Guardsman No. 1

The director of the Federal Troops of the National Guard of the Russian Federation, appointed on April 5, is today equated in the tables of ranks with the federal minister, and in terms of the degree of influence on the first person, it may be the most significant figure among his colleagues in the power block. Who is this 62-year-old general and what he deserved such a high trust-the New Times sorted out

Victor Zolotov - from the presidential guard to the commander of the National Guard, Balashikha, Moscow Region, October 23, 2014

Viktor Vasilievich Zolotov was born on January 27, 1954 in the town of Sasovo Ryazan Region in a simple working family. In his youth he worked as a locksmith at the automobile plant. Urgent military service was held in the border troops. He graduated from the Law Institute and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Personnel guard

In the early 1970s, he entered the service in the 9th Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, which was responsible for the protection of the first persons of the state and their families.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Zolotov from the "nine" went to work in the FSO at the beginning of Alexander Korzhakov, personal guard Boris Yeltsin. Together with Korzhakov, Zolotov even guarded the first Russian president during his famous performance from the tank at the White House on August 19, 1991.

In 1991, he was sent from Moscow to St. Petersburg to protect the mayor Anatoly Sobchak. The family of the mayor, the wife of Lyudmila Narusova and the 10-year-old daughter Ksenia Sobchak, also needed protection, but they were not supposed to be state protection, so Zolotov turned to the services of the Baltic-Escort, which was created in 1992. Nominally, the organization was led by Roman Tsepov, who was considered criminal authority, but Viktor Zolotov was called the co -owner of the company.

The beginning of great friendship

In 1994, the St. Petersburg City Hall concluded a contract with the chain to “Protection of public order in the places of Putin V.V.”, at that time Vice-mayor of St. Petersburg. It was then that Zolotov began to communicate closely with the future president of Russia, becoming his sparring partner in judo.

Even during a conversation with the Patriarch, Zolotov guards the president, Moscow, May 7, 2004

Lyudmila Narisova had the most positive memories of that time: “Victor was pleasant in communication, we sometimes spent time together, including on vacation. He has a beautiful wife Valentine, his son Roma was friends with Ksyusha, they were about the same age. " According to Narosova, Zolotov’s wife “was the wife of his husband,” and his son is engaged in business today. In 2010, Roman Viktorovich Zolotov was listed as the head of one of the departments of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Security” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Lyudmila Narusova remembers that Viktor Zolotov was infinitely devoted to his boss. According to one of the NT sources, Zolotov was originally sent to St. Petersburg not so much to guard Sobchak as to look after him. But Zolotov was “turned over” - he was absolutely loyal to both Sobchak and his closest environment, which Putin could not but appreciate.

Alexander Korzhakov refused to discuss his former subordinate with NT: “I will not talk about villains,” he snapped. And he added: “He is very vengeful, as well as our first person with whom he is close. And I'm an old pensioner, I have children, why do I need these problems? "

In 1996, after Sobchak lost elections for the post of mayor of St. Petersburg, Zolotov was dismissed from the FSO and found a job in the Baltic-Escort, which belonged to the Tsepa. The head of Zolotov every now and then became a defendant in criminal stories: the illegal storage of weapons, the threat of an entrepreneur-Rieltor, who decided to abandon the “roof” of the Baltic-Escort, manipulations with real estate, rollbacks for the contracts of government agencies. However, not a single criminal case was brought to the end, and Viktor Zolotov managed not to tarnish his name.

“He is very vengeful, as well as our first person with whom he is close. And I'm an old pensioner, I have children, why do I need these problems? "

To Moscow, to Moscow!

After the appointment in 1999 of Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Viktor Zolotov returned to Moscow, becoming the head of the Prime Minister’s security service, and in 2000-the head of the Putin Presidential Security Service. “This is the most important position, only a person who is completely trusted can be assigned to it,” said Boris Volodarsky, an officer of the GRU special forces, said in a conversation with the Russian special services officer. “He (Zolotov) is undoubtedly entering the nearest round of the Russian president.” According to Volodarsky, Zolotov is an excellent guard. “He himself has great physical strength, very cruel. It is not surprising that Korzhakov refused to talk about him, I am surprised that he dared to call him a villain. ” Volodarsky assures that even during the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, when Zolotov remained the head of the presidential guard, Vladimir Putin’s security was also under his jurisdiction. “On the one hand, he stayed under Putin, on the other, he held Medvedev under the cap,” several sources noticed in a conversation with NT.

Viktor Zolotov (extreme on the left) at the funeral of Roman Tsepov, who was considered in St. Petersburg by criminal authority, St. Petersburg, September 27, 2004

Zolotov, when he was his guard Putin, answered almost every minute of the president’s life: “Putin is very afraid of an assassination attempt. Drivers, cleaners, cooks, gardeners - all men, Putin does not trust women. The selection of staff depends on the security service, ”said the interlocutor of the magazine. According to another interlocutor of the magazine from the Russian establishment, it is Viktor Zolotov who knows the personal finances of Vladimir Putin and his family, however, the magazine could not find evidence of this, as well as evidence of other sources.

On September 27, 2004, Viktor Zolotov was present at the funeral of a 42-year-old Roman Tsepov, poisoned by a high dose of leukemia.

On take -off

In 2007, Viktor Zolotov took part in the war of the security forces, in which, on the one hand, the then director of the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN), Viktor Cherkesov, fought, and on the other, the FSB director Nikolai Patrushev, the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin and Secretary of the Council of People's Commissars, Igor Ivanov. Viktor Zolotov then sided with Cherkesov, who in 1992-1998 was the head of the St. Petersburg FSB. But Cherkessov lost the fight.

In April 2012, information appeared that Vladimir Putin was preparing to create a new power structure on the basis of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - the National Guard, which Viktor Zolotov should head.

Former Soviet State District Gosubalovo - 2, where at different times there lived Mikoyan, Voroshilov, Shaposhnikov, now belongs to Zolotov

In September 2013, Zolotov was appointed to the post of deputy commander in chief of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

On May 12, 2014, in the midst of the Ukrainian crisis, Zolotov received the post of First Deputy Minister of the Interior - the Commander -in -Chief of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. According to NT interlocutors, Zolotov needed Putin in the current position. “The minister is not for him, this is a public position that implies a great degree of responsibility, he is not used to it, he will bring more benefits by commanding a certain personal guard of the president,” said Boris Volodarsky. - Operational and counterintelligence units will be created, except for the actual security and special. The existing service will be significantly increased and strengthened by special forces class forces. The powers will be unlimited, ”said Volodarsky.

“This is the most important position, only a person you can fully trust it. Zolotov is undoubtedly part of the nearest circle of the Russian president "

In August 2015, information on the income of Zolotov for 2014 was published - they amounted to a little more than 6 million rubles.

According to sources in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in recent years many issues, including organizational, financial and personnel, in the work of the ministry, was resolved precisely by Zolotov. On April 5, 2016, Vladimir Putin announced the institution of the National Guard. The new power structure was headed by Army General Viktor Zolotov.

The material uses excerpts from the article “Man behind him” (The New Times No. 38 of November 17, 2014).

### List of Zolotov

Vehicles: Mersedes Benz G-Class, Yamaha motorist

Real estate:

Victor Zolotov (according to the 2014 declaration):

• Land plot 11 868 m ² (former cottage Mikoyan)
• Land plot 4998 m ²
• Residential building 274.6 m ²
• Residential building 1069.7 m ²
• 1/3 of the apartment of the apartment 178.5 m ²
• apartment 189 m ²
• Autocrat 19.6 m ²
• Glacier 37.7 m ²

Wife:

• Land plot 4999 m ²
• 1/3 of the apartment of the apartment 178.5 m ²

And also:

• Apartment in Spasonalivkovsky Lane, 171 m ²
• Son's apartment on Zvenigorodskaya Street, 160 m ²
• The apartment of the daughter on Lomonosovsky Prospekt, 500 m ²
• Son's houses in Barvikha, 676 m ²
• Son's house in Gelendzhik, 958.2 m ^{2 2}
• Cottage of a son in the village of Esto-Sadok (Sochi), 188 m ²
• Land plot and a son’s house in the village of Yashcherovka (Valdai district), 4.5 thousand m ² and 280 m ²

Total cost:
more than 663 million rubles.

Dechedled income
For 2014: 6 086 013, 91 rubles.

Sources: Official website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Fund for Combating Corruption (FBK), New Gazeta

Photo: Peter Kassin/Kommersant, Alexander Zemlianichenko/Ap Photo/TASS,
Openrussia.org, navalny.com