Gennady Eduardovich Burbulis (; 4 August 1945 – 19 June 2022) was a Russian politician. A close associate of Boris Yeltsin, he held several high positions in the first Russian government, including Secretary of State, and was one of the drafters and signers of the Belavezha Accords on behalf of Russia. He was one of the most influential Russian political figures in the late 1980s and early 1990s and one of the main architects of Russian political and economic reform.Rossiya 2000: Sovremennaya politicheskaya istoriya 1985-2000, Tom 2, Litsa Rossii, Moskva 2000, VOLD Dukhovnoe nasledie, ZAO NIR, RAU Universitet, p. 139
His father Eduard Kazimirovich was a military pilot, and his mother Valentina Vasilievna Belonogova was an ethnic Russian. In 1962, he graduated from high school and went to work as an instrumentation fitter at the Chrompikovy Plant, and then at the Pervouralsky Novotrubny Plant.
In 1964, he began active military service in the Strategic Rocket Forces in the Kirov Oblast.
He graduated from the philosophy department of Ural State University and later was awarded a Candidate of Science (Philosophy) degree. He taught in several institutions of higher education in and around Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg).
In 1989, Burbulis became acquainted with Boris Yeltsin, who had been elected to the Congress of People’s Deputies with 90 percent of the vote. Burbulis nominated him to the post of Chairman of the Supreme Soviet (the Congress’s standing body), which he was elected to on 29 May 1990. Yeltsin appointed Burbulis his authorized representative and deputy chairman of his Higher Consultation and Coordination Council. On 12 June 1990, the Congress of People’s Deputies of the RSFSR passed a law on the sovereignty of Russia within the framework of the Soviet Union. Yeltsin declared his candidacy for the newly established post of president and Burbulis organized his election campaign. On 12 June 1991, Yeltsin won the presidency with 57 percent of the popular vote. On 19 July 1991, Yeltsin appointed Burbulis Secretary of State, a position he held until 8 May 1992, when the post was renamed State Secretary to the President of the Russian Federation (which Burbulis held until 26 November 1992). From 6 November 1991, until 14 April 1992, Burbulis was also First Deputy to the Chairman of the Government (Cabinet). Effectively the second leader in the Russian government after Yeltsin, Burbulis was responsible for developing the strategy and overseeing the implementation of political and economic reforms. He also made significant contributions to the shaping of foreign policy and domestic security issues.
Burbulis was one of the drafters and signers of the Belavezha Accords that effectively ended the Soviet Union and founded the Commonwealth of Independent States.
By the end of 1992, Burbulis had become a lightning rod for criticism directed against the government’s reform policies. He served briefly (26 November 1992–14 December 1992) as the head of a group of advisors to the president and then left the federal administration.
In August 2009, he founded the School of Politosophy and was president of the Youth Forum of Modernizers, “My Russia.” He was also the president of the Short Track Speed Skating organizational body of the Russian Federation. Sports newsgzt.ru
|
|