Dmitry Kozak

Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation

General biographical information

• Dmitry Kozak was born on November 7, 1958, in the village of Bandurovo, Kirovohrad Oblast, the Ukrainian SSR, the Soviet Union. 
• 1976-1978 – served in the Special Forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces in Hungary.
• 1978-1980 – studied at the Vinnytsia Polytechnic Institute.
• 1980-1985 – studied at the Leningrad State University, graduated with a degree in law.
• In April, 2014, was added to a list of sanctions imposed by the European Union and the US due to Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Professional career

• 1985-1989 – served as an intern at the General Supervision Department of the Leningrad Prosecutor's Office, and later as a Senior Prosecutor.
• 1989-1990 – worked as a Head of the legal department at Monolit-Kirovstroy construction company.

Political career in St. Petersburg

• During Kozak’s career in St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin occupied various positions at the City Administration of St. Petersburg in 1990-1996.
• 1990-1994 - worked as the Head of Unit at the Legal Department of the Leningrad Council of People’s Deputies and later as the Head of the Department.
• 1994 – Head of the Legal Department at the City Council of St. Petersburg.
• 1994-1996 – Chairman of the Legal Committee at the City Administration of St. Petersburg during Anatoly Sobchak's tenure as the Mayor of St. Petersburg. In 1996 Sobchak lost in the mayoral elections. Kozak Managed to maintain his position and was promoted later.
• 1996-1998 - Chairman of the Legal Committee at the City Governor’s Office.
• 1998-1999 - Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg. Kozak resigned due to disagreement with the Governor of St. Petersburg, Vladimir Yakovev.

Activities in the Russian Government

• 1999 – 1st Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Government.
• 1999-2000 - Chief of Staff of the Russian Government – Minister of the Russian Federation. During this period, for several months, Vladimir Putin was the Chairman of the Government.
• 2000-2003 – Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Russia.
• 2003-2004 – 1st Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Russia.
• 2004 -  again, Chief of Staff of the Russian Government – Minister of the Russian Federation.
• 2004-2007 – Plenipotentiary Envoy of the President of Russia to the Southern Federal District.  
• 2007-2008 – Minister of Regional Development.
• 2008-2020 – Deputy Chairman of the Government, during the incumbency as the Prime-Minister of Vladimir Putin and then Dmitry Medmedev.
• On January 15, 2020, the Cabinet of Dmitry Medvedev resigned. Kozak could not enter the new Government and on January 24 was appointed the Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Russia.
• Additional position of the 3rd Deputy was created specifically for him. Kozak oversees integration issues in the post-Soviet space and relations with Ukraine, which was previously supervised by the Assistant of the President, Vladislav Surkov. After Surkov’s resignation from the Administration of President (on February 18, 2020), Kozak supervises the directions of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region.

Relations with Abkhazia

• On March 7, 2020, Kozak, the Minister of Regional Development, said that Abkhazian resources might be used for the construction of Olympic facilities for the Sochi Winter Olympics. According to Kozak, cooperation with Abkhazia in this direction is facilitated by the Russia’s decision to lift economic sanctions imposed against Abkhazia.
• In February 2017, a delegation of the de facto Government of Abkhazia took part in the Investment Forum Sochi 2017. The delegation was invited by Kozak.
• On September 8, 2020, in Moscow, the de facto leaders of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region, Aslan Bzhania and Anatoly Bibilov, met with Kozak. The meeting was attended by the First Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Mikhail Babich, who oversees the socio-economic direction in the occupied regions of Georgia. The following issues were discussed at the meeting: salary increase for public and budgetary institutions servants by 2021, implementation of investment programs promoting socio-economic development of the Tskhinvali region and Abkhazia, cooperation in direction of exchange programs in the field of education and culture.
• On October 29, 2020, the de facto president of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, met in Moscow with Kozak. Bzhania arrived in Moscow on October 26. At the meeting with Kozak, the implementation of the 2020-2022 investment program promoting socio-economic development of Abkhazia was discussed. The Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Mikhail Babich and the Head of the Directorate for Cross Border Cooperation in the Presidential Administration, Aleksey Filatov, attended the meeting. Both oversee the direction of the occupied regions of Georgia. 
• On November 12, 2020, a program for the formation of a common social and economic space between Russia and Abkhazia was approved on the basis of harmonization of the legislation of Abkhazian and the Russian Federation. From the Russian side the Deputy Prime Minister, Marat Khusnullin, and Kozak, and from the Abkhaz side the de facto President, Aslan Bzhania, and the de facto Prime Minister, Aleksandr Ankvab, signed the program. The program is aimed at creating favourable conditions for the full participation of Abkhazia in the integration processes initiated or supported by Russia. Within the framework of the program, 45 events are planned with the time frame of 2-3 years.
• On December 11-19, 2020, the de facto President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, paid working visit to Russia. During the visit, Bzhania met with several representatives of the Russian government. The main purpose of these meetings was to discuss issues related to the implementation of the November 12 agreement reached in Sochi between Bzhania and the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. On December 14, Bzhania met with  Kozak. The issue of the energy, the situation on the de facto border and the implementation of projects within the framework of the 2020-2022 investment program promoting the socio-economic development of Abkhazia were discussed at the meeting.
• On April 20, 2021, the de facto President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, paid official visit to Russia. On April 23, Bzhania  met with 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 Igor Maslov, the Head of the Directorate for Interregional Relations and Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries of the Russian Presidential Administration, 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 Kozak. 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 Igor Maslov, the Head of the Directorate for Interregional Relations and Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries.
• On March 25, 2022, within the framework of a working visit to Russia, the de facto President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, met with Dimitry Kozak. During the meeting the parties discussed various issues of socio-economic cooperation between Russia and Abkhazia including oil supply, investment policy, implementation of common projects, Russia's financial assistance to the de facto republic, etc.
• On April 26-29, 2022, the de facto President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, was on a working visit to Moscow. During the visit, Bzhania met with the Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, Anton Vaino, and Kozak.
• On July 28, 2022, within the framework of his visit to Moscow, the de facto President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, met with Kozak. The meeting was attended by Igor Maslov, the Head of the Directorate for Interregional Relations and Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries in the Presidential Administration, 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 August 22, 2008, after the Russian-Georgian war, Kozak, the Minister of Regional Development, visited the Tskhinvali Region to familiarize himself with the situation. On August 25, at the government presidium meeting, Kozak said that reconstruction of the Tskhinvali Region after the war of August, 2008, will cost RUB 25 billion.
• On September 16, 2008, at the Federal Headquarters meeting on Elimination of the Consequences of the Armed Conflict in the Tskhinvali Region, Kozak was tasked to carry out reconstruction works in the Tskhinvali Region. "The Ministry of Regional Development and its Head - Dmitry Kozak, will further coordinate economic and social reconstruction and development of South Ossetia," said the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin.
• In October, 2008, Kozak was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and the new Minister of Regional Development took over supervision of the Tskhinvali Region reconstruction.
• On February 28, 2020, in Moscow, the de facto President of the Tskhinvali Region, Anatoly Bibilov, met with Kozak. This was Bibilov’s first meeting with Kozak in his new role as the Head of the Adminsitration of the President. Issues of construction of backup power transmission lines, modernization of the Transcaucasian highway and financing of the investment program were discussed at the meeting. The main topic of discussion was importing food products and vehicles from Russia to the Tskhinvali Region. From the Russian side, the meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Sergey Chebotarev, and the Head of the Directorate for Cross Border Cooperation of the Presidential Administration, Aleksey Filatov.
• On September 8, 2020, in Moscow, the de facto leaders of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region, Aslan Bzhania and Anatoly Bibilov, met with Kozak. The meeting was attended by the First Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Mikhail Babich, who oversees the socio-economic direction in the occupied regions of Georgia. The following issues were discussed at the meeting: salary increase for public and budgetary institutions servants by 2021, implementation of investment programs promoting socio-economic development of the Tskhinvali region and Abkhazia, cooperation in direction of exchange programs in the field of education and culture.
• On September 11, 2021, Anatoly Bibilov, the de facto President of the Tskhinvali region, met with Kozak in Moscow. The de facto Prime Minister of the region and other members of the “government” also participated in the working meeting. The sides discussed the economic development of the region and the increase in salaries for military servicemen of the Tskhinvali region.
• After the first round of the illegitimate presidential elections of the Tskhinvali region, both candidates met with Kozak in order to gain his support. Reportedly, Alan Gagloyev met with Kozak on April 16, 2022, and Anatoly Bibilov - on April 20.
• 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 Kozak, the Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev, the Head of the Directorate for Interregional Relations and Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries of the Presidential Administration, Igor Maslov, 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, and the Deputy Head of the Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation of the President's Administration, Sergey Bovenko.
• On March 17, 2023, during his visit to Moscow, de facto president Alan Gagloyev, met with Kozak. A meeting between Alan Gagloyev and Vladimir Putin preceded the meetings. At the meeting with Kozak, current issues of bilateral relations were discussed, such as: the implementation of the 2023-2025 program promoting the socio-economic development, the development of the socio-economic sphere and investment attraction. Kozak also spoke about the need for coordinated work to maintain internal stability in the occupied region.
• On May 30, 2023, the President of the de facto republic, Alan Gagloyev, met with Kozak. Gagloyev and Kozak discussed mutual cooperation and prospects. The parties also discussed the course of the Russian-financed investment program for 2023-2025 promoting the socio-economic development of the de facto republic.
• On August 25, 2023, during his visit to Moscow, the de facto President of the Tskhinvali region, Alan Gagloyev, awarded Kozak 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).