He served previously as the Regional Development Minister in the Russian cabinet headed by Viktor Zubkov from 2007 to 2008. From 2004 to 2007, he served as Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Southern Federal District (North Caucasus and Southern European Russia).[7]
Dmitry Kozak is a close ally of Vladimir Putin, having worked with him in the St Petersburg city administration during the 1990s and later becoming one of the key figures in Putin's presidential team. During the 2004 Russian presidential election, he worked as the head of Putin's election campaign team. Kozak was one of several members of Putin's circle touted in the media[which?] as a possible candidate to succeed Putin as president in 2008.[8]
Kozak graduated from Leningrad State University (now St. Petersburg State University) in 1985 with a degree in law.
From 1985 to 1989, he worked in the Leningrad prosecutor's office as a Prosecutor and Senior Prosecutor. He moved into the business sector in 1989, working as head of the legal department at Monolit-Kirovstroy construction company and chief legal consultant for the Association of Trade Ports.[12]
Political career
Kozak worked as a public prosecutor in Leningrad and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, holding various legal offices in the city's administration. In 1998 he became Deputy Governor of Saint Petersburg.[13]
In 1999, along with other St. Petersburg city officials, he joined the government of Vladimir Putin. He was Chief of Staff from 1999 to 2000. Dmitry Kozak became deputy head of the presidential administration and remained in this position under various titles until 2004.[14] In 2003, he briefly entered international politics and unsuccessfully attempted to solve the conflict between Transnistria and Moldova (see Kozak memorandum).[15][16][17]
In September 2004, Kozak was appointed Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Southern Federal District, replacing Vladimir Yakovlev.[18][19] On 24 September 2007, he was appointed to the new Russian cabinet headed by Viktor Zubkov as regional development minister, succeeding Vladimir Yakovlev again, and leaving his previous position. On 14 October 2008, he became deputy prime minister of Russia and served until 2020. On 15 January 2020, he resigned as part of the cabinet, after PresidentVladimir Putin delivered the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, in which he proposed several amendments to the constitution.[20]
According to Stanislav Belkovsky, Kozak is not well liked by Putin's entourage, but Vladimir Putin does like Kozak, apparently wanting to appoint Kozak as prime minister in 2004 and tapping Kozak as the successor to Putin as president in 2008, however, Dmitry Medvedev won the presidential race. Alexei Makarkin of the Center for Political Technologies said that Putin trusts Kozak as one of his men.[10]
On the first day of Russian's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kozak rang Zelensky aid Andrii Yermak stating it was time for Ukrainians to surrender. Yermak swore and hung up.[23] According to sources close to the Kremlin, Kozak was against the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and against the invasion of Ukraine. Putin wanted to annex southeastern Ukraine, and for that reason he allegedly rejected a peace deal brokered by Kozak guaranteeing that Ukraine would not join NATO if Russia stopped attacking Ukraine.[24]
On 29 April 2014, Kozak was added to the European Union sanctions list due to his role in the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.[31][32] He is barred from entering the EU countries, and his assets in the EU are frozen.[33]
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"Russia's Medvedev: Expect surprises in Kremlin race". Reuters. 30 September 2007. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2009. Putin's close ally Dmitry Kozak, recently promoted to the post of regional development minister, will not run, Russian media reported on Sunday.
^"Biography of Dmitry Kozak". Kommersant (in Russian). Moscow. 25 September 2007. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
^"История университета" [History Institute]. Винницкий Национальный Технический Университет website (vntu.edu.ua/ru/home) (in Russian). 22 November 2019.