Mikhail Mishustin


Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin is a Russian politician and economist serving as the prime minister of Russia since 2020. He previously served as the director of the Federal Taxation Service from 2010 to 2020.
President Vladimir Putin nominated Mishustin to become prime minister on 15 January 2020, following the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev and the rest of the government to allow for sweeping constitutional changes. Hearings on his appointment took place in the State Duma on 16 January, and he was confirmed in office that day.
Mishustin has the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation.

Early life and education

Mikhail Mishustin was born on 3 March 1966 in Lobnya, a town very close to Moscow, to the Mishustin family, Vladimir Moiseyevich and Luiza Mikhailovna. His mother was born in the city of Kotlas in the Arkhangelsk region while Mishustin's father was born in Polotsk and was of Jewish origin. Vladimir Moiseyevich Mishustin was a member of the Central Committee of the Komsomol.
In 1989, he graduated from the STANKIN, majoring in system engineering, and in 1992, he completed postgraduate studies at the same institute.
In 2003, Mikhail Mishustin completed a PhD in Economics at the Plekhanov University. In 2010, Mishustin received a DSc in Economics from the Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.

Entrepreneurship

Early career (before 1998)

After finishing graduate school, he began working as a director of a test laboratory facility. In 1992, Mishustin began working at the International Computer Club, where he worked on facilitating the integration of Russian and Western information technologies. He ultimately headed the board of the International Computer Club.

Between jobs in the state service (2008–2010)

In 2008, Mishustin left the civil service and returned to the private sector. He spent two years as the president of UFG Asset Management, an investment fund, before resigning to become head of the Federal Tax Service.
In February 2009, he joined the personnel reserve of the President of Russia.

Early career in state service (1998–2008)

Deputy head of taxation authorities (1998–2004)

In 1998, Mikhail Mishustin joined the state service as an assistant for information systems for accounting and control over the receipt of tax payments to the Head of the State Tax Service of Russia. In the same year, he became deputy head of the Service, and after the transformation of the Service into the Ministry, Mishustin became Deputy Minister of Taxes and Duties. Until 2004, he worked as Deputy minister, being second-in-command at the State Tax Service. He worked as head of the Federal Agency for Real Estate Cadastre within the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, and head of the Federal Agency for Managing Special Economic Zones.

Head of the Federal Agency for Real Estate Cadastre (2004–2006)

In 2004, by order of then Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, Mishustin headed the Federal Agency for Real Estate Cadastre, which was subordinate to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Russia.
Mikhail Mishustin was faced with the task of developing and implementing a real estate cadastre and its valuation. In two years, Rosnedvizhimost completed a massive cadastral assessment of land, which made it possible to introduce a land tax based on the cadastral the value of the land. Also in 2005, Rosnedvizhimost announced its intention to begin disclosing cadastral valuation data on privately owned land plots via the Internet.

Head of Federal Agency for the Management of Special Economic Zones (2006–2008)

In December 2006, Mishustin, by order of the Prime Minister, took the position of head of the Federal Agency for the Management of Special Economic Zones, also subordinate to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.
During Mishustin's two years as head of the Agency, the first two industrial and production special economic zones were opened in Tatarstan and Lipetsk, as well as the first technical and innovation special economic zones in Dubna, Moscow Oblast, Tomsk and Zelenograd. A system of providing state and municipal services based on the single-window system was developed and began to be implemented in the special economic zones.
In February 2008, Mishustin left the state service.

Director of the Federal Taxation Service (2010–2020)

In 2010, Mishustin return to the state service. He was appointed head of the Federal Tax Service by then–Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. After his appointment to this post, entrepreneurs expressed the hope that Mishustin, as coming from business, would be more "friendly" to Russian entrepreneurs. As head of the Federal Tax Service, Mishustin earned a reputation as a skilled technocrat and emphasized tax simplification and electronic tax services. During this period, however, the tax service was criticized for its overly strict approach to business; Mishustin rejected this criticism, pointing to a decrease in the number of on-site tax audits and tax inspections of large and medium-sized businesses.
As head of the FTS, Mishustin declared war on "dirty data" and targeted problems with unjustified value-added tax refunds. Mishustin emphasized digitization and big data, making extensive use of "techno-authoritarian" systems of government surveillance of economic activity, including the collection of data on almost every transaction in Russia. This data collection was facilitated by new legislation that required all business-to-business invoices to be submitted to the government and required all retailers to automatically transmit real-time transaction data to tax authorities through an "online cash register" process. The government used artificial intelligence to identify persons suspected of tax evasion. This system of surveillance resulted in a decrease in the share of VAT uncollected by Russian authorities during Mishustin's tenure; the "VAT gap" reportedly declined from 20% to less than 1%.

Prime Minister (2020–present)

First term (2020–2024)

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, along with his entire Cabinet, resigned on 15 January 2020, after President Vladimir Putin delivered the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, in which he proposed several amendments to the constitution. Medvedev stated that he was resigning to allow Putin to make the significant constitutional changes suggested by Putin regarding shifting power away from the presidency. Putin accepted the resignation. However, on Putin's instructions, the Cabinet continued its work as a caretaker cabinet until the formation of a new government.
On 15 January 2020, Putin nominated Mishustin for the post of prime minister. According to Putin, he was offered four candidates, but Mishustin was not among them. As a result, Putin independently decided to nominate Mishustin for the prime minister. The next day he was confirmed by the State Duma to the post and appointed prime minister by Putin's decree. This was the first time ever that a prime minister was confirmed without any votes against.
On 21 January 2020, Mishustin presented to President Vladimir Putin a draft structure of his Cabinet. On the same day, the President signed a decree on the structure of the Cabinet and appointed the proposed Ministers.
The cabinet contained multiple members from Medvedev's Second Cabinet. Only four Deputy Prime Ministers remained, along with twelve Ministers.
According to many political analysts, Mishustin is the only one of Putin's Prime Ministers who truly formed his "own" cabinet. He gathered a team of his own people and associates. Before that, in the 21st century, only Putin was able to do this. In particular, two Deputy Prime Ministers were deputies of Mishustin in the Federal Tax Service. According to experts, this means that Mishustin has been given carte blanche for changes.
On 26 March 2020, Mishustin proposed to restore the Government's Presidium, a body in the structure of the Cabinet formed to solve operational issues. Previously, such a body existed in Medvedev's First Cabinet, but had been abolished in Medvedev's Second Cabinet.
The Cabinet resigned on 7 May 2024 after the inauguration of Vladimir Putin. However on Putin's instructions the Cabinet continued its work as a caretaker cabinet.

Term

Mishustin cut the Federal budget for 2020 to 2022, in correspondence to the 2020 Presidential Address to the Parliament. Mishustin engaged in the digital economy and promised support to large companies. He also suggested creating a common electronic income database for Russians, where all citizens' incomes will be tracked.
Since February 2020, Mishustin has started traveling around the country to make a real assessment of living conditions in various regions and identify issues on which it is necessary to strengthen work. Before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Mishustin managed to visit four regions: Novgorod, Kurgan, Yaroslavl and Kostroma oblasts. In July 2020, after a decline in the active spread of the virus and the lifting of restrictions related to the pandemic, Mishustin resumed his trips, visiting Tatarstan.

COVID-19 pandemic

On 27 January 2020, Mishustin instructed the formation of an operational headquarters for the prevention of COVID-19 and on 29 January, approved its composition. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova was appointed its chief. On 30 January, he signed an order to close the borders with China in the Russian Far East. On 18 February, Mishustin signed an order banning Chinese citizens from entering Russia. The ban has been in effect since 20 February.
On 14 March, Mishustin created a Coordinating Council for the fight against coronavirus, which he personally headed. The next day, by presidential decree, a working group of the State Council was created, headed by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin. However, according to Dmitry Peskov, Mishustin's Coordinating Council is more important than Sobyanin's Working Group.
Since 16 March 2020, flights to and from the European Union, Norway and Switzerland are limited to regular flights between capital cities and Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport, and charter flights. Mishustin furthermore announced the closure of the border with Belarus for the movement of people, for which he was criticized by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, and an entry ban for foreigners imposed from 18 March to 1 May. In addition, borders with other countries bordering Russia were also closed.
On 18 and 19 March, Mishustin announced measures to support business. In particular, he instructed to defer the payment of taxes for travel agencies and airlines, as well as to defer insurance premiums for small businesses. On 19 March, he also announced the government's control over food and drug prices due to the coronavirus. It also temporarily lifted all restrictions on the supply of essential goods. On 20 March, Mishustin proclaimed that flights to the United States, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates would be restricted. On the same day, Mishustin announced that six drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 had been developed in Russia and were being tested.
On 27 March, as a follow-up to Putin's address to the nation, Mishustin ordered all reservations at pensions or holiday houses to be cancelled from 28 March to 1 June, recommended regional authorities to close all the pistes at resorts for the same period, instructed them to force all the public eating places to suspend activities from 28 March to 5 April, and recommend the citizens to refrain from travelling.
On 30 March, as Moscow and Moscow Oblast declared a lockdown, Mishustin urged all regions to follow the example and take similar measures. He also announced a bill that would raise fines for breaching quarantine requirements. On 1 April, Mishustin and the Minister of Communications Maxut Shadayev announced creating a system of tracking quarantine violation based on data of mobile network operators. Violators will receive a text message, and if they breach it systematically, the information will be sent to the police.
After testing positive for COVID-19 on 30 April, he suggested to President Putin that his deputy Andrey Belousov be appointed to take over for him as the acting prime minister. Putin signed a decree to that effect, appointing Belousov to the role on an acting basis, following Mishustin's recommendation. After recovering, Mishustin resumed discharging his duties as prime minister on 19 May, following Putin signing a decree permitting him to do so. He was the highest-ranking Russian official and the second head of government in the world to become infected with the virus.