The former head of the state corporation Rosnano, former head of RAO UES and former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais, who in recent years was Vladimir Putin's representative for sustainable development and climate in international organizations, has resigned from his post and left Russia. His departure is reported by Bloobmerg, citing two sources familiar with the situation, while TASS confirms his departure as Putin's special envoy.
According to Bloomberg's sources, Chubais explicitly cited his opposition to the war that the Kremlin launched in Ukraine on Feb. 24. The 66-year-old official was one of the first officials of such high standing to cut ties with the Kremlin over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The war has been going on for nearly a month, during which time more than 3 million refugees have fled Ukraine, several Ukrainian cities have been destroyed and virtually wiped off the face of the earth, and Western countries have imposed super-harsh sanctions on Russia.
Chubais, 66, is one of the few remaining economic reformers of the 1990s in power. Chubais is considered the "architect" of Russian privatization in the 1990s. In 1991-1994, he was head of Russia's State Committee on State Property Management, in 1992-1994 deputy chairman of the Russian government under Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, then head of the presidential administration and finance minister under President Boris Yeltsin.
Under Vladimir Putin, Chubais held senior positions in major state companies, including RAO UES and Rosnano, until he was appointed envoy for sustainable development in 2020. Bloomberg notes that Chubais had developed ties with foreign top officials and organizations.
