Former Russian Prime Minister and opposition politician Mikhail Kasyanov was recognized as a foreign agent. reported Russian Ministry of Justice.
According to the ministry, Kasyanov helped distribute materials from other foreign agents. Including misinformation about Russian politics. He also opposes the military operation in Ukraine and speaks “about information platforms provided by foreign structures.” The Ministry of Justice added that the politician was a member of the “Russia Anti-War Committee”, which discredited the actions of the Russian Federation. As the ministry stated, the former prime minister now lives abroad.
“He does not allow him to loosen his tie”: Kasyanov in the Russian government
In the 90s, Kasyanov became Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation. He maintained this position during three different government periods. Instead, the politician conducted difficult negotiations with foreign creditors: first about the USSR’s debt, then about the default situation. Kasyanov was able to make it Conditions were good for Russia and he gained a reputation as a skilled negotiator. Here are their tactics registered “Kommersant” was that he “monotonously spent hours convincing creditors to accept our terms.”
Former Russian Finance Minister Boris Fedorov described Kasyanov as “a pragmatic, cautious and intelligent person.” Kommersant wrote that the official “never allowed him to loosen his tie.” in 1999 He became Minister of Finance, and a year later – Prime Minister.
In the 2000s, Kasyanov’s cabinet implemented many successful reforms, including tax, budget and pension reforms. However, Putin later did not highly appreciate the politician’s work as prime minister.
“Did it work effectively? I tried to do something for the first year and a half. There was zero activity in the second two years. He was already thinking about becoming president and was afraid of taking careless steps, Putin said in 2011.
At the same time, the current head of state said that some government members wanted Kasyanov to be dismissed because they did not want to “work with this fraudster.” “And once, before he came to government, they gave him a nickname: “Two percent Misha.” Because he is allegedly involved in some corruption business,” Putin explained.
He clarified that there was no evidence of these rumors. The nickname stems from Kasyanov’s alleged lobbying for the interests of others in exchange for bribes. Thus, he received two percent of the total transaction amount from the relevant party.
Opposition Kasyanov
Despite the successful reforms, differences of opinion emerged between Putin and Kasyanov. Thus, Putin blocked the gas market reform promoted by Kasyanov. The politician condemned the high-profile arrest of businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky (recognized in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent) in 2003 and said that what was happening would not benefit the country’s image. In response, the president asked the government not to “get caught up in controversy” and “stop the hysteria” regarding the Khodorkovsky case.
“Around February 2003, I began to understand: Putin and I are different people. In other words, it is different in terms of understanding the development of the country. “Tensions have begun,” Kasyanov explained the situation. He also stated that he did not agree with the president regarding relations between the Russian Federation and Ukraine and Belarus.
As a result, Putin dismissed Kasyanov until the end of his first presidential term. According to the politician, after that Putin offered him the post of Secretary of the Security Council three times, but he refused.
“For my part, I decided I wasn’t going to be in government anymore, so I didn’t want to be in the public service. Then I wanted to leave,” Kasyanov later explained.
After his resignation, the politician joined the opposition. He tried to run for president in the 2008 elections, but the Central Election Commission refused to register him, acknowledging that some of the signatures his team collected were fake. Dmitry Medvedev won the elections that year.
In 2015, Kasyanov compiled the “Nemtsov List,” a list of Russian journalists who “harassed” opposition politician Boris Nemtsov. Kasyanov sent this list to the US Congress, calling for sanctions to be imposed on those involved. Now the politician actively criticizes Russian President Putin, as well as Moscow’s domestic and foreign policy. He specifically stated that a dictatorship now exists in Russia and that a “significant” part of Russian society has been “deceived”.