Igor Sechin
Igor Sechin | |
|---|---|
| Born | Igor Ivanovich Sechin September 7, 1960 |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman, government official |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Known for | CEO, president, and chairman of Rosneft; Deputy Prime Minister of Russia (2008–2012); close associate of Vladimir Putin |
Igor Ivanovich Sechin (; born 7 September 1960) is a prominent Russian businessman and government figure, widely acknowledged as one of Vladimir Putin’s closest associates and often described as his "de facto deputy."
Sechin has maintained a close relationship with Putin since the early 1990s, initially serving as his chief of staff during Putin’s tenure as deputy mayor of St. Petersburg in 1994. Following Putin’s ascension to the presidency in 2000, Sechin was appointed deputy chief of staff, with responsibilities covering security agencies and the energy sector. In 2004, he was named chairman of Rosneft, Russia’s state-owned oil enterprise. Between 2008 and 2012, Sechin held the position of Deputy Prime Minister. Presently, he functions as CEO, president, and chairman of Rosneft’s management board.
Regarded as a leading member of the Kremlin's Siloviki faction—comprising former intelligence and security personnel—Sechin is considered among Putin’s most conservative advisors. He has faced international sanctions following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. His dominant role in Russia’s energy industry and political landscape has earned him the nickname Darth Vader.
Career
Sechin completed his studies at Leningrad State University in 1984, specializing as a linguist with fluency in Portuguese and French. During the 1980s, he worked as a Soviet interpreter in Mozambique. From 1991 until 1996, Sechin was employed at the Saint Petersburg mayor’s office and became chief of staff to first deputy mayor Vladimir Putin in 1994. Between 1996 and 1998, he occupied significant roles under Putin within the presidential property management department and the main control directorate. In August 1999, he was appointed head of the prime minister’s secretariat under Putin and served as first deputy chief of the Russian presidential administration until January 2000.
From December 1999 through May 2008, Sechin acted as deputy chief within Putin’s presidential administration. During this time, he forged strong connections with security officials such as Oleg Feoktistov, who later led Rosneft’s security service. Feoktistov headed the FSB’s Internal Security Directorate—often referred to as "Sechin's Special Forces"—which was established on Sechin’s initiative. In May 2008, President Dmitry Medvedev appointed Sechin deputy prime minister, a move interpreted by some observers as a demotion.
Stratfor described Sechin as “the leader of Russia's vast state oil company Rosneft who commands loyalty from the FSB,” reflecting the FSB’s sway over Russia’s energy sector.
On 27 July 2004, Sechin assumed the chairmanship of JSC Rosneft, which absorbed assets formerly held by imprisoned tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s company Yukos. Since May 2012, he has held the position of Rosneft president. Khodorkovsky accused Sechin of orchestrating his detention and subsequent asset confiscation. In 2008, Sechin reportedly prevented Gazprom from replacing the AAR consortium within the TNK-BP joint venture.
In 2008, Sechin conducted private discussions with BP CEO Bob Dudley. He also negotiated arms and nuclear technology agreements with Venezuela during Hugo Chávez’s presidency and secured contracts with Cuba for deep-water drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Furthermore, Sechin chairs the board of directors at the United Shipbuilding Corporation, influencing negotiations with France over Mistral-class amphibious assault ships; he advocated for constructing two vessels domestically rather than importing one.
Following President Medvedev’s directive on 12 April 2011 requiring senior officials to resign from major corporations, Sechin stepped down from Rosneft’s board. After Putin resumed the presidency in May 2012, Sechin resigned his deputy prime minister post and returned to Rosneft as chairman. He also took on the role of executive secretary for Russia’s commission dedicated to developing fuel and energy complex strategy.
In December 2014 and again in December 2017, leading media outlets identified Sechin as Russia’s second most powerful individual after Putin.
The Steele dossier claimed that in 2016 Sechin met with Donald Trump campaign adviser Carter Page to offer a private stake in Rosneft contingent upon sanctions being lifted; however, the subsequent 2019 Mueller Report found no evidence supporting this allegation.
Sechin played an instrumental role in the arrest and prosecution of former economy minister Alexei Ulyukaev on bribery charges involving himself, highlighting his considerable political clout.
At the Russian-Chinese Energy Business Forum held in Beijing in November 2018, Sechin emphasized expanding collaboration between Rosneft and Chinese energy firms amid heightened global protectionism and trade disputes. The forum saw agreements signed covering exploration, production, and refining ventures with China’s Hengli Group.
Sanctions
On 20 March 2014, the United States government imposed sanctions on Igor Sechin in response to the Russian administration's involvement in the Ukrainian conflict. These sanctions entailed a ban on Sechin's travel to the US, the freezing of his assets within the country, and a prohibition on business dealings between US entities and Sechin or his affiliated companies. Additionally, Rosneft, a company closely associated with Sechin, was added to the Sectoral Sanctions Identification (SSI) List.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Union included Sechin on its blacklist and froze all his assets. In March 2022, the UK government implemented comparable restrictions, consisting of asset freezes and a travel ban. By mid-March, Spanish and Italian authorities had confiscated two of Sechin’s luxury yachts, Amore Vero and Crescent, as part of these sanctions.
Sechin continues to be subject to UK sanctions connected to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian conflict.
Personal life
Igor Sechin has been married twice. He ended his first marriage with Marina Sechina in 2011. Post-divorce, Marina significantly increased her wealth, appearing in The Paradise Papers and owning a mansion located in Moscow’s Serebryany Bor area as of 2017. After five years of marriage, Sechin divorced his second wife, Olga Rozhkova, in June 2017. Olga was linked to the 85.6-meter superyacht St Princess Olga, constructed by Oceanco and delivered in 2013; following their separation, the yacht was renamed Amore Vero.
Sechin and Marina have a daughter named Inga (born 1982), who graduated from Saint Petersburg Mining University and was employed at Surgutneftegasbank in 2018. Inga married Dmitry Ustinov, an intelligence officer from Russia and son of Vladimir Ustinov—former Prosecutor General and current Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Southern Federal District. They had a son in 2005 but later divorced. Inga subsequently married Timerbulat Karimov, a former senior vice-president at VTB Bank and board member of Russian Copper Company, one of Russia’s leading copper producers. Since 2015, Inga has been the sole proprietor of Khoroshiye Lyudi (Good People), a Moscow-based firm holding a 40% share in Novgorod Agropark—a turkey farming operation in Veliky Novgorod targeting annual production between 22,000 and 30,000 tons.
After Vladimir Ustinov’s removal from office in 2006, it is reported that Sechin helped secure the appointment of his ally Alexander Bastrykin as Chairman of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor General's Office in 2007 to preserve their sphere of influence.
Sechin’s son Ivan (born 1989), from his first marriage with Marina, graduated from Moscow State University’s Lomonosov business school and worked closely alongside his father at Rosneft as First Deputy Director of the Department of Joint Offshore Projects as of 2018. Ivan was subjected to US sanctions in February 2022 and died under unusual circumstances in February 2024; delayed emergency medical response contributed to his death caused by a blood clot. Following this incident, Sechin requested an inquiry into the conduct of the security personnel involved.
From his marriage to Olga comes another daughter named Varvara.
External links
- Igor Sechin’s profile and assets on Russian Asset Tracker
- Biography, Lenta.ru (Russian language).