Mikhail Mishustin

He was nominated for Prime Minister of the Russian Federation by President Vladimir Putin on 15 January 2020, following the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev. Hearings on his appointment were held in the State Duma on 16 January, and he was confirmed to the office that day.

On 30 April 2020, Mishustin announced that he tested positive for COVID-19, thus becoming the highest-ranking Russian official and the second head of government in the world after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to be infected with the virus. On 19 May, Mishustin returned to the exercise of his powers after recovering.

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 PM 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.

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 the first Government of Medvedev, but in the second Government of Medvedev there was no Presidium.

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.

On 16 January 2020, the Russia-based Anti-Corruption Foundation called on Mishustin to explain how his wife earned almost 800 million rubles over 9 years. On 19 January, the Kommersant newspaper published a detailed analysis of all the financial activities of Mikhail Mishustin, including his leadership of UFG Invest — one of the country's largest investment companies. When switching to the civil service in 2010, Mishustin, in accordance with the law, transferred all his assets and investment projects to his wife. From that moment, Vladlena Mishustina started receiving dividends, which is confirmed by official declarations. According to Kommersant, a significant part of the assets were sold in 2013 and 2014, and the proceeds were placed in deposit accounts to receive interest.

On 30 April 2020, Mishutsin tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. He informed President Vladimir Putin of his infection via a video-call. He also stated that he was going into self-quarantine. Putin expressed sympathy and wished him a quick recovery. Mishutsin was the first high-ranking Russian official to disclose his coronavirus infection to the public. His diagnosis also makes him the most high-profile political figure in Russia to contract the coronavirus.

In 2010, Mishustin was appointed head of the Federal Tax Service (FTS). 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.

In February 2009, he joined the personnel reserve of the President of Russia.

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 1998, he 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 the Russian Federation. From 1998 to 2004, he worked as Deputy tax 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.

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 (ICC), where he worked on facilitating the integration of Russian and Western information technologies. He ultimately headed the board of the International Computer Club.

In 1989, he graduated from the STANKIN, majoring in system engineering, and then in 1992, he completed postgraduate studies at the same Institute.

Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin (Russian: Михаил Владимирович Мишустин , [mʲɪxɐˈiɫ vɫɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ mʲɪˈʂusʲtʲɪn] ; born 3 March 1966) is a Russian politician and economist serving as Prime Minister of Russia since 16 January 2020. He previously served as Director of the Federal Tax Service from 2010 to 2020.

Mikhail Mishustin was born on 3 March 1966 in Lobnya, a town close to Moscow, or in Moscow itself, to the Mishustin family, Vladimir Moiseyevich and Luiza Mikhailovna. His mother was born in the city of Kotlas in the Arkhangelsk region. Mishustin's father, born in Polotsk, Belarus, who was reportedly of Belarusian Jewish origin, was a member of the Komsomol.