In 1237-1242, Batu Khan's troops, during a campaign to the west, conquered almost all of Eastern Europe. After the loss of sovereignty, the Russian principalities, like other conquered lands, began to pay tribute to the Golden Horde. This continued until 1480. Moreover, many historians assess the tax burden of the Horde in different ways. Some sources claim that the burden of the Horde taxes was an unbearable burden for the Russian peasants. Other experts, on the contrary, consider the size of the Horde tribute to be quite adequate.

Covered almost everyone

The very first mention of tax collection in favor of the Mongol khans dates back to 1245. In the Novgorod Chronicle, historians found the following lines: "And counted in number, and began to pay tribute to imati on them." We are talking about a census of the population of Rus', organized by the conquerors, in order to determine the amount of the population subject to taxation. The Mongols carried out such statistical calculations in all the principalities shortly after the establishment of their power.

It took several years for the representatives of the Golden Horde to streamline the work of collecting tribute. There were exceptions, of course. Residents protested, staged uprisings, killed Baskaks - tribute collectors. But these popular revolts were sometimes suppressed by the princes themselves, who did not want to provoke the wrath of the Mongols.

At the end of the 13th century, the entire population of Rus' was counted, and the Mongols created 43 tax districts (darkness) on the territory of the local principalities.

It is noteworthy that before the Mongol invasion, most Russians did not pay any taxes. Therefore, the dissatisfaction of the people was great.

The only estate that the tax innovations did not affect in any way was the clergy. In all the conquered countries, the descendants of Genghis Khan sought to achieve the loyalty of the clergy, regardless of their religion - such was the policy.

At first, experiencing a shortage of personnel, the Mongols entrusted the collection of tribute from the Russian principalities to tax-farmers. As a rule, rich people contributed a certain amount to the treasury of the Golden Horde, and in return they received the right to tax the population of a particular territory. But this practice turned out to be flawed. Greedy tax-farmers practically robbed the inhabitants of Rus', provoking riots. Therefore, at the beginning of the XIV century, the collection of tribute was entrusted to the princes themselves.

Yasak

The main tax levied by the conquerors was the so-called "yasak" (exit). It was paid by peasants and artisans. Initially, the amount of this tax was one tenth of the income of each family and was paid in products and goods. For example, Novgorodians could give the Horde Baskak both silver and marten skins. But soon the natural output was replaced by its monetary equivalent.

It is known that in 1275 the inhabitants of the north-east of Rus' every year were forced to pay the rulers of the Golden Horde half a hryvnia from each plow (that is, from a peasant farm, farmstead). Moreover, the silver hryvnia at that time weighed 150-200 g. It turns out that one family annually gave the Mongols 75-100 g of silver. Not so little, but not an unbearable tax burden.

Tamga

Merchants of all stripes paid tamga. It is from the name of this tax that the Russian word"customs". It is noteworthy that this tax could be levied both on capital and on the annual turnover of each individual merchant. The size of the Mongolian tamga cannot be compared with modern rates of trade taxes, excises and fees. Obviously, the rulers of the Golden Horde sought to maintain business activity in the territories they conquered.

Judge for yourself. Merchants from Persia and Central Asia from every 240 dinars of their capital had to pay 1 dinar to the Mongolian treasury. And if the tamga was charged from turnover, then it varied within 3-5%, depending on the geographical location of a particular city and the presence of busy trade routes there.

Given the wealth of merchants, the amount of this tax was calculated not in silver, as from peasants and artisans, but in gold. Influential "oligarchs" of that time were taxed individually, and representatives of small and medium-sized businesses paid tamga collectively, uniting in associations.

Other taxes

In addition to the two aforementioned taxes, which amounted to main part of all the income of the Golden Horde, the Mongols collected many others. Yes, for content. post stations manned by horses, pits were charged. Subsequently, the name of the pit service was formed from this word.

The inhabitants of Rus' also had to hospitably receive the khan's ambassadors. They were provided with "food" - funds for personal needs and the maintenance of those close to them. Of course, the offering of various gifts to influential representatives of the Golden Horde was welcomed.

3. Gifts

Each prince, going to the headquarters of the khan, brought with him not only the collected silver and gold, but also valuable things, luxury items intended for the ruler himself, his advisers and relatives.

By itself, the Turkic word tuzghu means "gifts and offerings to those who arrived." In the Novgorod Chronicle there is such an entry: "And there was great confusion in Novgorod, when the damned Tatars gathered a crowd and caused much harm to people in the countryside." These dramatic events date back to 1259.

As historians have found out, a year earlier Novgorodians staged a riot, not wanting to participate in the census: people understood that as soon as their number was counted, tribute would begin. Then the Mongols went to Novgorod to take Tusk by force and punished the rebels.

From time to time, "requests" for various needs were collected from the Russian principalities. Usually it was about financing military operations, often carried out by the Mongolian army together with the princely squads.

For the opportunity not to send their sons as recruits to the Mongolian army, their parents paid kulush.

So, how much?

As historians have calculated, multiplying the amount of taxes by the population of Rus', each year of the Mongol-Tatar yoke cost the inhabitants of all local principalities about 12-14 thousand rubles, which was approximately equal to 1.5 tons of silver.

This is relatively little, because the Chinese provinces conquered by the Mongols gave three times more income. And the southern Song empire paid off possible raids by paying the Mongols 7.5 tons of silver annually and sending whole caravans of camels loaded with silk fabrics. In other words, the taxes of all of China exceeded 12 tons of the precious metal. True, the Celestial Empire was already noticeably more populous than other countries in those years.

If we talk about individual principalities, then the amounts varied depending on the population and many other circumstances. So, in the middle of the XIV century, the Vladimir lands paid the Mongols 5 thousand rubles every year, and the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality - 1.5 thousand rubles. Novgorod and Tver lands gave 2,000 each; the city of Moscow - 1,280 rubles.

For comparison: at that time, the city of Astrakhan (Khadzhitarkhan), through which there was a brisk trade between east and west, annually paid 60 thousand altyns to the Horde treasury, which is equivalent to 1,800 rubles.

So, the Mongol tribute was tangible, but not overwhelming. In addition, the Russian principalities often delayed payments, the local population rebelled. And in the second half of the 15th century, when the Golden Horde began to lose its former military power, Russian money did not enter the budget of the conquerors for years.

The events of 1237-1240, when Batu's troops captured most of Rus' and ravaged two-thirds of Russian cities, were simply called "Western Campaign" in the capital of the Mongol Empire, Karakorum. Indeed, the Russian lands captured by Batu were then very modest trophies in comparison with the largest and richest cities in China, Central Asia and Persia.

If on the eve of the assault by the Mongols in 1240, Kiev, which remained the largest city of Rus', had about 50 thousand inhabitants, then the capital of the Jin Empire, located in the north of China, captured by the Mongols in 1233, accommodated 400 thousand inhabitants. At least 300 thousand people lived in Samarkand, the largest city in Central Asia, captured by Genghis Khan in 1220. After 17 years, his grandson Batu got a more modest booty - according to archaeologists, the population of Vladimir and Ryazan ranged from 15 to 25 thousand people. For consolation, we note that the main city of Poland, Krakow, captured in 1241 by Batu, had less than 10 thousand inhabitants. Not captured, but eventually subordinated to the Mongols, Novgorod was then inhabited by about 30 thousand.

The population of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality is estimated by historians at a maximum of 800 thousand people. In general, the ancient Russian lands during the “Batu invasion” from Novgorod to Kiev, from Vladimir-Volynsky in the west of the future Ukraine to Vladimir-Zalessky in the center of the future Muscovy, totaled about 5-7 million inhabitants.

For comparison, let's cite the population of other countries captured by Genghis Khan, his children and grandchildren - the state of Khorezmshahs, which included Central Asia and modern Iran, inhabited about 20 million, and the population of all of China, then divided into several states and empires (Xi-Xia, Jin, Song), successively captured by the Mongols, already exceeded 100 million.

But for the Russian people, such modesty and relative poverty did not make it any easier. In the first years of the conquest, the Mongols, in addition to capturing military booty during the hostilities, levied military indemnity from the conquered lands. About the tithe "in everything, in princes and in people and in horses", as the demand of the Mongols at the very beginning of the conquest, tells the Moscow Chronicle.

However, the Mongols of the era of Genghis Khan differed from all other conquerors in their systematic approach in everything - from the organization of the army to a well-thought-out scheme for robbing the conquered. Almost immediately after the completion of the campaigns of 1237-1240, they, not limited to one-time robberies, began to introduce their own taxation system in Rus'. number, and began to imati tribute on them. In the next 1246, the Italian monk Plano Carpini, sent by the Pope to the Mongol emperor, passed through Kiev and wrote in his diary that at that time "one Saracen, as they said from the Batu party", who "counted all population, according to their custom", "that everyone, both small and large, even a one-day-old baby, either poor or rich, should pay such a tribute, namely, that he should give one skin of a bear, one black beaver, one black sable and one fox skin."

It is clear that in the first years after the conquest, this system was in its infancy and covered only part of the Russian lands, where the Batu garrisons, which remained in Eastern Europe at the end of the “Western campaign”, were located nearby for winter quarters. Most of Russian lands, having survived the raids of the steppe cavalry, evaded paying regular tribute.

In 1247, 10 years after the start of the conquest, Prince Andrei Yaroslavich, younger brother Alexander Nevsky, went to bow to the new authorities in Mongolia. There, from the hands of the great Khan Guyuk, he received a label to reign in Vladimir, becoming, at the behest of the distant eastern overlord, the Grand Duke of Vladimir. In addition to the label for reigning, Andrei received from Guyuk an order to conduct a detailed census of the population in his lands in order to impose a systematic tribute on it in favor of the Genghisid empire.

However, the "capital city" Vladimir from the Mongolian headquarters in Karakorum was separated by almost five thousand kilometers and half a year of travel - returning to reign with a label, Andrei Yaroslavich ignored the order to conduct a census, especially since the great Khan Guyuk died a year later. A systematic tribute from northeastern Rus' to Mongolia did not go.

Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation and Special Representative of the Russian President for Economic Cooperation with the CIS Member States (2009-2010). Previously - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Ukraine (2001-2009), Deputy of the State Duma of the third convocation, member of the Unity faction (2000-2001), Chairman of the Board of Directors of OAO Gazprom (1999), Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin to resolve the situation around Yugoslavia (1999), Prime Minister of Russia (1992-1998). One of the initiators of the creation and the first head of the state gas concern "Gazprom" (1989-1992). In 1985-1989 - Minister of the Gas Industry of the USSR.

Biography.

Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin was born on April 9, 1938 in the Cossack village of Cherny Otrog, Saraktash district, Orenburg region, in a large family. Parents - Stepan Markovich and Marfa Petrovna Chernomyrdin. Father worked as a driver. There were five children in the family: Nikolay, Alexander, Natalya, Victor, Ekaterina. After graduating from the Orsk Technical School No. 1 in 1957, Viktor Chernomyrdin began his labor activity at the Orsk Oil Refinery named after V.P. Chkalov as a mechanic, compressor and pump engineer.
After serving in the army in 1957-1960. (Spassk-Dalniy, Primorsky Krai), returned to the same plant, where he worked as a machinist and operator, and then as the head of the process unit. In 1961, Chernomyrdin joined the CPSU (he remained a member of the party until it was banned in August 1991).
In 1962, Viktor Chernomyrdin entered the Kuibyshev Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1966 with a degree in process engineering. However, he did not work in his specialty, starting his career along the party line. In 1967-1973, Chernomyrdin served as an instructor, deputy head, head of the industrial and transport department of the Orsk city committee of the CPSU. In parallel with the party work, Chernomyrdin continued his studies. In 1972, he graduated from the Economics Faculty of the All-Union Correspondence Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Economics and Organization of the Oil and Gas Industry.

In 1973, Chernomyrdin was appointed deputy chief engineer of a gas processing plant in Orenburg, and later became its director. In 1978, he returned to work in party bodies, becoming an instructor in the industry department of the Central Committee of the CPSU, in charge of the country's gas industry.

In 1982, Chernomyrdin took the post of Deputy Minister of the Gas Industry of the USSR, since 1983 at the same time heading the All-Union Industrial Association Tyumengazprom. It was noted that this period of Chernomyrdin's life included his personal acquaintance with the future President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, at that time the first secretary of the Sverdlovsk regional committee of the CPSU, and with the chairman of the State Planning Committee of the USSR Nikolai Baibakov. In 1985, Chernomyrdin was appointed Minister of the Gas Industry of the USSR.

In 1986, Chernomyrdin became a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU. In the second half of the 1980s, he was repeatedly elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1984-1989) and the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (1985-1990).

In 1989, as a result of the transformation of the Ministry of Gas Industry of the USSR, the country's first state gas concern, Gazprom, emerged. The media called Chernomyrdin the initiator of its creation, and he also headed the new concern. In October 1991, shortly before it was officially liquidated Soviet Union, "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" wrote that against the background of the general crisis, "gas is still supplied to apartments uninterruptedly." According to the publication, this became possible largely due to the fact that "the cunning Viktor Chernomyrdin managed to 'change its name' in 1989 and took the industry out of the press" of perestroika reforms.

On May 30, 1992, by decree of President Yeltsin, Chernomyrdin was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Russia for the fuel and energy complex. At that time, there were suggestions that Chernomyrdin would also become the Minister of Fuel and Energy, and Kommersant even published an article claiming that such an appointment had already taken place (this information was not confirmed later). In December 1992, at the VII Congress of People's Deputies of Russia, President Yeltsin proposed Chernomyrdin's candidacy for the post of chairman of the government (Council of Ministers) of Russia - she was approved by a majority of votes.

The press wrote that Chernomyrdin's appointment "was approved ... as a necessary step in the then extraordinary circumstances," since his figure was perceived as a symbol of a "reasonable compromise" between President Yeltsin's political team and opposition-minded deputies. Subsequently, Chernomyrdin's government managed to become "the center of stabilization in the tense political atmosphere of that time" without abandoning the reforms initiated by Yegor Gaidar's government. However, it was also noted that, having become prime minister, Chernomyrdin pursued a policy under the slogan "What's good for Gazprom is good for Russia": under him, selling prices for gas were increased almost five times, and oil and gas enterprises were exempted from payment of export and partially import duties, and then from mandatory sale part of foreign exchange earnings.

The premier's loyalty to President Yeltsin was never questioned - despite the fact that Chernomyrdin never managed to organically enter the inner circle of Yeltsin's associates. In May 1993, Chernomyrdin was included in the working commission to finalize the presidential draft of the Russian Constitution. Just at that time, a conflict was unfolding between the legislative and executive branches of power, which in the fall of 1993 passed into a phase of open confrontation. On September 21, 1993, Yeltsin signed a decree according to which the Supreme Soviet and the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation were dissolved. The deputies of the Supreme Court, in turn, declared Yeltsin's presidential powers terminated and adopted a resolution on the appointment of Vice President Alexander Rutskoy as acting president. In response, Yeltsin issued a decree abolishing the office of vice president. The same decree noted that in the event of the resignation, death of the president, or the impossibility of exercising his powers, the functions of the head of state pass to the chairman of the Council of Ministers, that is, to Chernomyrdin. Thus, the media wrote, Chernomyrdin "passively supported" Yeltsin's decree to dissolve the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation.

In April 1995, Chernomyrdin created and headed the pro-presidential movement Our Home is Russia (NDR). It was called upon to take the place of the "party of power" in the elections to the State Duma of the second convocation in December 1995, but later it was perceived as a "party of officials or nomenklatura" (the paraphrased name of the association headed by Chernomyrdin was also mentioned - "Our home is Gazprom" ") . Chernomyrdin personally headed the electoral list of the NDR. In the elections in December 1995, the movement took third place, losing to the Communist Party and the Liberal Democratic Party. Chernomyrdin was elected to the State Duma, but refused the deputy mandate.

In the summer of 1996, Yeltsin was elected president of Russia for a second term. In August of the same year, Chernomyrdin's first government resigned, after which Yeltsin again submitted Chernomyrdin's candidacy to the State Duma for approval for the post of prime minister. In the same month, the deputies gave their consent, after which Yeltsin issued a corresponding decree on the appointment of Chernomyrdin as head of the government of the Russian Federation.

In November 1996, Yeltsin handed over presidential powers to Chernomyrdin for several hours - for the duration of the coronary artery bypass surgery. The media noted that at the same time, the president demanded that two decrees be prepared simultaneously - on the transfer of power and on its return. Yeltsin signed the second decree immediately after he regained consciousness from anesthesia.

In March 1998, Yeltsin dismissed Chernomyrdin's government. It was noted that it came as a complete surprise to everyone, since it was during this period that Chernomyrdin was predicted to have the status of "Yeltsin's political heir" and was called the most likely contender for the post of head of state. Kommersant in those days concluded that political career Chernomyrdin is completed. However, a few months later, in August 1998, after the financial crisis that broke out in the country and the subsequent resignation of the government of Sergei Kiriyenko, Chernomyrdin was appointed acting chairman of the government of the Russian Federation. However, his candidacy was not approved by the deputies of the State Duma. The Profil magazine wrote that if the left majority had been sure that after the approval of Yeltsin's proposed candidacy, the president would voluntarily resign, Chernomyrdin would have easily passed the Duma. But since the President announced that he was not going to leave, the deputies were adamant. On September 10, after two unsuccessful attempts to enlist the support of the State Duma, Chernomyrdin withdrew his candidacy from the vote. On September 11, Yeltsin proposed the candidacy of Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov for the post of prime minister, who, as a result, took this position.

In the spring of 1999, during the crisis in the Balkans, Chernomyrdin was appointed special representative of the President of the Russian Federation to resolve the situation around Yugoslavia. In this status, Chernomyrdin took an active part in negotiations on the political resolution of the Kosovo crisis, the cessation of hostilities and the peaceful settlement of the conflict. As a result, he convinced Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic of the need to capitulate, as a result of which Kosovo was transferred to the control of the NATO peacekeeping contingent. It was noted that Chernomyrdin's contribution to the political solution of the Kosovo problem was highly appreciated by politicians in the West (the Russian president's special envoy was awarded the Crans-Montana Foundation prize), and his efforts in the Balkans were called "constructive and creative." However, other opinions were also voiced: in particular, it was pointed out that the ceasefire agreement was signed on conditions extremely unfavorable for Yugoslavia, after which "Russian patriots of the left and right orientation stigmatized Chernomyrdin." Subsequently, Chernomyrdin wrote the book "Challenge", published in Kyiv in 2003, about his participation in the settlement of the conflict in Yugoslavia.

In August 1999, Chernomyrdin was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of OAO Gazprom. In the autumn of the same year, Chernomyrdin, as the leader of the Our Home is Russia movement, ran for deputies of the State Duma of the third convocation from the single-mandate constituency No. 225 (Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug). In December 1999, he was elected to the lower house of the Russian parliament (at the same time, as an independent electoral association, the NDR did not even get 2 percent of the vote). In January 2000, together with another member of the NDR, deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov, having received an offer from the Unity movement, he joined its faction. In March 2000, Chernomyrdin headed the Energy of Russia association of deputies, whose activities were aimed at supporting the country's fuel and energy complex. In May of the same year, members of the NDR at their congress unanimously approved the idea of ​​​​creating a single party with Unity and All Russia (later, in December 2001, after the unification of the Unity movement and the socio-political organization Fatherland - All Russia) The party "Unity and Fatherland - United Russia" was created).

In May 2001, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Chernomyrdin Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Ukraine, special presidential envoy for the development of Russian-Ukrainian trade and economic ties. After this appointment, there were suggestions that Chernomyrdin, "with his enormous lobbying and negotiating skills," in particular, was tasked with resolving the issue of privatization of the Ukrainian gas transmission system (GTS) and the problem of Ukraine's debts for transporting Russian gas.

In September 2008, assessing the events in Ukraine, Chernomyrdin criticized the position of the country's leadership regarding the war in South Ossetia. He rejected the camp's assertion of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko that there were "shadow agreements" between the Russian leadership and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. "We will always respect the choice of the Ukrainian people. And who is after our hearts and who is below our hearts is outside this audience," the ambassador said.

In April 2008, on the eve of his 70th birthday, Chernomyrdin received the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree, for his great contribution to the development of Russian-Ukrainian relations (he received the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree, in 1998). And in March 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on awarding Chernomyrdin with the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, I degree - "for his great contribution to strengthening the authority Russian Federation". The newspaper Kommersant, which told about this, emphasized that the official was awarded the award shortly after the Russian-Ukrainian diplomatic scandal associated with the publication of his interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. In it, the Russian ambassador allowed himself "in extremely unfriendly terms, he spoke about the leadership of Ukraine ", after which the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry even proposed declaring Chernomyrdin persona non grata in Ukraine. However, this did not happen. The award was presented to Chernomyrdin in May of the same year. In his speech on this occasion, the head of state called the awardee one of the country's most popular politicians .

CHERNOMYRDIN, VIKTOR STEPANOVICH, statesman and economic figure of Russia and the Soviet Union.

Born April 9, 1938 in the village of Cherny Otrog, Saraktash District, Orenburg Region, in a large family. Father was a driver.

In 1957 he began his career, worked as a mechanic at the Orsk oil refinery. After serving in the army in 1960, he returned to the enterprise and worked as a machinist, operator, head of a technical installation. In 1961 he joined the CPSU. In 1966 he graduated from the Kuibyshev Polytechnic Institute. He went to work not in his specialty, but along the party line in the Orsk City Committee of the CPSU, he held various positions. In 1972 he graduated from the Economics Department of the All-Union Correspondence Polytechnic Institute.
Since 1973, he began working at a gas processing plant in Orenburg, first as a deputy chief engineer, and then as a director. Since 1978, at party work in the Central Committee of the CPSU as an instructor in the industry department of the Central Committee of the CPSU. In 1981 he defended his PhD thesis.

In 1982 he was appointed Deputy Minister of the Gas Industry of the USSR, since 1983 he headed the All-Union Industrial Association Tyumengazprom. In 1985 - Minister of the gas industry of the USSR. He was repeatedly elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1984-1989) and a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (1985-1990). Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1986-1990).

In 1989-1992 - Chairman of the Board of the Gazprom gas concern. In 1989, the Ministry of Gas Industry of the USSR was reorganized, and the first state gas concern Gazprom was created on its basis. The initiator of its creation was Chernomyrdin, he managed to get the gas industry out of the reforms of E.T. Gaidar. In 1992 - Deputy Chairman of the Government of Russia for the fuel and energy complex.

In 1992-1998 - Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Federation. In December 1992, at the VII Congress of People's Deputies of Russia, President B.N. Yeltsin was forced to propose several candidates, among them the candidacy of Chernomyrdin for the post of Prime Minister due to the fact that Gaidar could not get a majority of votes. Chernomyrdin took second place (Yu. Skokov received the majority of votes). Chernomyrdin turned out to be a compromise figure, and after the second presentation of his candidacy, the Supreme Council approved him. Chernomyrdin, however, did not abandon the reforms initiated by the Gaidar government, except for lobbying the interests of the fuel and energy complex of the economy, including the Gazprom concern.

From December 1992 to May 1998 - a permanent member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Since May 1993, Chernomyrdin was a member of the working commission that worked on the presidential draft of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It was a time of sharp confrontation between the legislative and executive branches of government. Chernomyrdin fully supported President Yeltsin's Decree No. 1400 on the dissolution of Parliament on September 21, 1993.

In 1995, Chernomyrdin created and headed the pro-presidential movement "Our Home is Russia" (NDR), which was actually supposed to become the party of power. In the elections to the State Duma of the second convocation in December 1995, the NDR received 10.1% of the vote, took third place, actually losing the elections, lost to the Communist Party and the Liberal Democratic Party and formed its own faction in it. Chernomyrdin was elected to the State Duma, but refused the deputy mandate.

After the seizure of the hospital in Budyonnovsk on June 14, 1995, in which Chechen terrorists led by Shamil Basayev held about 2,000 hostages, an unsuccessful assault on the building was undertaken. About 180 people died. Chernomyrdin had to conduct very difficult negotiations on the release of the hostages, because. President Yeltsin has actually withdrawn from solving the problem. As a result, on June 18, it was possible to agree on the release of the hostages on the condition that Basayev and his fighters leave the city without hindrance. On June 19, they were given a corridor, and they hid in the mountains of Chechnya.

In July 1996, Chernomyrdin was also appointed Deputy Chairman of the Defense Council of the Russian Federation (in March 1998, the Council was abolished). In the summer of 1996, Yeltsin was elected president of Russia for a second term. On August 9, 1996, Chernomyrdin's government resigned, in accordance with the Constitution. Chernomyrdin's candidacy was again submitted to the State Duma for the post of head of government. It was approved by the Duma on August 10, 1996.

In November 1996, Chernomyrdin was given full presidential powers for several hours during a surgical operation on Yeltsin's heart.

March 23, 1998 Yeltsin dismissed Chernomyrdin's government, which was a surprise to everyone, because. he was considered the most likely political successor. S.V. became the new chairman of the government. Kiriyenko. After the default of 1998, Kiriyenko was removed, and Chernomyrdin returned to the government on August 24, where he served as Acting Chairman of the Government. Yeltsin twice submitted Yeltsin's candidacy to State Duma, but both times the Duma did not approve it. E.M.Primakov was elected as the new chairman.

Participated in the so-called. Commission Chernomyrdin - Gor. In April 1993, the Russian-American Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation was established in accordance with the Vancouver Declaration, adopted at the end of the meeting between the presidents of the United States and Russia. In February 1993, the “Agreement on the use of highly enriched uranium extracted from nuclear weapons". The agreement provides for the supply to the United States for 20 years of low-enriched uranium in the amount of 500 tons, produced by Rosatom enterprises from highly enriched weapons-grade uranium, for use as fuel in American nuclear power plants. In 1995, agreements were concluded between the US and Russia on Iran, according to which Russia undertook to complete the implementation of all its contracts with Iran for the supply of arms and military equipment and provision of military services until December 31, 1999 and not to conclude new ones. These agreements were ambiguously assessed both in Russia and in the United States.

In April 1999, during the crisis in the Balkans, Chernomyrdin was appointed special representative of the President of the Russian Federation to resolve the situation around the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He managed to convince Slobodan Milosevic, the Yugoslav president, of the need to capitulate. As a result, Kosovo was transferred to the control of NATO forces and subsequently recognized by Western countries as an independent country. In Russia, his role in resolving the conflict is ambiguously assessed.

In 1999-2000 - Chairman of the Board of Directors of OAO Gazprom. In 1999, he ran for deputies of the State Duma of the third convocation as the leader of the NDR movement from the single-mandate district of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and was elected a deputy in December of the same year (NDR gained less than 2 percent). In 2001, he resigned ahead of schedule due to the fact that in May 2001, President Vladimir Putin appointed him Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Ukraine and Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for the development of trade and economic relations with Ukraine. April 10, 2003 he was awarded the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. From November 23, 2007, he was the doyen of the diplomatic corps accredited in Ukraine.

Since 2001, he headed the board of the Union of Oil and Gas Producers of Russia.

On February 11, 2009, Chernomyrdin's interview was published with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, in which he criticized the position of the Ukrainian leadership regarding the war in South Ossetia. He also commented on Russian-Ukrainian relations and gave characteristics to the leaders of Ukraine. On February 17, a diplomatic scandal erupted in Ukraine. At the initiative of the Ukrainian side, a meeting was held between the Ambassador of the Russian Federation Chernomyrdin and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Volodymyr Ohryzko. The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry protested against Chernomyrdin's unfriendly and extremely undiplomatic assessments and statements about Ukraine and its leadership and warned the ambassador that he could be declared persona non grata.
June 11, 2009 President of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev dismissed Chernomyrdin from his post Russian ambassador in Ukraine. On the same day, he was appointed Advisor and Special Representative of the President for Economic Cooperation with the CIS Member States.

He was awarded the Orders of the October Revolution, the Red Banner of Labor, the Badge of Honor, the full cavalier "For Merit to the Fatherland", Friendship, Peter the Great, I degree, the Kazakh Order "Parasat" (1999) and the Ukrainian Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, V degree (2003). Laureate of the Peter the Great Prize (with a gold medal) (2002).

Chernomyrdin was a wealthy man, according to Forbes magazine, he was on the list of the richest people on the planet.

Known for his aphorisms and catchphrases.

Viktor Chernomyrdin was born on April 9, 1938 in the village of Cherny Ostrog, Orenburg Region. He studied at the Kuibyshev Polytechnic College, graduating in 1966. Later, he graduated from the Faculty of Economics of the Moscow State Open University, then received a Ph.D. in technical sciences.

Chernomyrdin began his career as a mechanic at the Orsk oil refinery in 1957. After serving in the army, he returned to the plant as a machinist, then became an operator and then, the head of a technical installation. Chernomyrdin's party activity began after graduating from the institute.

He held various positions in the Orsk city committee, headed the post of director of the Orenburg gas processing plant, was the deputy minister of the Russian oil and gas industry, and in 1985 he already headed the post of minister of the oil and gas industry of the USSR.

He was repeatedly elected a deputy of the Russian Supreme Soviet. Modern activities of Viktor Chernomyrdin began with the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Public Joint Stock Company Gazprom.

Appointed December 14, 1992 Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Government of the Russian Federation. Further, from 1993 to 1998, Chernomyrdin was the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. And one day he even acted as President, during an operation on the heart of Boris Yeltsin, from 7:00 am on November 5, 1996 to 6:00 am on November 6, 1996.

Three years later, he was elected to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, where he became famous for his catchphrases, popularly called "Chernomyrdisms": "We wanted the best, but it turned out as always", "You have to think what to understand", "I have a Russian language there are no questions”, “Who itches - scratch elsewhere.”

Since 2001, for five years, Viktor Chernomyrdin has been the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Russia to Ukraine. Since 2009, he has been an adviser to the President of the Russian Federation. He was awarded many Soviet and Russian state awards, foreign orders and medals, was awarded honorary titles from many universities and academies of the world.

Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin died on November 3, 2010 in Moscow after a serious illness. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Victor Chernomyrdin awards

State awards of the Russian Federation and the USSR

Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 1st class (March 24, 2009) - for his great contribution to strengthening the international prestige of the Russian Federation and many years of fruitful state activity

Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree (March 23, 1998) - for his great contribution to the development of the Russian state

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", III degree (April 9, 2008) - for his great contribution to the development of Russian-Ukrainian relations

Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (April 9, 2010) - for many years of fruitful state activity

Order of Friendship (April 8, 2003) - for a great contribution to the strengthening and development of friendship and cooperation between the Russian Federation and Ukraine

Order October revolution (1986)

Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1979)

Order of the Badge of Honor (December 11, 1974) - for the successes achieved in the construction and development of the design capacity of the first stage of the Orenburg gas complex

Medal "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1970)

Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" (1985)

Encouragement of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation

Certificate of honor of the President of the Russian Federation (December 12, 2008) - for active participation in the preparation of the draft Constitution of the Russian Federation and a great contribution to the development of the democratic foundations of the Russian Federation

Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (August 14, 1995) - for active participation in the preparation and holding of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945

Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (July 12, 1996) - for active participation in organizing and conducting the election campaign of the President of the Russian Federation in 1996

Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (July 30, 1999) - for his great personal contribution to the political settlement of the conflict between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO, the consistent defense of Russia's positions in the Balkans

Honorary Diploma of the Government of the Russian Federation (April 9, 2003) - for his great personal contribution to the development of Russian-Ukrainian trade and economic cooperation

Honorary Diploma of the Government of the Russian Federation (April 9, 2008) - for many years of fruitful state activity

Foreign awards

Medal "100 years since the birth of Georgy Dimitrov" (People's Republic of Bulgaria, 1982)

Medal of Mkhitar Gosh (Armenia, December 4, 1998) - for his great contribution to the elimination of the consequences of the Spitak earthquake, the provision of humanitarian assistance and the organization restoration work. The medal was awarded on April 18, 2002.

Order Parasat (Kazakhstan, September 1, 1999) - for his contribution to the development of the oil and gas industry in Kazakhstan.

Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class (Ukraine, April 8, 2003) - for an outstanding contribution to the development of bilateral relations between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, a significant personal role in strengthening friendly ties between the Russian and Ukrainian peoples.

Order of Merit, III degree (Ukraine, June 17, 2009) - for his contribution to the development of Ukrainian-Russian relations, many years of diplomatic activity

Awards of the subjects of the Russian Federation

Order of Merit (Republic of Ingushetia, June 19, 2001) - for his great contribution to the formation and development of the economy of Ingushetia

Awards of the Russian Orthodox Church

Order St. Sergius Radonezh II degree (ROC, March 29, 2007) - for work to strengthen the unity of Orthodox peoples

Order of the Nativity of Christ II degree (UOC)

Departmental awards

Honorary Worker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (April 2, 2003) - for active participation in the implementation of Russia's foreign policy

Public awards

Order "Cossack Glory" I degree

Family of Viktor Chernomyrdin

Wife - Chernomyrdina (Shepeleva) Valentina Fedorovna. She was born on July 6, 1938 in the city of Orsk, Orenburg Region. She married V.S. Chernomyrdin in 1961. She was fond of Russian dances, performing Russian and Ukrainian songs, in 2001-2005 she recorded them together with the ensemble "Corner of Russia" under the direction of V. Nesterenko on two discs - "Valentina Fedorovna Chernomyrdina sings" and "Songs for her husband, children and grandchildren ..." . V.F. Chernomyrdina died on March 12, 2010, and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. Correspondents of "Komsomolskaya Pravda" wrote material based on the memoirs of Viktor Stepanovich about Valentina Fedorovna "My wife was Ukrainian ...". Viktor Stepanovich and Valentina Fedorovna have two sons - Vitaly and Andrey, four grandchildren - Maria, Andrey, Anastasia, Viktor and a great-grandson - Dmitry.

The eldest son Vitaly (born 1962) graduated from the Moscow Institute of Petrochemical and Gas Industry named after I.M. Gubkina (MINHiGP), married. For 6 years he worked in the Arctic, then, since 1989, in the system of the GK Gazprom. Since 2000, Vitaly Chernomyrdin has been the head of the Chernomyrdin Regional Public Foundation "Support and Development of the Middle Class". For the period from April 24, 2018, Vitaly Chernomyrdin, by decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court, was declared bankrupt.

The youngest son Andrey (born 1970) after graduating from the university also went to work at Gazprom. Married. Doing business. In 2011 he was elected Chairman of the International Sholokhov Committee