Who is Arkady Dvorkovich?

Arkady Dvorkovich interview regarding RCF candidate for FIDE President
But who is Arkady Dvorkovich?
Report by Chessdom

Arkady Dvorkovich is a Russian economist, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation since 13 May 2008. His father, Vladimir Dvorkovich, was an international chess arbiter.

Since 1994 Dvorkovich is consultant, senior expert, CEO, scientific director of the Economic Expert Group of the Ministry of Finance of Russia. Since 2000 works in the “Center for Strategic Research” and is adviser to the Minister for Economic Development of the Russian Federation. In 2001 he becomes Deputy Minister for Economic Development of the Russian Federation and in 2004 he is appointed Head of Expert Group of President of the Russian Federation.

Since May 13, 2008, Dvorkovich is Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation.

Business Week on Dvorkovich
(Original article)

Savvy international investors know that in the past two years the government of Vladimir V. Putin has been pushing a sweeping package of measures that aims to kick-start Russia’s economy — by cutting taxes, slashing bureaucracy, and injecting competition into moribund industries. And they know about Russia’s new 13% flat tax, which has proved surprisingly effective in raising revenue for the government.

But investors may not know the man most responsible for Russia’s fiscal overhaul. That honor goes to Arkady V. Dvorkovich, 31, a deputy minister in Russia’s Ministry for Economic Development & Trade (known as the economy ministry). An economist with a master’s degree from Duke University as well as Moscow’s New Economic School, Dvorkovich earned his stripes by serving as personal adviser to German O. Gref, the Economy Minister, in 2000-01, helping him to craft President Putin’s reform program. An expert in public finance, he still oversees tax issues as deputy minister under Gref. In that role, Dvorkovich wants to trim payroll taxes to 30% from the current 35.6%, abolish the 5% sales tax, and slash the value-added tax to 16% from 20%.

But his brief extends well beyond taxes. Fluent in English, Dvorkovich has become one of Russia’s most prominent international voices on economic policy. Thanks in large part to his influence, the economy ministry has replaced the finance ministry as the driver of economic reform. Dvorkovich is sure to play a big role as Russia tackles the next batch of reforms, including overhauls of the banking and pension systems. “He’s one of the best young technocrats in Russia,” says Roland Nash, head of research at Moscow investment bank Renaissance Capital.

Dvorkovich has been serving the Russian government since 1994, when he landed a job at Moscow’s Economic Expert Group, a think tank that advises the finance ministry. There, he so impressed Russia’s economic policymaking Establishment that he was promoted to director in 1997.

Of course, the Moscow native could have made a lot more money in investment banking — and friends predict he’ll eventually join the private sector. But for now, he’s having too much fun in government. He recently slammed his superiors in the Cabinet for watering down a plan to cut the bureaucracy. President Putin then echoed the same criticisms in a state-of-the-nation address. Dvorkovich’s reformist ideas are clearly getting through to the Kremlin.

Dvorkovich talks Russian economics
(Original article by The Stanford daily)

Arkady Dvorkovich, the chief economic advisor to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, spoke Wednesday at Arrillaga Alumni Center about the need for economic modernization in the Russian Federation in the post-Cold War era.

Until the global financial crisis hit, “we were sleeping too much on our natural resources, oil and gas, without thinking too much about the future,” Dvorkovich said.

“Russia has potential to grow,” he said, “and the crisis came at the right time to the right place. The gap between Russia and the rest of the world will increase if we do not succeed right now.”

The address served as the keynote speech for the first annual conference of the Stanford U.S.-Russia Forum (SURF), an event aimed at improving U.S.-Russia relations by focusing on youth.

“SURF is an initiative to bring together students from across the U.S. and Russia to explore the most pressing global challenges facing our respective countries,” said co-founder Sam Stone ’10.

Dvorkovich, who got a master’s degree at Duke University, now designs policies intended to instigate innovation and modernization in the Russian economy. He said the government has been successful in fostering a new mood in Russia that is conducive to innovation.

“What we are trying to do now is to gather as many partners as possible in our endeavors,” he added.

He highlighted efforts at creating innovation in the energy sector as a crucial aspect of his work. Oil and gas companies, including Gazprom, and steel-making corporations serve as some of the hotspots for collaboration in these endeavors.

“Russia is not the Soviet Union,” Dvorkovich proclaimed in an effort to debunk claims that Russia is reverting to authoritarian leadership.
“The president is focusing on feedback consistently coming from the people. He has his own blog and looks for feedback on the Internet everyday,” he said.

Though he did not dwell on the criticisms against the Russian government, he did highlight his belief that Russia is staying away from an authoritarian leadership.

“We are not going to create a closed society,” he said. “My hope is that any Russian can go abroad if he wants to go abroad.”

Discussing the corruption that often plagues public works funding, he said former President Vladimir Putin’s early efforts at minimizing the role of bureaucracy to combat corruption largely failed, and hopes that this new set of priorities will serve to further eradicate corruption.

“I was impressed with how candid he was with respect to the problems Russia is facing, particularly corruption,” said Mikael Bernstein ’12, who works as a deputy director for SURF.

“I expected him to be much more diplomatic and appreciated his honesty,” added co-founder Anda Gansca ’11. “He also came off as pretty optimistic with respect to Russia’s future.”

Dvorkovich said the increase in educational exchanges between the United States and Russia serves as a crucial factor in improving the two countries’ relationship. He is working with Stanford and M.I.T. to organize educational exchanges for post-doctoral students to further cultural dialogue.

“The future depends on young people, which is why education and this SURF project in particular is crucial,” he said.