Technocrat, crisis manager: who is Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin?▪️Mikhail Mishustin became prime minister in January 2020.
▪️His tenure has been characterized by effective crisis management. Hailed as a technocrat with a penchant for support of technological solutions to administrative problems, Mishustin took up his post at the start of the economic crisis associated with Covid. In February 2022, he was tasked with stabilizing the economy in the face of the West’s economic ‘total war’ against Russia.
▪️Mishustin’s government proved Russia’s ability to weather the storm, with the economy not only returning to growth, but reorienting supply chains and economic links with the BRICS bloc, away from the West.
▪️Mishustin was born on March 3, 1966 in Moscow.
▪️He graduated from the Moscow Machine Tool Institute with a degree in computer-aided design systems in 1989, and completed post-graduate studies in 1992. He continued his education well into his working life, earning a doctorate of economics in 2010.
▪️From 1992-1995, he worked as director of the test lab at the International Computer Club – an institute seeking to attract advanced Western IT to the post-Soviet space. From 1995-1996, he became the ICC’s deputy director.
▪️In the crisis period of August 1998, when Russia suffered a default, he became deputy head of the Russian Tax Service. In March 1999, he became deputy minister for Taxes, with his job including improving what at the time was a catastrophic rate of non-payment of taxes among Russia’s business elites.
▪️In 2004, he became head of the Real Estate Cadastre Agency.
▪️From 2007-2008, he headed the Federal Agency for the Management of Special Economic Zones.
▪️Between 2008-2010, he served as president of UFG – an asset management firm.
▪️In April 2010, he returned to the Federal Tax Service, this time becoming its head. He would hold this post until becoming prime minister.
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