German Gref

German Gref Oskarowitsch ( German Herrmann Graef, Russian Герман Оскарович Греф; born February 8, 1964 in Panfilowo, Pavlodar Oblast, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union, now Kazakhstan ) is a Russian politician russia German origin. Between May 2000 and September 2007, he was Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation.

Life

Gref's ancestors had already come under Peter the Great of Germany to Russia. As an ethnic German family was deported in 1941 under Joseph Stalin from the Donets Basin region to Kazakhstan.

After graduation Gref made ​​1982-1984 military service in a police special forces in the city Chapayevsk. He then studied law at the University of Omsk and graduated in 1990 with honors. A short time later he went to Leningrad, where he worked as a research assistant at the university. During this time he also met the future President Putin know.

In 1991, Gref in the Peter Hofer city council, where until 1994 he worked as head of asset management, first as legal adviser from 1992. 1994 Gref was promoted in the municipality of Saint Petersburg, where he co-initiated, among others, a failed housing reform in the coming years. In September 1997 he became vice - governor of St. Petersburg under the then Governor Vladimir Yakovlev.

On the recommendation of the reformer Anatoly Chubais in economic policy generally regarded as liberal Gref on 12 August 1998 was appointed Deputy Minister for the administration of state property. In January 2000 he became chairman of the Center for Strategic Developments, where he was involved in the development of a liberal economic reform program for Russia.

On 18 May 2000, Gref Minister of Economic Affairs in the Government of the Russian Federation under the new Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov. Even after the withdrawal of the latter kept Gref this post under Mikhail Fradkov still up to his resignation on September 12, 2007. During his time as Minister of Economics Gref was, among other co-initiator of the establishment of the stabilization fund for state surplus revenues from the oil and gas business as well as one of the lobbyists for Russia's accession to the WTO.

Following the resignation as Minister Gref was appointed CEO of Sberbank, one of the largest banks of Russia, elected in November 2007. He is also a board member of several state of Russian corporations, including Gazprom and Svyazinvest.

Gref is fluent in German. He is married for the second time. His current wife Jana is a designer. 2006, a daughter was born. Oleg, the son from his first marriage, as his father became a lawyer, studied in Russia and in Germany.