Gennady Burbulis has always been a mystery to me. Even having met him personally, I could not understand how this soft, quiet and immersed man for a couple of years ascended to the incredible height of Russian politics. Yes, yes, there is no exaggeration. There was a moment when he was the second person in the state hierarchy. And it was he who connected Yeltsin’s political power to the reform potential of Gaidar.