Ministry or department: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
Job title: General manager Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Age: 63
Place of birth: Komi Republic
Income for 2018: RUB 22,213,688.
Biography
Born on June 4, 1956 in the city of Verkhnyaya Inta (Komi). Graduated from the Leningrad Civil Engineering Institute (1978), Leningrad Financial and Economic Institute (1986).
In 1980 he started labor activity from the position of senior engineer of the operation department of the Road and Bridge Department of the Leningrad City Executive Committee. From 1989 to 2002 he worked in senior positions in government and commercial structures: Head of the Kuibyshevsky district, in the Committee of Economics and Finance of St. Petersburg, JSC Lenenergo and Gosznak. In 2002-2004 - First Deputy Minister of Finance. In 2004-2005 - Deputy Presidential Envoy in the Southern Federal District. In 2005-2011 - Deputy Head of the Presidential Directorate for foreign policy. In 2011-2014 - Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg. Since August 2015 - Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree, Honor and Friendship. Has the class rank of Active State Councilor Russian Federation 1st class (2005). Supervises issues of financial and economic activities, capital construction, management of diplomatic property abroad, placement and servicing of diplomatic missions of foreign states accredited in the Russian Federation.
Former Vice-Governor Appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Northern capital Sergey Vyazalov. In St. Petersburg he is known as one of the associates of Alexei Kudrin, a major specialist in finance and simply a “decent person.” But despite the fact that almost all interlocutors (and the author of these lines himself) remember him as an intelligent person, his appointment is unlikely to force Sergei Lavrov to bring the language of the Foreign Ministry even one iota closer to diplomatic norms, experts are convinced.
Former vice-governor of the Northern capital Sergei Vyazalov was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. In St. Petersburg he is known as one of the associates of Alexei Kudrin, a major specialist in finance and simply a “decent person.” But despite the fact that almost all interlocutors (and the author of these lines himself) remember him as an intelligent person, his appointment is unlikely to force Sergei Lavrov to bring the language of the Foreign Ministry even one iota closer to diplomatic norms, experts are convinced. Details are in the FederalPress article.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed Sergei Vyazalov as the new director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to the official legal information portal. The same document released Sergei Mareev from this position. In essence, Vyazalov will become Sergei Lavrov’s deputy, who oversees financial and economic activities and servicing diplomatic missions of foreign states accredited in Russia. That is, an official directly responsible for the well-being of foreign embassies.
From 2011 to 2014, Sergei Vyazalov was the vice-governor of St. Petersburg for financial activities. At that time, he was one of the few who did not belong to the “Athos Society,” an Orthodox association that included Governor Georgy Poltavchenko himself and his closest associates - at that time first deputy Igor Divinsky and vice-governor Vasily Kichedzhi. We noticed Athonite rosary on the hands of the head of the Nevsky district Konstantin Serov, vice-governor Marat Oganesyan (now retired), vice-governor for housing and communal services Vladimir Lavlentsev (also retired) and others.
Therefore, it is generally accepted that Sergei Vyazalov initially came to Smolny at the behest of Moscow and only for a while. A close associate of Alexei Kudrin, who worked with him both at the St. Petersburg mayor's office and at the Ministry of Finance, he was supposed to deal with the legacy of Valentina Matvienko and help Georgy Poltavchenko in economic matters. And Vyazalov, appointed to the post of vice-governor in September 2011, set to work very harshly: he sequestered the budget, getting rid of such expensive projects as the Orlovsky Tunnel, the Palace of Arts on Vasilievsky Island, the light rail tram line to Pulkovo and the Novo-Admiralteysky Bridge .
It is clear that his activities caused a lot of discontent. Right up to an open confrontation, when Valentina Matvienko, the Speaker of the Federation Council, who arrived on a visit to St. Petersburg, threw in front of journalists what has become a classic hairpin: “In my time, 25% of the budget was spent on the development of the city, and not on food.” “These are emotions,” Vyazalov conveyed his position through journalists. And he suggested comparing how much money was spent on the Targeted Investment Program in the budgets of the last five years. According to him, in all cases, about 80 billion rubles were spent on it - slightly less than under him.
An interesting touch to the portrait - Vyazalov was one of the few vice-governors against whom the deputies had practically no complaints. According to the legislative deputy, member of the budget and financial committee Irina Ivanova, Vyazalov is, first of all, a good manager for difficult times. It’s no secret that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs currently has the worst better relationship with colleagues from different countries. “I got the impression of him as a good specialist, who, firstly, is always in place, and secondly, knows the financial and economic bloc well. And he doesn’t just know. He worked a lot in different positions and went through several crises, establishing himself as a good crisis manager.”
Some experts believe that Vyazalov’s appointment is an attempt to somewhat soften the rhetoric of the current Foreign Ministry and make it more diplomatic. Moreover, he was not only always a supporter of Kudrin, and therefore a supporter of the liberal course, but also simply an intelligent person. “I have known Sergei Vyazalov very well for 20 years and personally rate him very highly. I observed him in various positions, he is a smart, literate, well-mannered, intelligent person,” says the deputy of the legislative assembly Boris Vishnevsky. However, according to Vishnevsky, the “decent man Vyazalov” can do little, since he is not the one who determines the policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The political scientist holds a similar opinion Alexander Confisakhor, who, although he notes that a position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is always a promotion, emphasizes that a deputy minister is still a “functional person.” “People in such positions are not responsible for politics, they are rather executors. Therefore, I don’t think that his views, whether he was a communist, a liberal or a socialist, had any influence on his politics.”
Sergey Yurievich, are there any specific goals and objectives that have been set for you in a new position?
Not yet. I haven't started yet to responsibilities. I already imagine what it will be approximately, but I can’t talk about specifics yet, because I don’t know the details of the issues that are urgently facing the ministry. But in any case, this is economics, finance, property management, including foreign property. But, honestly, I can’t say anything concrete yet. We talked a little with the minister, but we discussed it for a long time, without specifics.
After leaving the post of vice-governor of St. Petersburg, you were engaged in private projects. Tell us in a few words about them?
Why? Main, they were successful.
Were these projects in Russia or abroad?
Probably half and half. Now all the deals have been completed, these deals are followed by good things that are useful for the country. I am simply bound by certain ties of project confidentiality...
I understand, but in broad strokes - in what areas were these projects?
In different. These are projects in industry. There were projects in Germany, and in Switzerland, and in St. Petersburg, and in Moscow. The range of questions is very large. There are some projects that I managed: I just took them and implemented them before specific situation- money came in, production began to develop. A concrete plant is being built - and thank God. There are things where I helped raise money, there are things where I helped restructure capital for our companies. Helped them borrow money. There were actually many such projects. I have not yet acted as a private owner.
Can you name a specific company?
I'm uncomfortable with these things discuss. When the plant is built, then it will be possible to discuss. All the same, not many objects are being introduced in St. Petersburg, and I will definitely come to see my creations.
Why did you make the decision? return to civil service now?
It's hard to say. Everything suited me. My colleagues simply asked me to help resolve some issues that need to be resolved at the state level. This proposal actually (Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs - Ed.) made me a very long time ago, seven or eight years ago. He already asked me once, but I refused then, thinking that I had other, more interesting things to do.
But now... I seem to have money earned in my life, enough for me, I can go back to public service. Life in the country is not so good now that it cannot be helped. Not everyone in the city needed this, but the country, God willing, will benefit more. The ministry is interesting, the benefits from it are felt. And the shortcomings are also felt. So, I think at this level we will try to help the country and our citizens.
What are the perceived disadvantages?
Everyone feels this: when they come to us they don’t treat you very well - it’s unhealthy. Moreover, taking into account the migration flows that go to Europe, because they are trying to revise the Schengen agreement. And we are not members of this yet... And now we have problems with property, problems with the courts, and something else.
Configuration is very important. In many countries around the world, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is assigned the topic of business promotion. In our country, in this literal sense, the Ministry of Economic Development is more involved in this issue, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is mainly concerned with foreign policy issues and, to a lesser extent, with the economy. Although on some issues the opinion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also matters, but not as widely as in some countries of the world.
Do you think this needs to change here?
It's not that I think it's necessary change, but I believe that these processes can occur. After all, at one time, when (Gref - head since 2007 - Ed.) was a minister economic development, he is a trade mission ( trade missions Russian Federation in foreign countries. - Ed.) was confiscated from the Foreign Ministry, and the situation changed. But this did not improve the progress of the Russian economy. So that reform did not lead to results.
This is a little more of a question than ministries, it is probably a question for the government of the Russian Federation how to approach this. And in conditions where there are sanctions, this is also probably not very timely. That is, we need to prepare such things.
And will you also be doing this?
I don't know yet. For now, the most important thing is finances, the budget of the ministry, the economy, the management of its state unitary enterprises, including. There are quite a lot of such large federal state unitary enterprises.
You also mentioned courts and property.
So far, I don’t have much knowledge about the courts. Whether they exist or not, it’s hard for me to say, but when I worked in the foreign policy department (in 2005-2011 I served as deputy head of the presidential department for foreign policy - Ed.), I had to deal with a number of such issues.
Under the conditions of sanctions, the courts in part confiscated state property probably exists. This has always been a problem. Even here in St. Petersburg, there were some investments that were made in the early 90s, and subsequently investors, winning international arbitrations, tried through arbitration courts to sue state property in the form of exhibitions abroad, etc. Now the situation is even more complicated, under sanctions, when there are some unresolved issues between private business and the state. There are always people who want to bite off a piece of the country’s property.
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