Igor Maslov

Head of the Directorate for Interregional Relations and Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries of the Russian Presidential Administration

General Biographical Information

• Igor Maslov was born on October 10, 1960 in Leningrad, the RSFSR, the Soviet Union.
• On October 11, 2009, as per the Russian presidential decree, he was awarded the rank of the Class 2 Active State Advisor of the Russian Federation.

Professional Career

• He has been working under the guise of a diplomat in European countries for years. According to the Dossier Center, Maslov is a veteran of the Russian Intelligence Service, and the Colonel of the Foreign Intelligence Service.
• For years, Maslov has been the Deputy to Vladimir Chernov, the Head of the Directorate for Interregional Relations and Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries. Maslov oversaw the direction of Moldova and was responsible for controlling the internal political processes in Moldova. According to the Dossier Center, he directly supervised Igor Dodon (the President of Moldova in 2016-2020), even before his presidency, as well as other Moldovan politicians. In 2014, Dodon, the leader of the Socialist Party, met with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. According to media reports, Maslov was one of the organizers of the meeting.
• On February 27, 2018, Maslov published an article congratulating the Special Operations Forces of the Ministry of Defense on their professional day. The day was established in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea which was secured by these Forces.
• On March 2, 2021, as per the Russian presidential decree  Maslov was appointed as the Head of the Directorate for Interregional Relations and Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries of the Russian Presidential Administration. He replaced Vladimir Chernov in this post.

Relations with Abkhazia

• On April 6, 2021, Maslov congratulated Aslan Bzhania, de facto President of Abkhazia, on his 58th birthday. 
• On April 20, 2021, the de facto President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, paid official visit to Russia. On April 23, Bzhania  met with the Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Russia, Dmitry Kozak. At the meeting, the main topic of discussion was the implementation of the investment program promoting the socio-economic development of Abkhazia. The meeting was also attended by  Maslov, Andrey Ivanov, the First Deputy Minister of Economic Development, and Sergey Nazarov, the Deputy Minister of Economic Development.
• On July 29, 2021, during the working visit in Moscow de facto President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, met  with Dmitry Kozak, the Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration. The meeting discussed issues related to assistance amid the growing coronavirus infection in Abkhazia, the delivery of a new batch of the vaccine, support in eliminating the damage caused by natural disasters in July, and the implementation of the Russian-funded investment program. Bzhania also met with Maslov.
• On June 30, 2022, the de facto President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, hosted Maslov in Sokhumi. Within the framework of his visit to Abkhazia, Maslov together with a Russian delegation inspected the progress of construction projects under the Russian funding. According to Maslov, their goal is to equalize the socio-economic indicators of Abkhazia with those of the Southern Federal District of Russia by 2025. Before the meeting with Bzhania, Maslov met with the de facto Vice President, Badra Gunba, at the so-called border between Abkhazia and Russia. On July 1, Maslov, together with Bzhania, inspected the Sokhumi Airport. On the same day, he met with the de facto Prime Minister, Alexander Ankvab. On the same day, the Speaker of the de facto parliament, Lasha Ashuba, and “deputies” hosted Maslov. On July 2, Maslov and Bzhania visited the so-called Eastern Abkhazia, as well as the Bedia and Mokvi temples and the port of Ochamchire. The guest honored the grave of the second de facto president, Sergei Bagapsh, in the village of Jgerda. Later, Maslov visited vineyards of the Wine and Beverages of Abkhazia company in the village of Labra. This was Maslov’s first visit to Abkhazia since his appointment to this position.
• On July 28, 2022, within the framework of his visit to Moscow, the de facto President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, met with the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, Dimitry Kozak. The meeting was attended by  Maslov, Maxim Reshetnikov, the Minister of Economic Development and his Deputy, Dmitry Volvach. At the meeting, the issues of bilateral relations such as restoring air traffic to the de facto republic and the implementation of the 2022-2025 socio-economic development program were discussed.

Relations with the Tskhinvali region

• On November 24, 2021, a Russian delegation paid a working visit to the Tskhinvali region. The delegation comprised of: the Deputy Secretary of the Security Council, Rashid Nurgaliyev,  Igor Maslov, and his deputy, Viktor Shargaev. On the first day of the visit, a working meeting was held with the de facto President of the Tskhinvali region, Anatoly Bibilov, and members of the de facto government. On the second day of the visit, the Bibilov discussed in detail the issues of the socio-economic cooperation with  Maslov.  According to  Maslov, the goal of the program is that the Tskhinvali region reaches the economic indicators of the North Caucasus Federal District by 2025. On the same day,  Bibilov and his guests held an opening ceremony of a Russian-funded apartment building on Heroes' Street.  Bibilov together with Maslov visited the village of Pris and inspected the construction of a basalt factory.  Maslov, together with  Shargaev, met with members of the de facto parliament. On November 26, as part of the visit, an opening ceremony of a backup power transmission line was also held. The power transmission line will improve the electricity supply from Russia to the Tskhinvali region. The Russian delegation also attended the event.
• On May 24, 2022, Maslov attended an inauguration of a newly elected de facto president of the Tskhinvali region, Alan Gagloyev. According to Maslov, “the elections showed that the republic is successfully moving on the path of state building and civil society development.”
• On June 15, 2022, a delegation of the de facto republic of the Tskhinvali region, led by the de facto President, Alan Gagloyev, met with the Russian side in Moscow. The main topic of discussion was the issue of holding a referendum in the Tskhinvali region on the unification of the de facto republic and Russia. The Russian delegation included the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, Dmitry Kozak, the Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev, the Deputy Secretary of the Security Council, Rashid Nurgaliyev, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrey Rudenko, the de facto Ambassador of Russia to the Republic, Marat Kulakhmetov, the Deputy Head of the Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation of the President's Administration, Sergey Bovenko and Maslov.
• On June 30, 2023, a Russian delegation inspected a solid household waste recycling landfill in the de facto republic. The facility was built in 2020. The Russian delegation was accompanied by the de facto President, Alan Gagloyev. The Russian delegation was headed by Maslov who had a face-to-face meeting with Gagloyev on May 29. On the same day, the Russian delegation visited facilities which were built with Russian funding.
• On August 25, 2023, during his visit to Moscow, the de facto President of the Tskhinvali region, Alan Gagloyev, awarded Maslov the “Order of Friendship” 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 November 17, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian government, Alexander Novak, visited the occupied Tskhinvali region. This was his first visit to the region. Novak participated in the 22nd meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on socio-economic cooperation between Russia and the de facto republic. As part of the visit, he also checked and monitored the progress of Russian-funded projects. On November 17, the de facto President, Alan Gagloyev, met with Novak and discussed the issues of economic cooperation between the de facto republic and Russia. Together with Gagloyev, Novak attended a ceremony of opening three residential buildings. These houses were built under the Russian-financed investment program promoting the socio-economic development of the region. Members of the Russian delegation were Novak, the so-called Ambassador of Russia to the region, Marat Kulakhmetov, Maslov, the Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Volvach, and the Deputy Director of the Department for Special Programs and Projects of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, Anton Melnik.
• On February 1, 2024, the de facto president of the Tskhinvali region, Alan Gagloyev, met with Maslov. Maslov visited the region on a two-day working visit. At the meeting, Gagloyev expressed his gratitude to Maslov for facilitating the Russian government's decision to abolish the export duty on fuel and lubricants. Maslov, for his part, said that it was because of the politically important year that the Russian delegation decided to visit the region at the beginning of the year. The Russian delegation got acquainted with the ongoing work under the investment program promoting the socio and economic development. At the end of the meeting, Maslov told Gagloyev that „Moscow, the government, the President Administration and personally the Supreme Commander have a very positive attitude towards the republic.“