career of the current President of the Nixon Center (USA), Dmitry Simes, an authoritative American political scientist and expert on the problems of modern Russia, began.

In this regard, we can mention a little-known fact from the biography of Condoleezza Rice. In the second half of the 80s, the future National Security Advisor to US President George W. Bush underwent a scientific internship at IMEMO.

It can be said with complete confidence that in the Soviet Union there was not a single practical organization or scientific institution where they knew better and more deeply the mechanisms of functioning of the market (“capitalist”) economy and the Western political System. By the way, this explains the fact that at the turn of the 80s and 90s such an impressive group of economists-reformers, entrepreneurs and Politicians of the new generation emerged from IMEMO, laying the foundations of Russia in the 21st century.

Liliya Shevtsova was Chairman of the Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions program at the Carnegie Moscow Center and leading fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Washington).

Liliya Shevtsova is no longer an employee of Carnegie.

Well, at the time of Voloshin’s visit to the USA,

Liliya Shevtsova was chair of the Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions program at the Carnegie Moscow Center and a leading fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Washington).

L. Shevtsova was a professor at the Higher School of Economics, professor of political science at MGIMO University of the Russian Foreign Ministry, deputy director of the Institute of International Economic and Political Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, director of the Center for Political Research at the Institute of the World Socialist System of the USSR Academy of Sciences. She has also taught as a visiting professor at the University of Berkeley (USA), Cornell University (USA) and Georgetown University (USA), and worked as a researcher at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Research. She was a member of the Executive Board of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (UK), Chair of the Global Council "Russia's Future" and a member of the Global Council "Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction" of the International Economic Forum in Davos.

L. Shevtsova is on the editorial boards of the journals American Interest, Journal of Democracy, and “Democratization.” She is an ambassador for the promotion of the Global Restructuring program of the Davos International Economic Forum, a chief researcher at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a leading researcher at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House, UK), a member of the Executive Council of the International Association of Women for International Security (WIIS), Executive Board of the Liberal Mission Foundation and the New Eurasia Foundation, as well as a member of the board of the Institute of Humanities at Boston University (USA).

1974-1989 - Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System of the USSR Academy of Sciences, department of political studies, researcher, senior researcher, head of department;
1989-1995 - Institute of International Economic and Political Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System of the USSR Academy of Sciences), deputy director;
1991-1994 - Center for Political Research of the USSR Academy of Sciences, director;
1993 - University of Berkeley, California, professor;
1994 - Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, professor;
1994 - Georgetown University, Washington, professor;
1994-1995 - Kennan Institute for Woodrow Wilson International Research Center, Washington, researcher;
since 1995 - Chief Researcher, Institute of International Economic and Political Research
since 1995 - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington-Moscow, leading researcher (Russian domestic politics and political institutions). Member of the scientific council of the Carnegie Moscow Center;
1997-2001 - Professor at MGIMO University of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
since 2004 - Leading Researcher, Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), London.
Since 2014 - non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

just a second

Brookings Institution is a research institute in the United States founded in 1916. Located in Washington. One of the most important think tanks, specializes in social sciences, municipal government, foreign policy and world economy.

As of 2010, the president of the institute is Strobe Talbott, former US Deputy Secretary of State.

IMEMO’s Western partners - at the Stanford Institute in the USA, at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) and the Institute for Strategic Studies in the UK, at the German Society for Foreign Policy in Bonn, at the French Institute of International Relations, etc. - knew that their Moscow colleagues carry out the relevant orders of the highest party and state leadership and other government authorities.

Where did the idea of ​​a “family” connection between IMEMO and the Soviet intelligence services come from? I asked this question to a member of the House of Lords of the British Parliament John Roper, who fruitfully collaborated with IMEMO in the 70s and 80s as one of the leaders of the British Chatham House.

Those whom Henry Kissinger proudly introduced in 1982 at Chatham House as his masters in the British Foreign Intelligence Service ordered their "GO-TER" of 1989-1991, the pitiful couple of Margaret Thatcher and George Bush, to move towards a "New World" disorder" leading to the abandonment of the sovereign nation-state, resulting in the creation of a Malthusian dictatorship over this planet forever. Hell rules on Earth...
_________________

Recently I was a participant in the Radio Liberty radio program, and my interlocutor turned out to be Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center Dmitry Trenin, GRU officer, sent by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation to this quite good position, which allows him to travel around the world under the cover of the “xiva” of the director of the American-Moscow structure.

Alexander Stalyevich Voloshin (born March 3, 1956, Moscow) is a Russian politician and statesman. Head of the Russian Presidential Administration from March 19, 1999 to October 30, 2003.

Acting State Advisor of the Russian Federation, 1st class (1998).

Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC First Freight Company (FGK). Member of the Board of Directors of Yandex.

He headed the collective management bodies of MMC Norilsk Nickel, RAO UES, and served as an ordinary member of the supervisory boards of a number of commercial structures, including IDGC Holding, Uralkali, System Operator, Federal Grid Company, Yandex". The former high-ranking official was the author of the idea of ​​so-called “managed democracy” in Russia, when the political regime combines democratic and authoritarian institutions to solve emerging problems. In 2002, in his address to his compatriots, “Managed Democracy” - a direct road to dictatorship and fascism,” he defined Russian political realities as the systematic destruction of freedom, the creation of a police regime and a return to totalitarianism.

There are many legends about the criminal past of the former chief of the presidential administration, Alexander Voloshin. He was called the “wallet” of the “wallet” of the presidential “Family” of Boris Berezovsky, a close connection of Yaponchik, an accomplice of the Chechen militants, with whom he allegedly secretly met on the Côte d’Azur of France exactly before Basayev’s invasion of Dagestan.

His father is Stal Isaakovich Voloshin.

The most powerful clan in Russia, codenamed “Family,” is now known to everyone: the overly active and overly touchy Tanya Dyachenko, the cunning and talkative Boris Berezovsky, the modest and mysterious Roma Abramovich, the failed journalist and tennis player Valya Yumashev. Perhaps only one of the clan members, despite his high position, is still diligently hiding in the shadows. He became the main character of our material.

In 1978 he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Transport Engineers (MIIT), after which he worked in various positions at the Moscow-Sortirovochnaya locomotive depot (Moscow Railway).

Voloshin’s career is a typical demonstration of the social elevator in action. A simple hard worker, a worker at a locomotive depot - at that time, who could have imagined that this man would decide the fate of his country - vast Russia? Who knew that he would work under the wing of the president (even two), that he would sit in the Administration of the Head of State for several years? But this is what happens most often.

The patron of Voloshin's career from the very beginning was none other than Mr. Boris Berezovsky. It was under him that Alexander Stalyevich began his active work: first, while heading the All-Russian Research Institute of Market Economics of Russia, Voloshin met Boris Abramovich - he provided him with some information services on the export of cars (Berezovsky at that time was the head of the AVVA automobile alliance). Then, after the consolidation of business relations, friendships began - Voloshin was entrusted with heading the subsidiaries of the future disgraced oligarch.

The curious start to his career continued at the highest political level. Due to the close connection between government agencies and business in the late nineties, Voloshin began to increasingly enter high offices. Here Valentin Yumashev helped him (we read Bori Berezovsky). Subsequently, the August default contributed to Voloshin’s promotion. After all sorts of intrigues, including with Mr. Gusinsky, Alexander Stalyevich supported the actual government. Yeltsin liked it. Yeltsin made him head of his own administration.

In 1986, Voloshin graduated from the All-Union Academy of Foreign Trade and came to work at the All-Russian Research Institute of Economic Markets of Russia, rising to the rank of deputy head of the department. According to some reports, during this period he began to provide information assistance to various organizations in the export of automotive products on a commercial basis. At the same time, he met entrepreneur Boris Berezovsky, who at that time held the post of head of the AVVA automobile alliance. Subsequently, Voloshin became his close business partner and acted as the entrepreneur’s personal stock agent.

Since 1992, Alexander Voloshin worked as executive director of the company "Analysis, Consulting and Marketing".

Having been something of a personal broker to Boris Berezovsky before his official service, Voloshin, having joined the Kremlin administration in 1997 as an economic consultant, unexpectedly soared to the very top.

After Boris Yeltsin suffered coronary artery bypass surgery, the president's inner circle decided to take matters into their own hands - fearing a leak of power. With the help of Berezovsky, Viktor Chernomyrdin and Anatoly Chubais were swept off the table - the first was an undesirable contender for the throne at that time, and the second wanted to rule together, directly influencing personnel policy. So, with the participation of the same Berezovsky, Chubais was replaced by the seemingly quiet and inconspicuous Roman Abramovich, and after him the shadow of Alexander Voloshin penetrated into the Kremlin administration.

Over time, a kind of triumvirate formed at the top of power: Tatyana Dyachenko, the former head of administration Valentin Yumashev, who was close to her, and Alexander Voloshin, who joined them. The latter was so well liked by the court with his ability to build complex intrigues that he outgrew his patron Boris Berezovsky, becoming much more influential than him.

With the arrival of Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, the situation has become simpler, because the “triumvirate” no longer needs to take Yeltsin’s ambitions and stubbornness into direct account. An employee of the presidential administration says: “If Yumashev is rather a philosopher, a theorist and does not like practical work, then Voloshin, like Dyachenko, knows how to get his way. Both of them are stubborn, tough and efficient. Voloshin plays a crucial role in this triumvirate - he is a guide their decisions."

In 1996, Alexander Voloshin was elected to the position of president of JSC Federal Stock Corporation.

In 1997–1998

Assistant to the Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation B. N. Yeltsin for

economic issues. Since September 1998 Deputy Head

Administration of the President of the Russian Federation on economic issues. From March 1999 to

12/31/1999 Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation B. N. Yeltsin.

The first public speech of the new head of the presidential administration,

which took place in the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation

04/21/1999 in connection with the resignation of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yu.I.

Skuratov, was unsuccessful and caused a lot of caustic newspaper comments:

“A fussy, stuttering gentleman, not quite

understanding where and why he was sent. Voloshin's beeping and beeping was

so pitiful that officials of the presidential administration were sure that by morning

Boris Nikolaevich will look for a more respectable boss.

Since the beginning of 1999, he has been an open opponent of Prime Minister E. Primakov.
He was one of the initiators of the removal of Yuri Skuratov from the post of Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. He spoke in the Federation Council justifying the removal of Yu. Skuratov (senators voted against).
On March 19, 1999, by decree of President B.N. Yeltsin, he was appointed head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation (replacing N. Bordyuzha). In April 1999, he was introduced to the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
He appointed Vladislav Surkov, associated with Alfa Group, Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven, as his advisor.
On June 7, 1999, he was included in the board of state representatives at OJSC Public Russian Television (ORT), then becoming chairman of the board.
On June 25, 1999, he was elected to the board of directors of RAO UES of Russia, and on June 28 he was elected chairman of the board of directors of the company (chairman of the board of RAO UES of Russia - Anatoly Chubais).
In August 1999, on the recommendation of A. Voloshin, V. Surkov was promoted, becoming one of the deputy heads of the administration.
In September 1999, he sent a letter to the editor-in-chief of the Italian newspaper "Corierre della Sera" in defense of President Boris Yeltsin (in connection with the credit card scandal). The letter was published, although the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Ferruccio de Bortoli, stated that the letter “felt a hidden threat” (A. Voloshin, in particular, called on the newspaper to carefully weigh the consequences that its publication could lead to). The text of the letter was published in Kommersant-Daily on September 14, 1999.
During the campaign for the elections to the Duma of the third convocation, he actively used the expert and image-making services of the Effective Policy Foundation (EPF) of Gleb Pavlovsky. Together with B. Berezovsky, he was directly related to the creation of the Unity electoral bloc, which proclaimed itself a movement of supporters of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and to the creation of a most favored nation regime for the governors for the bloc.
On October 18, 1999, he was included in the Commission under the President of the Russian Federation for the interaction of federal government bodies and government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in carrying out constitutional and legal reform in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
On the day of the early resignation of Russian President Boris Yeltsin on December 31, 1999, he was relieved of the post of Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation and on the same day he was reappointed to this position by decree of acting President V. Putin.
In December 1999, Alexander Abramov, who, like V. Surkov, was associated with Alfa Group, was appointed one of A. Voloshin’s deputies (for work with regions). In 2000, the community of “alfists” surrounded by A. Voloshin was replenished by Andrei Popov (head of the Main Directorate of Internal Policy, then head of the Main Territorial Directorate) and Vadim Boyko (assistant to the head of the administration - until the fall of 2000).

From March 1999 to October 2003, he headed the presidential administration. At various times he was chairman of the boards of directors of RAO UES of Russia, Norilsk Nickel, and Uralkali.

In 1999 he joined the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Resigned from the Council in 2004.

In 1999, he headed the board of directors of RAO UES of Russia. He held this position until 2008.

At the end of 2008, he headed the board of directors of JSC Norilsk Nickel.

Married for the second time, he has a son (from his first marriage) and a daughter.

In September 1999, when Prime Minister V.V. Putin

spoke in favor of carrying out a military ground operation in Chechnya, a number of Moscow

publications (Novaya Gazeta, Versiya, etc.) published sensational materials about

that A. S. Voloshin and B. A. Berezovsky came to Lazurny incognito

coast of France, and at the villa of the Arab billionaire Adian Kashoggi they met with Sh.

Basayev, who was brought in for secret negotiations by the Turkish secret services.

Plans for a “small victorious war” were discussed, as a result of which

V.V. Putin was supposed to come to Russia. The meetings allegedly resulted in attacks

detachments of Sh. Basaev and Khattab to Dagestan and explosions of residential buildings in Moscow. IN

Some media outlets said that secret meetings with Sh. Basayev took place in

Spain, and they were attended by... the then director of the FSB, V.V. Putin. Origin

This misinformation was revealed later - it was taken from the website

ideologist of the Chechen separatists Movladi Udugov. According to experts, A.S.

Voloshin, B.A. Berezovsky and others from Yeltsin’s entourage developed

strategy that allowed Putin's Unity to win the

parliamentary elections in December 1999. It was she who prompted B. N. Yeltsin

leave office six months before the expiration of the presidential term. By

according to B. N. Yeltsin, when on December 28, 1999 he invited A. to Gorki-9.

S. Voloshin and announced that he was resigning, he lost his composure. B.N.

Yeltsin turned to him: “Alexander Stalyevich, well, you have nerves... President

just announced to you that he is resigning, and you don’t even react. You me

Do you understand? A. S. Voloshin finally woke up: “Boris Nikolaevich, I’m all stormy.”

the reaction is always internal. I understand, of course. As head of the administration, I probably

I should dissuade you. But I won't do that. The decision is correct and very

strong” (Yeltsin B.N. Presidential Marathon. M., 2000. P. 12).

On July 7, 2010, by order of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, he was appointed head of the working group on the creation of an international financial center under the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the development of the financial market of the Russian Federation.

For several years after his resignation from the post of head of the presidential administration, Alexander Voloshin, who retained the position of chairman of the board of directors of RAO UES, did not appear in public with official statements. Only in May 2006 did he speak at the Russian-German Forum in Berlin. His speech aroused great interest among foreign partners, which, according to the Russian media, emphasized that A. Voloshin remains one of the authoritative and influential figures of the Russian political elite - that part of it that opposes President Putin’s security entourage.

In November 2006, Alexander Voloshin visited the USA. According to American experts, he met with senior White House and CIA officials to discuss with them the candidacy of a successor to the Russian president. Voloshin himself stated that his visit had nothing to do with the Kremlin. However, sources reported that Voloshin expressed the opinion that there was a possibility of Dmitry Medvedev or Sergei Ivanov being nominated as a successor, with the one who is not “appointed” as president becoming a candidate for the post of prime minister.

Problems of Russian-American relations were also discussed at the meeting with Alexander Voloshin. According to analysts, Voloshin’s visit to the United States was evidence that these relations are in a deep crisis, excluding working contacts and exchange of information at the level of employees of the presidential administrations of both countries. Voloshin, in the eyes of the Americans, remained a person close to the current Putin administration.

He is a partner and co-owner of 12% of the shares of the venture fund Genome Ventures, interested in projects in the field of medicine, e-commerce, financial technology, and social networks. The fund’s portfolio includes online clothing stores Aizel and Glamcom.ru, an online service for receiving medical consultations “Pediatrician 24/7”, an application for managing groups and communities on the Internet APIO, a microcredit service “Vkredit24.ru”, a veterinary service PetDoctor, professional navigation service "Profilum".

In April 2011, he briefly (until June 2011) returned to the position of chairman of the board of directors of Norilsk Nickel.

On July 8, 2011, President Medvedev approved the composition of the Working Group on the creation of the International Financial Center under the Presidential Council for the Development of the Financial Market of the Russian Federation, headed by A. Voloshin.

Vladimir Pribylovsky, Anvar Amirov, "Labyrinth" database of the "Panorama" Center

In 1986, Voloshin graduated from the All-Union Academy of Foreign Trade and came to work at the All-Russian Research Institute of Economic Markets of Russia, rising to the rank of deputy head of the department. According to some reports, during this period he began to provide information assistance to various organizations in the export of automotive products on a commercial basis. At the same time, he met entrepreneur Boris Berezovsky, who at that time held the post of head of the AVVA automobile alliance. Subsequently, Voloshin became his close business partner and acted as the entrepreneur’s personal stock agent.

In 1992-1993, Voloshin was vice-president of JSC "Analysis, Consulting and Marketing". In 1993, he headed four investment firms - subsidiaries of the Logovaz company, owned by Berezovsky. In 1995, he became the head of the company for managing the assets of pension funds "Finko-Investment" and founded the consulting firm "ASMK" CJSC. Also in 1993-1996, he served as president of the ESTA Corp company, which in 1994 acted as an intermediary in the sale of shares of Berezovsky's AVVA concern to the Chara bank and acquired domestic foreign currency government loan bonds from the Credit-Moscow joint-stock bank - transactions that in the press of that time they were called dubious.

In 1995, Voloshin was vice president, and in 1996-1997, president of the joint stock company Federal Stock Corporation (FFC), which acted as the general agent of the Russian Federal Property Fund (RFFI) for conducting specialized cash auctions. According to some reports, FFK lobbied for the interests of Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich during the privatization of the Sibneft oil company. CJSC United Stock Corporation Ltd. was mentioned in the media as “related to Voloshin.” (OFC), which was purchased by the AVVA concern in September 1997. Also in 1995-1997, Voloshin was also the president of the AK&M news agency.

In November 1997, Voloshin became an assistant to Valentin Yumashev, the head of the administration of Russian President Boris Yeltsin. During this period, Voloshin took part in writing the economic program of General Alexander Lebed, supported by Berezovsky, who was a candidate in the elections for governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and took this post in May 1998.

In September 1998, shortly after the August default and resignation of the government of Sergei Kiriyenko, Voloshin was appointed deputy head of the presidential administration for economic issues. In this position, Voloshin immediately entered into confrontation with the new Prime Minister of the Russian Government, Yevgeny Primakov - he regularly wrote memos to Yeltsin, in which he analyzed in detail the activities of the Cabinet of Ministers, assessing them mainly negatively (the position of Primakov, who headed the “coalition” government, which included representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, caused rejection by most of the presidential administration led by Yumashev). The confrontation between Voloshin and Primakov intensified in 1999 during the approval of the state budget and during the preparation of the economic part of the president’s message to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

In December 1998, Yeltsin removed Yumashev from the post of head of his administration (but kept him in the position of adviser), and in his place appointed former Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Bordyuzha. In just over three months of his work in his new position, contradictions between branches and individual authorities, as well as between key figures of the Russian establishment, escalated to the limit and resulted in an open war, in which Voloshin took a direct part. The conflict between Primakov and Voloshin’s patron Berezovsky centered on the figure of Prosecutor General Yuri Skuratov, who in early February 1999, after a conversation with Bordyuzha, had to resign. Yeltsin granted the Prosecutor General's request, but members of the Federation Council, who were supposed to approve this resignation, showed unexpected obstinacy and demanded a public explanation from Skuratov. Skuratov agreed to speak before senators in mid-March, and although the Kremlin considered the issue of his resignation resolved, rumors arose that the Federation Council might not approve it. On the eve of Skuratov’s speech to senators, the federal channel RTR showed a scandalous film in which “a man similar to the prosecutor general” was having fun in the company of women of easy virtue. Subsequently, it turned out that Bordyuzha ordered the broadcast of the recording - in this way he hoped to discredit Skuratov in the eyes of the Federation Council and the public. However, Skuratov nevertheless spoke before the senators and stated that he resigned under pressure from those who managed to “drive a wedge between the Prosecutor General and President Boris Yeltsin” (Berezovsky was named among them). Senators by a majority vote rejected the Prosecutor General's resignation, which observers regarded as a major defeat for Yeltsin in his confrontation with the left side of the government, the State Duma (where the issue of impeachment of the president was being decided at that time) and the Federation Council.

Immediately after this, on March 19, 1999, Yeltsin fired Bordyuzha from the post of head of his administration and appointed Voloshin in his place. Observers regarded this, on the one hand, as an open challenge from the president to Primakov (whom Yeltsin had previously carelessly named as his successor), and on the other, as evidence of a “personnel shortage” in the Kremlin, since at first the media called Voloshin the weakest figure of all those who occupied this post before it. Voloshin faced three main tasks at this stage: weakening Primakov’s position, opposing the plans of the communists in the Duma to impeach the president, and eliminating Skuratov, who, having secured the support of the Federation Council, openly blackmailed the Kremlin with the presence of materials compromising Yeltsin’s inner circle. Ultimately, all three tasks were completed, but not openly, but through behind-the-scenes politics. Voloshin’s very first public speech (in April 1999, when he, speaking on behalf of the president in the Federation Council, again tried to convince the senators to dismiss Skuratov) became his most notorious failure in his new position: the media openly called his answers to questions from the hall was “helpless,” and the senators once again challenged the president, leaving Skuratov in office. Observers expected Voloshin to resign immediately, but Yeltsin retained his position, and Voloshin subsequently proved that he knew how to achieve his goals. In April, Skuratov was removed from his duties in connection with a criminal case brought against him; in May, the government, along with Primakov, was dismissed, and in the same month, the issue of impeachment of Yeltsin, although put to a vote in the Duma, did not receive the required number votes. After this, Voloshin, who carried out the behind-the-scenes preparations for these events, was talked about as a strong figure who was close to the presidential “family” and enjoyed its trust.

In the summer of 1999, Voloshin became a participant in the intrigues that unfolded among officials and oligarchs close to Yeltsin, who had previously worked together to eliminate Primakov. In the dispute over who would take the post of Prime Minister, Voloshin supported the head of RAO UES of Russia Anatoly Chubais, who, contrary to the wishes of Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich, who promoted the former Minister of Railways Nikolai Aksenenko, insisted on the candidacy of Sergei Stepashin. Voloshin's personnel decisions also infringed on the interests of Vladimir Gusinsky, who in response, through his Media-Most holding, launched an information war against the Kremlin. After Stepashin’s unsuccessful attempt to reconcile Gusinsky and Voloshin (July 1999), the latter initiated tax audits of Media-Most and a criminal investigation against Gusinsky. A year later, in the summer of 2000, Gusinsky suffered a complete defeat in this confrontation and was forced to sell the holding to the state concern Gazprom at a loss and emigrate to Spain.

In the summer of 1999, the Kremlin’s new task, after the dismissal of Primakov and Skuratov, was to weaken the Fatherland - All Russia electoral bloc, headed by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and Primakov (the Fatherland movement was formed in the fall of 1998, and All Russia, or " bloc of governors" - at the height of the struggle between the Kremlin and the Federation Council over Skuratov). The OVR bloc claimed victory in the parliamentary elections in December 1999, and its leaders claimed the post of President of Russia (the next presidential elections were scheduled for March 2000). In this situation, the presidential administration and Yeltsin himself tried to prevent the unification of the two movements or at least introduce Stepashin into the OVR. In early August, after both failed, Yeltsin began looking for those responsible. The president wanted to dismiss Stepashin from the post of prime minister, but he blamed Voloshin for the failure as having started a war with Media-Most at the wrong time. As a result, the president had to choose between them, and he chose to leave Voloshin in office and dismiss Stepashin. In his place was appointed Director of the FSB and Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, whom Yeltsin, like Primakov and Stepashin, announced as his successor to the presidency (according to some reports, Voloshin tried to offer Yeltsin director Nikita Mikhalkov instead of Putin).

That same fall, Voloshin took part in the creation of the “Unity” gubernatorial bloc, capable of resisting the Primakov-Luzhkov OVR bloc. This attempt turned out to be successful: in the parliamentary elections held in December 1999, Unity managed to get ahead of the OVR: it took second place after the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. By the end of the year, the media, which in the spring had called Voloshin the weakest figure in the presidential administration, noted that in just six months he had achieved enormous influence in the Kremlin, becoming, together with Yumashev and Yeltsin’s daughter Tatyana Dyachenko, a member of a kind of power triumvirate. Stubborn, tough and efficient, Voloshin, according to analysts, played the role of a conductor of decisions in this “power triangle.”

On December 31, 1999, after Yeltsin’s voluntary resignation as head of state, Putin was appointed acting president, and Voloshin managed to retain his position as head of the presidential administration and acted as an adviser to Putin during his election campaign. After Putin became the new legally elected president, Voloshin also retained his post. Assessing the role of Voloshin and other members of the “Yeltsin team” who retained their posts in the Kremlin during that period, the media wrote that the new president could not refuse it because he simply did not have another, equally effective management. At the same time, Putin brought completely new people with him to the Kremlin. After Marshal Igor Sergeev was replaced as Minister of Defense in March 2001 by Sergei Ivanov, observers began talking about a conflict between representatives of Yeltsin’s former entourage, led by Voloshin, and people from St. Petersburg who came to power with Putin.

Despite the strength of the St. Petersburg people, Voloshin for a long time continued to be classified as one of the small group of officials who were especially close to the president and were not afraid to enter into an argument with him. Only the arrest of the head of the Yukos company, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, on October 25, 2003, led to a political crisis in the Kremlin, which ended with the resignation of Voloshin. On October 29, 2003, by decree of the Russian President, Voloshin was relieved of his post as head of the presidential administration, and Dmitry Medvedev was appointed in his place.

For several years after his resignation from the post of head of the presidential administration, Voloshin, who retained the position of chairman of the board of directors of RAO UES, did not appear in public with official statements. Only in May 2006 did he speak at the Russian-German Forum in Berlin. His speech aroused great interest among foreign partners, which, according to the Russian media, emphasized that Voloshin remains one of the authoritative and influential figures of the Russian political elite - that part of it that opposes President Putin’s security entourage.

In November 2006, Voloshin visited the United States. According to analysts, Voloshin’s visit, during which, according to some sources, the candidacy of the future president of Russia was discussed, clearly demonstrated that Voloshin, in the eyes of the Americans, remained a person close to the current Putin administration.

In August 2006, the management of RAO UES of Russia announced the imminent completion of the reorganization of RAO. As planned, on July 1, 2008, RAO UES of Russia ceased to exist as a legal entity. His successors remained in the industry, but assumptions that Voloshin, after the dissolution of RAO UES, would remain on the boards of directors of the successor companies were not confirmed. Thus, in the summer of 2008, Voloshin “completely parted with the energy sector.”

In November 2008, Interros nominated Voloshin to the new board of directors of MMC Norilsk Nickel as an independent director. In December of the same year, Voloshin was elected chairman of the board of directors of Norilsk Nickel, and in the summer of 2009 it became known that he combines leadership of the board of directors with work at the company Specialized Asset Management (SAM), which manages “funds that invest outside the energy sector.” In June 2010, he gave up his position as chairman of the board of directors of Norilsk Nickel to the first deputy chairman of the board of VTB, Vasily Titov.

In July 2010, President Medvedev signed a decree on the working group to create the International Financial Center (IFC) and appointed Voloshin as its leader. In August 2010, Voloshin became a member of the board of directors of Yandex, and in September of the same year he was elected chairman of the board of directors of OJSC Uralkali.

In April 2011, Voloshin again headed the board of directors of Norilsk Nickel, but in June of the same year he left this post, remaining an ordinary member of the board. In February 2011, he became chairman of the board of directors of OJSC First Freight Company.

Voloshin is an active state adviser of the Russian Federation, 1st class, and in 2000 was awarded a personalized weapon - a Taurus revolver.

Voloshin is married for the second time to Galina Teimurazova. In June 2005, their daughter was born. Voloshin’s first wife, Natalia Belyaeva, according to 1999 data, lived abroad. From this marriage, Voloshin has a son, Ilya, born in 1976. Ilya Voloshin was educated in London, in 1996 he worked as a securities trader at Eurotrust Bank, then at the AK&M news agency founded by his father. In 2005, the press wrote that Ilya Voloshin holds the post of vice president of Converse Bank.

I continue to highlight the life and work of ex-politicians in my column entitled “Where are they now?” This time, Alexander Stalyevich Voloshin, the hero of the Yeltsin era, the gray eminence of Putin’s Russia of the early 2000s, will get the full blow. Where is he today and what is he doing? And how strong is his figure in the current politics of the country?

Voloshin's career is a typical demonstration of the social elevator in action. A simple hard worker, a locomotive depot worker - at that time, who could have imagined that this man would decide the fate of his country - vast Russia? Who knew that he would work under the wing of the president (even two), that he would sit in the Administration of the Head of State for several years? But this is what happens most often.

The patron of Voloshin's career from the very beginning was none other than Mr. Boris Berezovsky. It was under him that Alexander Stalyevich began his active work: first heading the V Ser-Russian research institute of economic conditions of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations of Russia, Voloshin met Boris Abramovich - provided him with some information services on the export of cars (Berezovsky at that time was the head of the auto allianceAVVA). Then, after the consolidation of business relations, friendships began - Voloshin was entrusted with heading the subsidiaries of the future disgraced oligarch.

The curious start to his career continued at the highest political level. Due to the close connection between government agencies and business in the late nineties, Voloshin began to increasingly enter high offices. Here Valentin Yumashev helped him (we read Bori Berezovsky). Subsequently, the August default contributed to Voloshin’s promotion. After all sorts of intrigues, including with Mr. Gusinsky, Alexander Stalyevich supported the actual government. Yeltsin liked it. Yeltsin made him head of his own administration.

At the same time, Voloshin found himself in a high position at RAO UES of Russia (Chairman of the Board of Directors). After all sorts of complex vicissitudes in power, a radical event occurred - Yeltsin united the most serious and devoted comrades around himself, and Gusinsky and Berezovsky were given a turnaround. The formation of the new Unity bloc, in which Voloshin also participated, distributed forces in power in a new way. As a result, Yeltsin laid some foundation in 1999, chose Putin, and retired. Alexander Voloshin, the head of the Russian Presidential Administration, saw off Boris Nikolayevich to his retirement.

At first, Voloshin helped Putin get used to his new role. However, already in 2003, the new President of Russia felt like a strong politician; as a result of the Yukos scandal, Voloshin was fired. After this there is a lull. Voloshin appeared in public very rarely, doing his main job - RAO UES of Russia. But nevertheless, many opinions have been expressed that Voloshin has a significant influence on the development of certain aspects of Putin’s policies. One way or another, after the change in power between Putin and Medvedev, Voloshin changed several jobs, and he had to forget about energy activities altogether.

In 2010, Medvedev remembered what was once one of the key figures in Russian politics: Voloshin headed the International Financial Center. Despite the break with RAO UES of Russia, the former politician held prominent positions in both Norilsk Nickel and Uralkali. He currently holds the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of First Freight Company. That is, Alexander Stalyevich is guaranteed a stable pension and a decent rest of his life.

Here's how it happened: started under Berezovsky, continued under Yeltsin, completed under Putin. But he didn’t finish it like Berezovsky! On the contrary: he remained in key positions in energy and industrial companies. He also promoted his children - his son Ilya, for example, holds the post of vice president of Converse Bank. The monetary structure, I must say... Such is the political fate. Atypical, a little paradoxical, but completely Russian in its spontaneous character.