Boris Grigorievich Fyodorov was one of Russia’s most influential economists throughout the late Soviet and post-Soviet periods. He was Russia’s first and youngest Finance Minister, and the youngest economist in the economics department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Neither the collapse of the Soviet Union, nor that of the rouble or the frequent changes of government under an increasingly ailing President Yeltsin threw him off course. He maintained solid contacts with those in power and remained the man to whom they turned for expert advice. In addition to being the co-author of Grigory Yavlinsky’s 500-day programme, and working on what became known as Yegor Gaidar’s “shock therapy”, he also established a reputation for himself with leading international institutions.

Boris Grigorievich Fyodorov was born in Moscow in 1958. Although his family was not noted as having close connections with people in power, he won a place at the prestigious Moscow Finance Institute where he studied international economic relations, graduating in 1980. His first position after graduation was working for the currency division of Gosbank, the Soviet state bank. Having spent a productive seven years there, he continued his academic study of global economic systems, completing his doctorate at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations in 1989.

During these years, despite the rhetoric praising Soviet success that was produced for public consumption, the talk among sections of the Communist Party elite focused on how to tackle the essential problems that afflicted the country, chief among them the stalling economy. This is where Fyodorov’s expertise was most desperately needed.

While Fyodorov will be remembered by many as Russia’s first and youngest Finance Minister, some who worked in the Russian state apparatus during these years suggest that it was his initial placement in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union that was the key to understanding both his professional mentality and his subsequent career. It was this position that he was headhunted for shortly after completing his studies. Officially he was classed as an “inspector” — a role that many sought — and which fell into his lap as a young man. Besides being the youngest economist in the Central Committee’s economics department, he was also one of the most senior — his position was equal to that of a minister. Long before others became familiar names in the West for their association with the reforms of the Russian economy in the 1990s, Fyodorov was among the elite.

From April 1991 to October 1992 he worked in London as the Russia division head for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and in late 1992 he took a position at the World Bank, leading its Russia section. It was in connection with his work at the EBRD and its projects in St Petersburg that he became acquainted with Vladimir Putin. Fyodorov would later work for President Putin on his tax reform programme, something Fyodorov considered among his most important work on national economic matters.

Fyodorov was a skilled political operator who had no desire to be a politician but had an excellent understanding of how the political machine worked. Although he served as a deputy in the Duma in 1995-98, in interviews with the Russian press he referred to politics as a bad habit that he could happily quit. He considered himself an economist first and foremost, and was less interested in ideological discussions of what would be in the national interest, and more concerned with the resolution of concrete problems. It was this ability that made him one of the first people that successive Russian governments turned to. He was not a Communist Party ideologue nor a believer in the politics espoused by the fledgeling ranks of Russia’s political democrats. He was, however, a talented man who proved too useful to ignore.

In 2000 Fyodorov took independent directorships at Gazprom, Sberbank and RAO-UES, three of Russia’s most important companies in natural resources, banking and electricity, where he played an active role. He was a vocal critic of their book-keeping and lobbied hard for an independent audit of Gazprom. As Russia’s economy embraced market principles, individual opportunities — especially for those well placed within the system — multiplied. Fyodorov was not shy in looking to what he could accomplish for himself, in addition to what he could do for the nation. He quickly formed a solid working relationship with Charles Ryan, of Deutsche Bank, and together they established United Financial Group, one of Russia’s first investment banks.

More recently Fyodorov focused on personal business interests; he established companies — primarily investment vehicles — whose highly volatile portfolios took a heavy hit in the global economic crisis. Although in recent years he referred to himself as a writer, farmer and archaeologist, his contribution to the development of the Russian economy along market lines was significant. In addition to his groundbreaking work as an economist on state budget matters, tax, banking and finance, he was the author of the Russian law on the central bank, and also compiled Russia’s first Anglo-Russian dictionary of 15,000 key banking and economic terms, a key text that remains an aid to all who work in this sector in Russia.

Among other publications (200 articles and books in total) are several significant historical works, one examining the role of Pyotr Stolypin, and another an impassioned defence of old buildings in Moscow, many of which were destroyed during the construction period that accompanied Russia’s dramatic economic growth.

Fyodorov is survived by his wife, Olga, and a daughter and two sons.

Boris Grigorievich Fyodorov, Russian economist, was born on February 13, 1958. He died after a suspected stroke on November 20, 2008, aged 50