Gref spent four years pushing for the creation of the SEZ. Having achieved this, he appointed Zhdanov, who had been his deputy at the ministry before the administrative reform, to head the agency. According to one of the officials at the Ministry of Economic Development, Gref brought Zhdanov back into government service, knowing his ability to raise new business and “his ability to prevent the budget from being stolen.” Zhdanov began his career as a policeman and became the youngest police general in Russia. By the time he moved to RusSEZ, he headed the board of directors of the largest group of construction companies, SU-155. “I gave up a huge salary and great prospects for bringing the company to the construction markets of dozens of countries,” he said in an interview with Vedomosti. He called his work at the agency “the biggest project in my life.”

But the project was interrupted after just a year: on September 11, Fradkov dismissed Zhdanov from his post due to his transfer to another job. Gref conveyed through his press secretary Alla Borisenkova that the Ministry of Economic Development was satisfied with Zhdanov's work and that his departure was not related to his professional activities. "Everything he could do here, he did," said Irina Volina, press secretary of RosOEZ.

Last year, a competition was held to select six industrial and technology implementation zones in Tomsk, Yelabuga, Zelenograd, and Lipetsk. In a few years, they will help accelerate economic growth, Zhdanov is confident. On his initiative, legislation has allowed the creation of tourist SEZs, and port zones are expected to appear. The 2007 budget has set aside 11.1 billion rubles for the construction of infrastructure in these zones. The agency began to supervise the development of technology parks. In March of this year, RosOEZ received an investment fund to manage, which accumulates about 130 billion rubles. The fund will finance the construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg road, the Western High-Speed Diameter and the Orlovsky Tunnel in St. Petersburg, the development of Nizhnee Priangarye, and the petrochemical complex in Tatarstan.

“The agency had outgrown its intended scope, and Zhdanov had control over large financial flows and major infrastructure projects,” says a government official. According to a former White House official, FSB representatives associated with presidential aide Viktor Ivanov insisted on Zhdanov’s dismissal. “They demanded important positions in RosOEZ, and Zhdanov did not want to turn the agency into a feeding trough,” he says. Then the security forces began to pressure Gref, demanding that Zhdanov be fired, the source continues. “The minister was reminded that he had already asked the president for his resignation, and this desire could be given effect,” says the former official. The White House official said that Fradkov was convinced that Zhdanov’s main advantage – the ability to launch a project – had been fully realized: “By leaving RosOEZ in the hands of [Zhdanov’s former deputy Olga] Markova, Gref essentially loses influence over the agency. It will not be difficult for the security forces to find a common language with her.” Over the past year, Rosstat and the Federal Customs Service (in the spring of 2006, Andrei Belyaninov became its head) were removed from the Ministry of Economic Development and placed under Fradkov's control. And recently, Fradkov mentioned the possibility of separating the block related to foreign economic activity from the Ministry of Economic Development.

Markova could not be reached yesterday. Ivanov's reception said he was at a meeting and advised him to contact his chief of staff, Sergei Vorobyov, but he was not there. Zhdanov told Vedomosti that his superiors had asked him to refrain from commenting and that he would announce his future job next week.

Zhdanov promptly launched the SEZ mechanism – this is the main thing, says Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee Yuri Barzykin. According to him, thanks to Zhdanov’s assertiveness, the development of the SEZ has already begun. Deputy Director of the Center for Political Technologies Alexey Makarkin believes that many officials would like to use the money collected under the management of RosSEZ, because the risks of the first stage of the project are already behind us.

Dismissed without complaint