Akademik

(1962– )

   Politician. Sergey Kiriyenko was born in Sukhumi, Abkhazia, and grew up in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi. Of mixed Jewish-Ukrainian heritage, he adopted his mother’s Slavic surname as a young man. He achieved national prominence in 1998 when he was nominated to succeed Viktor Chernomyrdin as prime minister. Though the Communist-dominated State Duma initially refused to confirm him, Boris Yeltsin ultimately succeeded in gaining his appointment. He served from 23 March 1998 until 23 August 1998. His short tenure was the result of a government default on bond coupons, which in turn led to a devaluation of the Russian currency and the 1998 ruble crisis. After leaving the government, he helped form the liberal Union of Right Forces political party and unsuccessfully challenged Yury Luzhkov for mayor of Moscow. Since 2005, he has served as the head of Rosatom, the federal atomic agency.

   See also Politics.