Communications Minister

NAME: IGOR OLEGOVICH SHCHYOGOLEV

BORN: 10 November 1965 in the town of Vinnytsia, Ukrainian Soviet Republic.

EDUCATION: *From 1982 to 1984 Shchyogolev was a student at the Faculty of Translation at the Maurice Thorez Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages (renamed in 1990 as Moscow State Linguistic University); *Studied at the Faculty of Journalism at Leipzig University (84-88). *In 1988 he graduated from both universities, with a specialization as a philologist.

CAREER: *From 1988 to 1991 Shchyogolev was editor of the American office of the main international editorship of the news agency TASS (Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union). In January 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, TASS was inherited by the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS). Shchyogolev worked there until 1993 as editor and senior editor of the European office of the news agency. *From 1993 to 1997 Shchyogolev was foreign correspondent at the ITAR-TASS regional center in Paris. 
*In 1997 Shchyogolev returned to Russia where he was made deputy editor-in-chief of the main news service of ITAR-TASS. 
*From June to September 1998 Shchyogolev worked as deputy chief of the directorate of the governmental information personnel. *From September to October 1998 he served as press secretary of Yevgeniy Primakov’s cabinet. *From October 1998 to May 1998 Shchyogolev was chief of the directorate at the governmental information personnel. *In November 1998 Shchyogolev was made member of the board of state representatives of Public Russian Television (now called Channel One Television). *From June to August 1999 he served as adviser to Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin and then to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
*From January 2000 Shchyogolev began to work as chief of the press-service directorate of Acting President Vladimir Putin.
*On December 29, 2001 Shchyogolev was appointed chief of the Presidential Protocol.
In his new position, Shchyogolev coordinated protocol-organizational preparations with the collaboration of the president, including trips around Russia and abroad.
*On May 12, 2008, Shchyogolev was named as Minister of Communications and Mass Media under Vladimir Putin’s second cabinet.

MISCELLANEOUS: *Shchyogolev is a member of the editorial committee of the PR journal “Sovietnik”. *He is considered a specialist in European studies. *He speaks French, German and English. *He is married.
*Tied to Yevgeny Primakov. *In March 2001, together with chief of presidential administration Vladislav Surkov and renowned designer Artem Lebedev, Shchyogolev was a member of the jury for the creative works competition in conceptualizing and designing Vladimir Putin’s official internet site.

SUBORDINATES: *The Ministry of Communications is responsible for superintending mass-media activities.