Yevgeny Primakov, who headed the Russian government after the default and devaluation, died on Friday. Colleagues remember him as an outstanding statesman who influenced Russia’s historical choice

Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov (Photo: REUTERS 2015)

Arabist and orientalist

Evgeny Primakov was born on October 29, 1929 in Kyiv. There is no official information about his father; it is only known that he was repressed. Soon after the birth, the mother, obstetrician-gynecologist Anna Kirshenblant, transported the child to Tbilisi, where he graduated from school.

Primakov entered the Arabic department of the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies with a degree in regional studies on Arab countries, and then postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University.

From 1956 to 1962, Primakov worked at the USSR State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, rising to the rank of editor-in-chief of broadcasting to Arab countries. He left of his own free will due to a conflict with curators from the department of propaganda and agitation of the CPSU Central Committee.

He worked as a staff correspondent for the Pravda newspaper in the Middle East and spent four years in Cairo. In 1969, during a trip to Baghdad, he met Saddam Hussein and the future Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, Tariq Aziz, and traveled to northern Iraq, where he communicated with the leader of the Kurds, Masoud Barzani. He established frank and trusting relationships with the presidents of Syria and Egypt - Hafiz Assad and Hosni Mubarak, and Palestinian leaders Yasser Arafat and Abu Ayyad.

On the eve of the start of Operation Desert Storm in late 1990 and early 1991, Primakov visited Iraq several times on secret missions, trying to convince Saddam Hussein to withdraw troops from Kuwait. A forceful operation could not be avoided, and Primakov’s public friendly embrace with the Iraqi dictator contributed to the deterioration of the USSR’s image in the world.

The death of a diplomat: what is Yevgeny Primakov remembered for ? Photo gallery

“When I came to study in Moscow, for a long time I felt as if I was on a business trip. I called home almost every day. Then it took four days to get to Tbilisi by train. If I suddenly had ten days free, I would definitely go to Tbilisi. Four days one way, four the other, but two days in Tbilisi.”

— 2009, in an interview with the authors of the book “I’ve ridden a lot, but I’m not saddled.” Thirty hours with Yevgeny Primakov" about his life in Tbilisi

RBC Pro development program Leadership: the first skill New leadership: how to manage a business in conditions of uncertainty The power of the environment: how a leader can grow together with the team Dictator's dictionary: what 6 phrases will betray an authoritarian manager Psychology in business: 6 types of destructive leadership A leader from whom people will not leave: how to earn the loyalty of subordinates Growing the pie. How great companies achieve their goals and make profits

On Gorbachev's team

In February 1988, Primakov was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and then chairman of the Union Council of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and a member of the Security Council of the USSR. Primakov joined the inner circle of USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev.

In 1991, Primakov became a “sherpa” - an assistant to the head of state in relations with the G7.

During the August 1991 putsch, he flew to Gorbachev in Foros, refusing to join the Emergency Committee and supporting Gorbachev.

Immediately after the suppression of the putsch, Primakov became the head of foreign intelligence - first of the Soviet Union, and after the collapse of the USSR - of Russia. “The offer to head intelligence was so unexpectedly stunning that, I confess, I did not take it seriously at first,” Primakov will write.

In his new post, he achieved the adoption of the law “On Foreign Intelligence of the Russian Federation.”

Diplomatic work

In January 1996, when Primakov replaced Andrei Kozyrev as head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the newspaper Die Zeit quoted former US Secretary of State James Baker: “Primakov is known as a personal friend and apologist of the dictator Saddam Hussein.”

And yet, Die Zeit asked, is Primakov an enemy of the West if Washington does not see him as an acceptable partner? According to the publication, Primakov is “neither a friend nor an enemy of the West; more of a pragmatist than an ideologist; more of a faceless official than a careerist; under Brezhnev he was not a “hawk”; under Gorbachev he did not become the standard-bearer of liberalism; Now he is a supporter of a great power, but without any chauvinism.” Die Zeit titled the article about Primakov as “The Messenger of New Greatness.”

“I was, as they said in Soviet times, “nominated.” I can't say that I resisted. But now I feel like someone was leading me by the hand."

— August 8, 2001, in an interview with the newspaper “Arguments and Facts” about how he came to power

In general, Western politicians and the media viewed Primakov as a centrist and pragmatist, ready to compromise, but also confident that his country was right.

As a professional diplomat, Primakov knew how to establish trusting relationships with his colleagues. His main foreign partner during the years of leading the Foreign Ministry and then the Russian government was US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. In April 2015, while giving a lecture at Harvard, she recalled an incident at the closing ceremony of the ASEAN Forum in July 1998, when she and Primakov duet sang an excerpt from “West Side Story.” Establishing relationships at this level requires serious mutual work, Albright noted. “Although, unfortunately, many men, like Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, thought that the only way to reach this level was through charm,” she added.

“Primakov will save us”

Primakov served as prime minister for exactly nine months - from September 11, 1998 to May 12, 1999. In September 1998, immediately after the default and devaluation of the ruble, Yeltsin twice unsuccessfully introduced the candidacy of former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin to the State Duma, after which Primakov turned out to be a compromise figure - 315 deputies out of 450 voted for him, including the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

Boris Yeltsin is seriously ill, and officials of his administration are busy with a war of all against all, Kommersant wrote in September 1998 in the article “Primakov will save us.” The head of the then administration, Valentin Yumashev, outlined a plan: to hold out until 2000 so that the next elections would be held on time and thereby ensure the continuity of power.

It was possible to extend this only by shifting some of the presidential responsibilities to the prime minister. It is believed that Primakov was not eager to take the post of prime minister - he was persuaded, since he did not want to take over the country in such a situation. Yumashev said in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets: “I had a mandate from Yeltsin to negotiate with Primakov, when I persuaded Yevgeny Maksimovich to head the government. And the agreement was this: they, together with Yeltsin, work until the end of his presidential term and together look for the next president - naturally, Boris Nikolayevich had the last word.” Boris Berezovsky, in an interview with Masha Gessen on Slon.ru, recalled that he took part in the persuasion.

Consent was obtained on Primakov’s condition that the presidential administration would not interfere in his work. He became prime minister and at the same time a presidential candidate. The functions of operational management of the country were transferred to the head of government, Yeltsin was also forced to abandon most foreign trips. Primakov was supposed to replace him on all visits, except for the G8 meetings.

In the fall of 1998, Primakov made the main decision that saved the country, says the head of the Russian government in 2000–2004, Mikhail Kasyanov. “He took responsibility for the most difficult situation - default, devaluation. At that time I worked as the minister [of finance] and met with him a lot. It was only thanks to him and his decisions that the situation was stabilized,” Kasyanov told RBC.

But Yeltsin, his administration and Kasyanov himself believed that the next president should be someone who could carry out the overdue reforms. “When the time came to think about a new presidential term, we considered that the country needed a young and energetic politician who would ensure sustainable development, that’s what Vladimir Putin seemed like,” says Kasyanov.

“This was the first time that the government was headed by a person who was not part of the radical democratic group that worked in Chernomyrdin’s government. Everyone knew that Primakov held different views; he formed a government that relied heavily on the Communist Party. Radical liberals discussed with great anxiety whether Primakov could and would engage in reforms or at least do something reasonable with the economy - which was difficult to expect from him,” recalls Evgeniy, scientific director of the Higher School of Economics and former Russian Minister of Economics Yasin.

According to him, Primakov did not engage in any communist projects, or at least illiberal ones. “The most striking thing about this was that inflation for 1998 was only 84%. Then, after the 1990s, these were moderate indicators - and the radicals died down. Moreover, the economy began to recover, and business began to work seriously to increase production,” says Yasin. In addition, it became profitable to produce goods in Russia due to the sharp devaluation of the ruble: the depreciation was large, this made Russian raw materials and goods more profitable, and recovery growth began, he recalled.

Turn over the Atlantic

On March 24, 1999, the prime minister was flying on a visit to the United States and, having learned of NATO’s intention to bomb Yugoslavia, turned around his plane, which was already flying over the Atlantic Ocean. Current politicians often talk about this historical episode as the beginning of the revival of Russian statehood and the first demonstration to the world that one cannot talk to Russia from a position of strength.

Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov (left) shows documents to the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic (Photo: AP)

“His face was reminiscent of Brezhnev in his best years. The politician spoke slowly and monotonously, but the ex-prime minister’s words were harsh,” this is how the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel described Primakov during the Russian politician’s trip to Berlin in October 1999.

In this speech, which he made after negotiations with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, he condemned Chechen terrorists and justified the actions of federal forces.

“You sat down wrong - change seats”

The Cabinet of Ministers headed by Primakov contrasted sharply with the democratic youth from the previous government: it included Communist Party-oriented politicians with Soviet experience in leadership positions: Yuri Maslyukov, Vadim Gustov, Gennady Kulik. It was in this government that Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matvienko, head of the tax service Georgy Boos, and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov made their debut.

As the economic situation stabilized, the Kremlin's support for the government decreased. Primakov began to look for allies among the left. This only exacerbated the conflict with the presidential administration and Yeltsin’s entourage.

Berezovsky in the same interview with Gessen did not hide the conflict with Primakov; he said that the prime minister had declared a crusade for democratic reforms in Russia. It was then, according to Berezovsky, that Primakov began to “fight” against Putin, the head of the FSB.

Primakov lasted nine months as prime minister because he decided that he could run for president, Yumashev said in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets. “Boris Nikolayevich believed that Primakov could not be president and dismissed him,” Yumashev recalled in 2011.

Dissolving the Primakov government, Yeltsin explained his decision by the need for an economic miracle, which Primakov, with his diplomatic experience and presidential ambitions, was not capable of. “There are no grounds for serious and stable economic growth. The Prime Minister's caution and readiness to take only those measures that receive maximum approval and support now are beginning to work to their detriment. After all, on the eve of the elections there are no people willing to support unpopular decisions.”

Yeltsin first considered Sergei Stepashin as a person capable of unpopular measures, who was replaced by Putin in August of the same year. Preparations for dismissal were accompanied by Yeltsin’s famous phrase: “If you sit down wrong, change your seat.”

“With the death of Yevgeny Maksimovich, the era of conscience, statehood, and honesty of both the new Russia and the former USSR has passed,” Stepashin told the Interfax agency on Friday. He also said that Primakov knew how to “make friends and not betray”; he took responsibility without shifting it to other people.

“The attack on me really began and my fate as prime minister was predetermined when it became clear about my serious intention to fight economic crimes and corruption,” Primakov later recalled.

“For example, when I was chairman of the government, I was unable (or rather, simply did not have time) to reduce a significant part of the 320 thousand federal officials (law enforcement agencies do not count) who were stationed in the regions. At first, I called on ministers to tighten up their staffs. They pulled. Then he said that I would do it myself. And I would have done it. Resignation got in the way"

- April 28, 2009, in an interview with Izvestia about how the state should deal with the economic crisis

"Fatherland - All Russia"

After resigning, Primakov entered into an alliance with Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. They were joined by the governors of the largest regions Mintimer Shaimiev, Murtaza Rakhimov, Ruslan Aushev, Vladimir Yakovlev. It was assumed that after the presidential elections, Primakov and Luzhkov would share the post of president and prime minister.

In August 1999, Primakov became chairman of the Fatherland - All Russia (OVR) bloc, formed by merging Yuri Luzhkov's Fatherland and the governor's All Russia movement. In the parliamentary elections in 1999, the bloc took third place, losing to the pro-presidential Unity and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

The new Duma began to work almost simultaneously with Yeltsin’s resignation; on December 31, 1999, Putin became acting president. This appointment was the beginning of the end of “Fatherland”. Already at the first meeting of the deputies elected from the bloc, it became clear that some of its members were ready to reorient themselves towards Putin and support his candidacy in the upcoming presidential elections in March 2000. These deputies did not join the faction and registered the deputy group “Regions of Russia,” which included almost half of those elected from the OVR. There are 49 people left in Fatherland.

“I decided not to participate in the elections. After much thought. This decision was not easy. However, during the elections and at the beginning of my work in the State Duma, I felt how far our society is from civil image, from true democracy. I don’t think the situation can change radically in a few months.”

— February 5, 2000, announcing his decision not to participate in the Russian presidential elections

Primakov created one of the most friendly factions, recalls United Russia deputy Nikolai Kovalev (part of the OVR). He was a surprisingly consistent speaker, relied on analytics, his designs were clear, the deputy notes. “Evgeniy Maksimovich left his deputies everywhere, promoting them to leadership positions. So, he left behind Vyacheslav Volodin, who continued his work. This speaks to his political sense; he objectively assessed the role of everyone in the work,” Kovalev told RBC.

“Evgeny Primakov connected two eras - he was a successful politician in Soviet times and managed to rebuild and ensure adaptation to a market economy,” recalls State Duma Deputy Speaker Andrei Isaev, who was a member of the leadership of OVR, and then United Russia, formed by merging OVR and "Unity".

Heading the OVR faction in the Duma of the third convocation, he knew how to build relationships with other factions, the administration, the government, paid attention to each member of the faction, listened to their problems and always looked for a solution, notes Isaev. The deputy believes that Primakov anticipated the policy that Putin implemented (meaning, in particular, the turn over the Atlantic).

“He knew the answers to many problems in advance. We learned from him as students, and everyone felt their need,” United Russia deputy Nikolai Bulaev (also a member of the OVR faction) told RBC. In his opinion, he left the Duma for the House because he perhaps thought that he could get more satisfaction from his work there. “Maybe he wanted to give those who were close to him in the faction the opportunity for additional growth. But this is definitely not some kind of insult. He wanted to be as useful as possible,” says the deputy.

Putin is an advisor, not a rival

After Boris Yeltsin left, political scientists and experts saw Primakov as his possible successor and opponent of Putin, who was appointed interim president.

But Primakov almost immediately announced that he would not run for president. Instead, he nominated himself for the post of chairman of the State Duma of the third convocation, to which elections were held the day before. But then the chairman’s chair went to the communist Gennady Seleznev.

Head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Evgeny Primakov and Russian President Vladimir Putin (from left to right) in the presidium of the XIV Congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on November 16, 2004 (Photo: TASS)

“When Primakov led the faction in the State Duma, his position was always reasonable, principled and met not only the current, but also the long-term goals of building a new Russia,” recalls Luzhkov.

“The personal, human relations between Primakov and Putin have always remained good, even when there was a confrontation for power between them,” notes Deputy Director of the Center for Political Technologies Alexei Makarkin. After all, Putin comes from intelligence, where Primakov was a very respected figure, he notes.

“The presidential position was not a major task for Primakov, and when it became clear that he was losing, Primakov did not turn the situation around. He found his place as an adviser and sage who was respected,” says Makarkin. According to Makarkin, even Primakov’s position regarding the status of Donbass, which, according to the academician, should not secede from Ukraine, influenced the Minsk agreements. They started talking to Ukraine, the political scientist notes.

“The instructions of the President [Vladimir Putin] get bogged down, including in his own apparatus”

— August 8, 2001, in an interview with the newspaper “Arguments and Facts” in response to the question whether Vladimir Putin will be able to defeat corruption

In 2004 and 2009, Primakov was twice awarded the Order of Honor for his contribution to the socio-economic development of the country and services to the Fatherland. He received his last, highest state award, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, in 2014.

Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that a month ago the president visited Primakov.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry

In 2001, Primakov left parliament to take the post of president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Instead, Vyacheslav Volodin, a native of the Saratov political elite, now the first deputy head of the presidential administration and curator of domestic policy, became the leader of the Fatherland faction.

“When Primakov came and headed the Chamber of Commerce and Industry - at the request of the chamber’s activists - his first steps were very large,” recalls Alexander Rybakov, vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. Then, at the beginning of 2002, the concept of a national industrial policy was formed. “At that time, the very concept of national industrial policy was categorically rejected by liberals - and was not welcomed in the government apparatus. But the concept was prepared - with a large number of participants from among business executives and scientists. The law on industrial policy in Russia was adopted on December 31 last year. It took so many years to implement. And this is a very big step,” says Rybakov.

Another large-scale project is the preparation of a concept for joining the WTO, on which the Chamber of Commerce and Industry worked together with the Ministry of Economic Development and the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. There were also projects that were not entirely successful: for example, on television, on Channel Six, recalls the vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In February 2011, Primakov announced his resignation from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Recalling that he has already held the position of head of the chamber for two terms, he said: “This is quite enough, at this congress I will not be re-elected.”

A year later, 83-year-old Primakov took on a new job - in November 2012, he was elected chairman of the board of directors of OJSC RTI (solutions in the field of integrated communication and security systems).

Last spread

Last September, Primakov published an article in Rossiyskaya Gazeta in which he spoke about the events in Ukraine - Maidan, the annexation of Crimea to Russia and the battles in Donbass - where he supported Russia’s policies and Putin’s positions.

“Russia has shown itself to be a country that defends national interests in a multipolar world. The United States and its European allies do not like this, but this is the objective course of history.”

— October 29, 2014, in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta about the worsening relations between Russia and the West

However, in January of this year - in one of Primakov’s last public appearances - he said that Russia should recognize the southeast of Ukraine as part of it and negotiate with the United States and Europe from this position. There is no threat of “color revolutions”, and, despite the sanctions, there should be no talk of any isolation of Russia.

According to Primakov, “the economy needs decentralization,” so the government needs to return to the provisions of the 1998 Budget Code, when the federal center and regions divided all tax revenues in a 50-50 ratio.

Primakov stated that Russia had lost “too much time—a quarter of a century—to carry out real diversification of the economy.”

“Connecting two eras”: what mark did Primakov leave in the history of the country?