Vladimir Shumeyko is a famous domestic political and statesman. He was one of the closest associates of the first president of Russia Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin. From 1994 to 1996, he headed the Federation Council.
Biography Politician
Vladimir Shumeyko was born in Rostov-on-Don in 1945. His father was a military man, and his ancestors came from the Don Cossacks. The hero of our article graduated from high school in Krasnodar, its number was 47. Then he was educated at the Polytechnic Institute of the same city with a degree in electrical engineering. A diploma of successful graduation was issued to him in 1972. It is worth noting that after this he continued to do research, becoming a candidate of technical and a doctor of economic sciences. Received the title of professor.
The working career of Vladimir Shumeyko began at the factory of electrical measuring instruments. He worked as a fitter. Then he served in the army as part of the Soviet group of forces in the German Democratic Republic, in 1970 he was discharged.
In 1970 he entered the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Electrical Measuring Instruments as an engineer. Over time, he became a senior, then a leading engineer, headed the laboratory, and headed the department of the research institute. In 1981, he received a Ph.D. in technical sciences.
In 1985, Vladimir Shumeyko became the chief designer of the project, and then the general director of a large production association, which was called the Krasnodar Plant of Measuring Instruments. In the same year he was elected to the Council of People's Deputies of Krasnodar from the Pervomaisky district.
Political career
Since then began the political career of Vladimir Filippovich Shumeyko. In 1990, he served as deputy chairman of the committee of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, dealing with property issues and economic reforms. Over time, he leads the commission on the natural and cultural heritage of the peoples of the RSFSR.
In May 1991, he became Boris Yeltsin's confidant in the presidential elections in the RSFSR. In the future, he moves up the career ladder: he leads the commission on legislative support for presidential decrees, becomes the deputy chairman of the Supreme Council on granting foreign partners the right to develop oil fields in Sakhalin, and leads the anti-crisis commission. In those years, Vladimir Filippovich Shumeyko, whose biography is given in this article, is considered one of the key supporters and associates of President Boris Yeltsin.
In June 1992, the hero of our article takes the chair of the Deputy Prime Minister already in the structure of the Russian Federation. For several weeks in 1993, he led the Ministry of Press and Information.
In the Federation Council
Vladimir Shumeyko, whose biography you are reading now, at the very beginning of 1994, took the chair of the Federation Council. This post has just been established, so the hero of our article was the first to take this post. Only in January 1996 was he replaced by Yegor Stroyev.
At the head of the highest chamber of the federal assembly, he showed himself as a supporter of exclusively radical reforms. He was an ardent supporter of Gaidar, many regional leaders opposed his candidacy, and they managed to overcome their resistance with great difficulty. Having become the speaker of the Federation Council, he repeatedly sharply criticized the work of the State Duma, accusing it of conservatism.
Shumeyko at the end of 1995 outlined a new field of activity. He officially announced the creation of a new political movement, called "Russian Reforms - A New Deal." In 1998, the movement was transformed into a party. In 1996 he defended his doctoral dissertation in economics.
Since 1997, Shumeyko goes into entrepreneurial structures. First, he heads the Yugra Corporation, and then the Rus Corporation. In April 1998, he was elected chairman of the board of directors of the Evikhon company, which is developing the Salym oil field in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area. The Russian company is working together with Shell, a major global giant in the industry.
At the same time, Shumeyko is attempting to return to politics, but to no avail. In 1999, he put forward his candidacy for the Legislative Assembly of the Evenki Autonomous Region. But as a result, the district court revoked his registration, revealing a number of violations.
Since April 2007, he served as the head of the representative office of the Kaliningrad Region in Moscow.
Political position
It is noteworthy that when nominating people’s deputies at the congress, Shumeyko often took fundamentally opposite positions - from radical to centrist. At the same time, in 1990 he joined the democratic group "Communists of Russia", which came as a surprise to many.
In the fall of 1991, he officially joined the faction called the Industrial Union, and soon became a member of another faction called the Radical Democrats. Moreover, both of these political movements had a lot of contradictions in their programs, stood on different positions on many issues, but Shumeyko was not the first to prove the diversity and breadth of his political views.
In May 1992, the hero of our article became one of the leaders of the Reform deputy group, which supports President Boris Yeltsin without having an official status and uniting deputies from several different factions. They are all united by the fact that they support the policies pursued by the government and the head of state, but at the same time seek to avoid the dissolution of the Congress of People's Deputies by any means. However, when Shumeiko was appointed first deputy prime minister of the government, this happened in June 1992, he was not officially a member of any of the factions of the Russian parliament.
It is also known that in December 1991, as a member of the Supreme Council, he voted for the ratification of the Bialowieza Agreement, which officially approved the termination of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Financial scandal
Political scandals in the 90s did not pass over the figure of Shumeyko. In May 1993, Alexander Rutskoi, who at that time served as vice president, accused the hero of our article of financial fraud. According to Rutsky, Shumeyko covered up his dark affairs with the construction of a plant for the production of baby food, which was carried out in the Moscow region.
Shumeyko did not keep waiting for an adequate response from himself, blaming Rutsky himself for corruption. The investigation began, which accused Shumeyko of direct orders by Rosagrokhim (as a state company) to send 15 million US dollars to the Telamon commercial structure. If you believe the conclusion made in the Chamber of Commerce, as a result, the fate of $ 9.5 million of this amount remained unknown. Valentin Stepanov, who at that time held the post of general prosecutor, officially announced that there were signs of misconduct in Shumeyko’s actions. In the summer of 1993, the Supreme Council approved the institution of criminal proceedings against Shumeyko. The approval of the Armed Forces was required, since the hero of our article had the status of a former people's deputy.
Resignation
As a result, Russian President Boris Yeltsin intervened in the conflict. He removed Shumeyko and Rutsky from the posts they held at that time. Yeltsin took this step even though the Constitution did not contain the possibility of dismissing the vice president.
At the same time, Shumeyko actually continued to fulfill his duties, since Yeltsin trusted him, but wanted to calm down the opposition, the leader of which was considered to be Rutskoi. For those who knew about political undercover games, it was obvious that the decree was directed exclusively against the vice president.
After the October coup
After the October coup of 1993, Shumeiko received the post of Minister of Information and Press. In this position, he noted a decree that banned all nationalist media. As noted in the decree, it was the activity of these newspapers that became one of the causes of bloodshed and riots that occurred in the capital. True, he did not stay long in the ministerial chair. Already in December 1993, Shumeyko was elected to the Federation Council. He represented the Kaliningrad region. In 2010, he received the Order of Merit to the region.
Loud statements
Like his followers, who were the speakers of the Federation Council (Stroyev and Mironov), Shumeyko led the interparliamentary assembly of the CIS countries. At his post, he noted a number of loud and resonant statements. For example, he advocated the signing of the Bishkek Protocol, which called for a ceasefire and a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Career after SF
Then he created the movement "Reforms - New Deal", had unclear prospects and program. At the same time, the hero of our article never received any more significant post in government structures.
However, his name periodically continued to appear in scandals. In 2005, he was questioned in the case of the sale of the state stake "Sosnovka-3" to businessman Mikhail Fridman.
