Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin was one of the key politicians active in the Kremlin as Russia moved away from communism towards a market economy in the turbulent 1990s.
He served the president, Boris Yeltsin, as aide and then as prime minister from 1993 to 1998, helping push through liberal reforms and overseeing the strengthening of the ruble. He negotiated major loans from the International Monetary Fund that would ultimately push Russia's economy clear of post-Soviet turmoil.
His critics decried his reforms as inconsistent and claimed that the economic innovations had come at too great a cost to Russia's industry. One colleague commented that his conversion to the cause of market reform was "the most expensive education in history".
In 1995, he angered Kremlin hardliners by negotiating with Chechen guerrillas to end a hostage crisis in the southern city of Budyonnovsk as the international media hung on his every word. The following year, he held the reins of power - and control of the country's nuclear codes - for 23 hours while Yeltsin underwent heart surgery.
His greatest achievement was the creation of the world's largest gas corporation, Gazprom, which holds 17 per cent of Earth's natural gas reserves, and serves as the Kremlin's most powerful economic tool on the international stage. "My whole life went by in an atmosphere of oil and gas," he once said.
Sacked for alleged economic incompetence early in 1998, he was recalled by Yeltsin, but the State Duma rejected his candidature. Soon afterwards, he announced his intention to stand in the 2000 presidential poll, despite a marked lack of support. Instead, for eight years, from 2001 to 2009, he acted as the country's ambassador to Ukraine, an appointment widely believed to be an attempt by Vladimir Putin, Yeltsin's successor as president, to distance him from the centre of Russian politics.
In February last year, he strained relations between Russia and Ukraine by declaring in an interview: "It is impossible to come to an agreement on anything with the Ukrainian leadership." Soon after he was relieved of his duties by Dmitry Medvedev and subsequently appointed presidential adviser and special presidential representative on economic co-operation with member countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States, which was formed from the remnants of the Soviet Union.
One of five children born to a peasant family in Siberia, Chernomyrdin left school in 1957 and went to work as a mechanic in an oil refinery. There he remained until 1962, with a two-year hiatus while he completed compulsory military service. In 1966, he graduated from the Kuybyshev Industrial Institute, and went to work in the Soviet Union's booming gas industry. In 1972 he completed further studies, by correspondence, at the department of economics.
He worked his way steadily up the Soviet industrial ladder. In 1982, he was named deputy minister of the federal natural gas industries. From 1985, he served as the minister of gas industries and in 1989 was elected chairman of the oil and gas ministry.
As head, he anticipated the importance of the market as the Soviet Union crumbled and in 1989 merged the most lucrative gas assets into a new monopoly, Gazprom. Months after Yeltsin appointed him prime minister in 1992, he signed a decree turning Gazprom into a joint stock company.
In Russian-speaking countries, he was famous for his numerous malapropisms and ungrammatical speech. He once told opponents: "If your hands are itchy, scratch yourself on other spots." Of his many expressions, the most frequently quoted was: "We wanted the best, but it turned out as always." Uttered after a spectacularly unsuccessful monetary reform by the Russian Central Bank in July 1993, it became a popular proverb, encapsulating for a generation of Russians the corruption-riddled failure of the transition from communism to a market economy.
His wife predeceased him. He is survived by their two sons.
Born April 9, 1938. Died November 3, 2010.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test India won by innings and 53 runs at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
