Виктор Степанович Черномырдин (Viktor Stepanovič Černomyrdin)

Born on a Cossack farm; while working for an oil processing plant in Orsk joined (1961) the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU); received a degree after completing the course of distant learning at the Kuibyshev Industrial Institute (1966); switched to party work in 1967; worked on the Orsk City CPSU Committee (1967-1973); returned to industry as director of the Orenburg gas processing plant (1973-1978); transferred to the CPSU Central Committee apparatus (1978); instructor, heavy industry department, CPSU Central Committee (1978-1982); deputy minister of the oil and gas industry of the USSR (1982-1985); elected to the USSR Supreme Soviet (1984-1989) and to the Russian SFSR Supreme Soviet (1985-1990); minister of the gas industry of the USSR (12 Feb 1985 - 27 Jun 1989) in the cabinets of Nikolaj Tihonov and Nikolaj Ryžkov; elected a full member of the CPSU Central Committee (1986-1990); chairman of the Board of the Gazprom state concern (1989-1992); on 30 May 1992 was appointed deputy chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, fuel and energy; endorsed (14 Dec 1992) as a candidate to the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers - Government of the Russian Federation by the Seventh Congress of People's Deputies; appointed to the post by President Boris El'cin on 14 Dec 1992; supported El'cin's decision to dissolve the parliament in September 1993; briefly shared the power with Egor Gajdar, who returned to the government as deputy chairman (18 Sep 1993 - 20 Jan 1994); strengthened position after the defeat of the pro-reform parties in the Duma elections; elected chairman of the "Nash dom - Rossiya" ("Our Home is Russia", NDR) political movement (May 1995); resigned the office of Chairman of the Government following the second inauguration of El'cin as president (9 Aug 1996); endorsed again by the State Duma (10 Aug 1996) and appointed Chairman of the Government (10 Aug 1996); according to a presidential decree temporarily served as Acting President of the Russian Federation from 07.00 5 Nov 1996 to 06.00 6 Nov 1996, when President El'cin underwent a heart surgery; government was reorganized by El'cin in March 1997, when a team of "young reformers" including Anatolij Čubajs and Boris Nemcov assumed the key offices; was considered a candidate the next presidential elections scheduled for the year 2000; a presidential decree of 23 Mar 1998 announced resignation of the Government; following the fall of cabinet of Sergej Kirienko during the 1998 financial crisis was appointed Acting Chairman of the Government (23 Aug 1998); twice rejected as a candidate to the office of Chairman by the State Duma (31 Aug 1998, 7 Sep 1998); served as Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Ukraine (2001-2009). Biography source: [7]