The politician Satarov Georgy Aleksandrovich is best known for his activities in the 90s. He was an adviser to President Boris Yeltsin and participated in many state commissions of the time. Most notable is his work in the team that drafted the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993.
Education
By origin Satarov Georgy Aleksandrovich is a native Muscovite. He was born in 1947. Educated at the Faculty of Mathematics of the modern Moscow State Pedagogical University. In 1975 he defended his thesis. Satarov's professional specialty was "mathematics and programming."
The future politician worked at his native university from 1972 to 1990. His career at a higher educational institution began as a junior research fellow, and ended in the place of the head of one of the laboratory sectors.
Creation of INDEM
It was mathematical knowledge and skills that led Satarov to politics. In 1990, he created INDEM (Computer Science for Democracy). That was the name of the Center for Political Studies, which applied applied mathematical methods. The creation of a unique organization for the Soviet Union was made possible thanks to the support of the chief editor of the Moscow News newspaper, Yegor Yakovlev, as well as People's Deputy of the USSR Sergei Stankevich.
Satarov George Alexandrovich was the head of the center until 1993. INDEM published the results of its analytical work in the Moscow News newspaper. It was then that the analyst was noticed in the Kremlin. Mathematics was invited to work in the team of President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev. Later, the analyst began to work for Boris Yeltsin.
State employee
In 1993-1994 Satarov Georgy Alexandrovich worked in the Presidential Council. He was also an authorized assistant to the first person of the state, in charge of his contacts with political parties and the Federal Assembly.
The then press considered Satarov a representative of the “liberal wing” in the highest echelons of power. His main associates and colleagues were: Yuri Baturin, Alexander Livshits and Mikhail Krasnov. This "liberal group" opposed the "party of war", which was led by Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Lobov.
In 1993, the president created a special commission, whose members developed the main provisions of the new Constitution of the Russian Federation. Georgy Aleksandrovich Satarov also took part in this work. The address of his place of work was then located directly in the Kremlin, where key decisions for the life of the country were made.
Political consultant
In 1995, INDEM was transformed into a fund, and Satarov became the chief scientific adviser in it. At this time, the organization’s main work was related to the State Duma. Employees wrote analytical reports as well as forecasts.
On the eve of the 1995 Duma elections, Satarov lobbied for a decision to create two loyal parties. The first was "Our Home - Russia", the second - the Block under the leadership of Ivan Rybkin. So the mathematician began to engage in political consultations. Another recognized specialist in this field at that time was Gleb Pavlovsky.
“Democratic Party of Russia”, “Choice of Russia”, “Cedar”, “Our Home is Russia” - all these associations (and many others) were advised and assisted by Satarov Georgy Alexandrovich. The “parents” of parties in the new democratic Russia, as a rule, did not know at all how to manage their brainchildren. For this, leaders needed political consultants. "INDEM" Satarova wrote political programs, built a strategy for election campaigns, etc.
Dismissal from the Kremlin
Already in the post-Yeltsin era, Satarov mentioned that he was fulfilling orders coming from the presidential administration. Two such cases are known for certain. For the first time, INDEM made a forecast for the 1996 elections, and for the second time, it developed mathematical models of corruption in the country.
At the same time, Yeltsin created a commission, which developed a state-building project for the coming period. Satarov Georgy Alexandrovich also worked in that team. The "family" of the president had a different attitude towards this person.
For example, in August 1997, a mathematician and analyst received the Order of Honor for many years of work and services to the state. And in September, Anatoly Chubais (head of the presidential administration) began the liquidation of the post of assistant to the president. But finally he left Satarov without work in the Kremlin, not he, but Valentin Yumashev. It was the last press that called the initiator of the resignation of the head of INDEM. Satarov himself said that he left the Kremlin voluntarily, since he no longer saw in him prospects for fruitful work.
Projects of the “National Idea”
One of the possible reasons for Satarov’s resignation from the position of Assistant to the President of the Media was his failure to create a “national idea”. After the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia lived without any ideology, which was enshrined in one of the articles of the Constitution. However, the presidential administration several times tried to formulate, if not a national idea, then at least a clear political program for the near future.
It was she who was to be created by Satarov. For this work, his INDEM foundation was connected. An analyst later said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper that he should only explore possible options for a national idea. To do this, INDEM kept his finger on the pulse of the press, checked the agenda - did what most worries the people of the country. All this work was directly supervised by Satarov Georgy Alexandrovich. Nationality, a craving for prosperity, and much more - all this was tested as a possible “bond” for Russian society.
It is also possible that Satarov was fired due to his failure in the 1995 Duma elections. The analyst proposed to the authorities the concept of a center-left and center-right loyal parties. However, this agenda failed. The election was won by the communists. In parliament there were a huge number of deputies of the Communist Party and the Liberal Democratic Party.
In the late 90s
Despite his dismissal from state structures, Satarov did not lose Yeltsin's confidence. The analyst was twice involved in the creation of the annual presidential message. At the same time, in 1998 the first draft version of the document, written by Kremlin employees, was not arranged by the authorities. Therefore, the project out of habit passed Satarov. He had not worked for the state for a long time, therefore, by his own admission, he reacted to the order as to any other commercial work.
In 1999, INDEM began publishing research on corruption in Russia. The inspirer of this complex work was Satarov Georgy Alexandrovich. The biography of the analyst and the qualitative results of his research have attracted the attention of foreign funds. So INDEM received government grants from Denmark. In addition, his work was directly supported by the World Bank.
Corruption Studies
In 2000, Satarov published a high-profile study on corruption in the State Duma. The document spoke of numerous bribes in the lower house of parliament. INDEM called the People’s Deputy faction the most corrupt in the Duma.
In subsequent years, Satarov continued to engage in research on the same topic. Since 2003, he has collaborated a lot with Open Russia. This organization was created by businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky as an educational and public foundation. Satarov often gave lectures at the School of Public Policy. This event was also organized by Open Russia. When Khodorkovsky was arrested, and his Yukos oil company was declared bankrupt, Satarov began to speak out in his support.
Subsequently, the analyst collaborated with many non-systemic opposition figures - Kasparov, Kasyanov, etc. In 2015, after the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, Satarov joined his RPR-PARNAS party. A public figure often participated in human rights conferences.
