Sergey Kiriyenko

Roadmap to Kremlin's Policy in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region

Key Persons

First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation

Sergey Kiriyenko was born on July 26, 1962, in Sokhumi, Abkhaz ASSR, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union. His father was Vladilen Izraitel, and his mother was Larisa Kiriyenko. In the 1970s, Kiriyenko moved to Sochi with his mother, where he took her surname.
In 1984, he graduated from the Gorky Institute of Water Transport Engineering.
From 1984 to 1986, he served in the Soviet Army.
From 1984 to 1991, he was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
In 1993, he graduated from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
Since 2005, he has been the co-chairman of the All-Russian Union of Martial Arts and the president of the National Aikido Council of Russia.
In 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on Kiriyenko. In 2020, he was also included in the sanctions lists of the European Union and the United Kingdom for his involvement in the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Professional Career

From 1986 to 1990, he occupied various party positions at the Krasnoye Sormovo Factory.
From 1990 to 1992, he was a deputy of the Gorky Regional Council of People's Deputies.
From 1992 to 1993, he was the General Director of the youth concern AMK.
From 1993 to 1996, he was the Chairman of the Board of the Garantiya Bank.
From 1996 to 1997, he was the President of the NORSI-Oil state oil company.

Political Career

In 1997, he was appointed as First Deputy Minister of Fuel and Energy of Russia under Minister Boris Nemtsov, and later that year, he became the Minister. At the time, Viktor Chernomyrdin was the Prime Minister.
On March 23, 1998, President Boris Yeltsin appointed him as First Deputy Prime Minister, and on April 24, at the age of 36, he became the youngest Prime Minister in Russia's history. That same year, he became the leader of the All-Russian socio-political movement New Force. On August 23, 1998, his government resigned. During his tenure as Prime Minister, Russia declared its first-ever sovereign default.
From 1999 to 2000, he was a member of the State Duma, serving as the leader and co-chairman of the Union of Right Forces electoral bloc.
In 2000, he became the leader of the Union of Right Forces Faction in the State Duma.
From 2000 to 2005, he served as the Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Volga Federal District.
From 2005 to 2007, he was the head of the Federal Agency for Atomic Energy Commission.
From 2007 to 2016, he was the Director General of the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation.
On October 5, 2016, he was appointed as First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia under Anton Vaino.
Since 2025, Kiriyenko has been supervising the Russian-occupied regions of Georgia. His first visit in this role was to occupied Abkhazia.

Relations with Abkhazia

From January 31 to February 1, 2025, Kiriyenko visited Abkhazia. During his visit, he met with representatives of the de facto authorities and heads of various educational and cultural institutions. He also inspected projects funded by Russia. As a Russian government official supervising the region, his visit coincided with the ongoing pre-election campaign in Abkhazia.