Sergey Chebotarev

Former Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russian Federation

General Biographical Information 

• Sergey Chebotarev was born on October 14, 1969, in the village of Magdagachi, Tyndinsky District, Amur Oblast, RSFSR in USSR.
• From 1976 to 1984, he studied in 4th secondary school in Chity.
• In 1986, he graduated from the Ussuri Suvorov Military School.
• In 1990, he graduated from the Far East Higher Military Command School.
• From 1990 to 1998, he served in border military units.
• From 1998 to 2004, he was engaged in scientific work and lectures at higher education facilities in Moscow.
• In 2010, the President of Russia awarded Chebotarev for “developing international cooperation and contributions to friendship between peoples.”
• In 2014, Chebotarev was a member of the inter-structure commission for preparing international and inter-regional economic forums.
• Chebotarev is a candidate of legal sciences and a Docent.
• He speaks English and Chinese languages.

Activities at the Presidential Administration and Occupied Georgian Regions

• From 2004 to 2018, Chebotarev worked on various positions at Russian Presidential Administration. From 2006, he was the Head of Department at the Directorate for Inter-Regional Relations and Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries at the Presidential Administration. From June 2012, he was the Deputy Head of Directorate there. His fields of responsibility included relations with Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and occupied Georgian regions.
• Chebotarev has a lengthy experience of dealing with the de facto leaders of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region. Based on the analysis of information existing in the media, Chebotarev can be considered to be a public servant, who handled the largest amount of “basic hard work” in this regard. He often visited Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region, both individually, as well as together with his bosses. Back when he worked as the Head of Department at the Directorate, he attended the presentation of the newspaper Гудок-Абхазия on May 20, 2006, in Sokhumi, together with the Head of Directorate, Modest Kolerov. The presentation was held in the Sokhumi branch of the Caucasian Institute for Democracy.
• On April 26, 2007, Chebotarev participated in awarding communication equipment to the Commander of the Joint Peacekeeping forces stationed in Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone, Sergey Chaban, organized by the Caucasian Institute for Democracy and aiming to improve the material-technical base of the joint forces and increase their efficiency. In 2008, Chebotarev visited Sokhumi, where he met with the de facto President, Sergey Baghapsh.
• Chebotarev’s influence grew especially after the Russia-Georgia War, when the Kremlin activated the process of annexation of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region. On March 10, 2010, media center IR was established in Tskhinvali Region, connected to Chebotarev’ name. Chebotarev’s name also features in the establishment of Aynar media club in Abkhazia in 2010.
• According to the information disseminated in the media, Chebotarev directly curated the illegitimate Presidential elections held in Tskhinvali Region from autumn 2011 to spring 2012. At that time, his boss was Sergey Vinokurov. On November 8, 2011, he even arrived to Tskhinvali with a charter flight to support Anatoly Bibilov’s candidacy. In November 2011 elections, the Kremlin opted for the de facto Minister of Emergency Situations of Tskhinvali Region, Anatoly Bibilov; however, the former de facto Minister of Education of Tskhinvali Region, Ala Jioeva, was successful instead. In spring 2012, repeat elections were held in Tskhinvali Region, where Kremlin’s new candidate, Leonid Tibilov, gained victory.
• The failure in illegitimate elections in Tskhinvali was followed by the resignation of Sergey Vinokurov and his deputy, Vladislav Gasumianov; however, Chebotarev managed to maintain the position of the Head of the Department for Caucasus at the Directorate. This caused certain discontent among the de facto leaders of Tskhinvali Region, as they accused Chebotarev of providing the Kremlin with incorrect information about the processes unfolding in the region. Apart from this, there was also an unofficial opinion that Chebotarev personally curated the February 9, 2012 arrest of Ala Jioeva of the opposition. Despite the discontent of Tskhinvali, after the appointment of Vladimir Chernov as the Head of Directorate in June 2012, Chebotarev got a promotion and became the Deputy Head of Directorate. After his promotion, in October 2012, Chebotarev met with Tibilov in Tskhinvali.
• On March 3, 2012, Chebotarev participated in the festive opening of the first office of the postal service of the “Republic of South Ossetia” in Tskhinvali.
• On July 25, 2012, Chebotarev, together with Vladimir Chernov, met with the de facto President of Abkhazia, Aleksandr Ankvab, in Sokhumi.
• On October 5, 2012, Chebotarev was in Tskhinvali, where he met with the de facto President, leader of the Cabinet and the Head of the Presidential Administration.
• On May 6, 2013, Vladimir Chernov and Chebotarev visited Tskhinvali without much fanfare, in secret, so that Tskhinvali region media did not even cover it. According to the existing information, Chernov and Chebotarev met with the de facto President, Leonid Tibilov. Their visit was followed by the postponement of the May 14 meeting with Putin. According to popular opinion, the visitors criticized Tibilov for his cadre policy (also criticizing the de facto Prime Minister, Rostik Khugaev) and ineffective spending of Russian money.
• On March 11, 2014, in Abkhazia, Chebotarev met with the de facto President, Aleksandr Ankvab, the de facto Prime Minister, Secretary of Security Council and the Head of Presidential Administration, with whom he discussed current issues.
• Chebotarev participated in the 3rd Russian-Abkhazian Humanitarian Forum, held in Sokhumi on April 10-11, 2014. The Institute of Eurasian Studies and the Federal Agency for CIS States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Affairs, were among the organizers of the Forum.
• The preparation of the Agreement on Cooperation and Integration is also connected with Chebotarev’ name, signed on March 18, 2015, by the President of Russia and the de facto President of Tskhinvali Region. The Agreement created the basis for strengthening bilateral military-political ties.

Activities in the Government of Russia and Occupied Georgian Regions

• At the beginning of his fourth tenure, the President of Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, renewed half of his Cabinet and appointed nine new Ministers on May 18, 2018, including Chebotarev. The Prime Minister of Russia, Dimitri Medvedev, presented Chebotarev’s candidacy for the position of Minister of North Caucasus Affairs to Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Sochi. Chebotarev replaced Lev Kuznetsov at Putin’s Directive. From May 12, 2014, Kuznetsov was the first Minister of North Caucasus Affairs. Chebotarev was the only Minister in the new Cabinet, about whom there was practically no information. Even the Russian media did not know him well. The testament to this was the first minutes of his appointment, when many Russian media outlets wrote that the Mayor of Tambov, Sergey Chebotarev, was appointed as Minister. According to the existing information, good connections at the Security Council facilitated Chebotarev’s appointment as Minister. There is an opinion that he has close relations with the Deputy Secretary of the Security Council, Rashid Nurgaliyev. Nurgaliyev, who is the former Minister of Internal Affairs, is a powerful public official. Significant part of Nurgaliyev’s work at the Security Council is connected with the occupied Georgian regions. According to another opinion, his becoming Minister was facilitated by him being acquainted with Sergey Ivanov, who is close with Putin. Chebotarev’s former boss, Vladimir Chernov, had been Ivanov’s close ally for years.

• On January 21, 2020, deputy chairmen and ministers of the new government of the Russian Federation were approved. By the order of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Ministry of North Caucasus Affairs was abolished. The Ministry functions were transferred to the Ministry of Economic Development. On February 7, 2020, by the decree of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Chebotarev was appointed Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Economic Development.

• On March 11, 2020, by the order of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin Chebotarev was appointed Head of the Secretariat of the Deputy Chairman, Security Council. The post of Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation was established on January 16, 2020. Dmitry Medvedev was appointed to the post on the same day.

Relations with Abkhazia

• On July 17, 2018, Chebotarev visited Abkhazia. A day before, he was in Tskhinvali. Much like Tskhinvali, in Sokhumi Chebotarev promised the Abkhazian side to fully uphold Russian commitments to them. In terms of the visit, Chebotarev met with the de facto President of Abkhazia, Raul Khajimba and de facto Prime Minister, Gennady Gagulia. Issue of the implementation of the 2017-2019 investment programs supporting the social-economic development of Abkhazia were discussed at the meetings. Abkhazia’s social-economic development was discussed on June 27, 2018 as well, when Gagulia met with Chebotarev in Moscow. During the visit, Chebotarev was accompanied by his Deputy, Igor Koshin, and the Director of the Department for International Development, Anton Melnik.
• On February 21, 2019, in Moscow, Chebotarev met with Valeri Bganga, de facto Prime Minister of Abkhazia. Igor Koshin, Deputy to Chebotarev, and Igor Khamba, Russian “Ambassador” to Abkhazia also participated in the meeting. At the meeting was discussed implementation of Investment Program promoting Social-Economic development of Abkhazia in 2019.
• On October 9, 2019, in Abkhazia, inauguration of Raul Khajimba, de facto President, was held. Apart of representatives of local de facto government, representatives of Russia also participated in the solemn ceremony. Among the guests was Chebotarev as well. He delivered congratulatory speech at the ceremony. Chebotarev, along with Igor Koshin, his Deputy, directly met with Khajimba as well.
• On December 18-19, 2019, the representative delegation of the Russian Federation visited Abkhazia. On December 19, the 18th Intergovernmental Session on socio-economic cooperation between the Russian Federation and Abkhazia was held in Sokhumi. The Session chairs were Vitaly Mutko, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation and Valery Bganba, de facto Prime-Minister of Abkhazia. The Russian delegation comprised Chebotarev, Minister of North Caucasus Affairs of the Russian Federation, his deputy Igor Koshin and Anton Melnik, Director of the Ministry International Cooperation Department. Delegation members from the Presidential Administration were Aleksey Filatov, Head of the Directorate for Cross Border Cooperation, and Denis Travin, Deputy Head of the Directorate. At the session the committee approved investment program for 2020-2022, promoting socio-economic development of Abkhazia.

Relations with Tskhinvali Region

• On July 16, 2018, Chebotarev visited Tskhinvali for the first time since his appointment as Minister. A week earlier, Chebotarev also met with the de facto leader of Tskhinvali Region, Anatoly Bibilov, in Moscow. Chebotarev participated in a Cabinet meeting dedicated to the implementation of the 2018-2019 investment programs supporting the social-economic development of Tskhinvali Region. Chebotarev was accompanied by his Deputy, Igor Koshin, and the Director of the Department for International Development, Anton Melnik. Prior to this, Chebotarev met with Bibilov, to whom he stated that Russia would uphold all commitments towards the region. Chebotarev summarized the six-month results of the investment project. During his visit to Tskhinvali, Chebotarev stated that he had dedicated no small number of his years to Tskhinvali and within the four years that he had been absent from the region, much progress had clearly been made in terms of rehabilitation. During his visit, Chebotarev inspected Hotel Iriston and the construction of Kosta Khetagurov State Drama Theatre, together with Bibilov. Together with Bibilov, Chebotarev also visited a Stella dedicated to the memory of soldiers and officers of the peacekeeping forces.
• Chebotarev’s second visit to Tskhinvali as Minister took place on August 26, 2018, at an event dedicated to the 10th anniversary of Russian recognition of the independence of Tskhinvali Region. Chebotarev also received the Order of Friendship from Bibilov. According to Chebotarev’s statement “this award belongs not only to him, but the whole Ministry, which has contributed to the development of South Ossetia”.
• On November 15, 2018, the 19th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for Cooperation in Social-Economic Development between Russia and Abkhazia was held in Moscow, chaired by the Vice Prime Minister of Russia, Mutko. The meeting also featured the de facto President of Tskhinvali Region, Anatoly Bibilov, Chebotarev, his Deputy, Koshin, and the “Ambassador” of Russia to Tskhinvali Region, Marat Kulakhmetov. The issues of financial support for the social-economic development of Tskhinvali Region in 2018 and the implementation of the 2018-2019 investment programs designed to foster social-economic development of Tskhinvali Region were discussed during the meeting.
• On April 12, 2019, in Moscow, Russian representation of Intergovernmental Commission of Socio-Economic Cooperation between the Russian Federation and Tskhinvali Region held working session. The Session was led by Vitaly Mutko - co-chairman of the Commission, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Cheboratov also attended the session. The following issues were discussed at the session: Investment Program supporting Tskhinvali Region Socio-Economic Development for 2020-2022, ongoing Investment Program implementation, allocating funds for Tkhinvali Region for 2019.
• On April 19, 2019, the 20th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on social-economic cooperation between Russian Federation and Tskhinvali Region was held in Tskhinvali. The Investment Program supporting social-economic development of Tskhinvali Region for 2020-2022 was approved at the meeting. Vitaly Mutko, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, and Erik Pukhayev, de facto Prime Minister of Tskhinvali Region, chaired the meeting. Anatoly Bibilov, de facto President of Tskhinvali Region, Chebotarev, also attended the meeting.
• On February 28, 2020, in Moscow, de facto President of the Tskhinvali Region Anatoly Bibilov met with the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kozak.  Issues related to construction of backup power lines, modernization of Trans-Caucasian highway and financing of investment program were discussed at the meeting. Chebotarev and Head of the Directorate for Cross Border Cooperation at the Presidential Administration Aleksey Filatov also attended the meeting.
• On August 25, 2023, during his visit to Moscow, the de facto President of the Tskhinvali region, Alan Gagloyev, awarded Chebotarev the “Order of Honor” and thanked for his contribution to the development of cooperation between the Tskhinvali region and Russia. Gagloyev's visit to Moscow was related to the 15th anniversary of the recognition of the independence of the de facto republic of the Tskhinvali region by Russia (August 26, 2008).
• On October 14, 2023, de facto president of the Tskhinvali region Alan Gagloev congratulated Chebotarev with birthday.

Interviews

• In March, 2019, Russian News Agency “Itar-Tass“ published extensive interview with the Chebotarev, where the Minister spoke about Georgia as well as about Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region. The Minister considers Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region as strategic partners of Russia. On journalist’s question that his approach is incomprehensible in Georgia, the Minister answered: “this is the least I think about. I have many good and reliable friends among Georgian, they do not interfere our relationship with politics. We continue our friendship, of course, not official relationship. What happened between Georgian, Abkhazian and Ossetian people is a great tragedy. Soon or later the situation will be regulated. There is no other way."