Explained | Why has Putin’s advisor Anatoly Chubais quit and left Russia?

Special envoy Anatoly Chubais quit his post as sustainable development adviser to President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday

Story so far: Anatoly Chubais, the architect of Russia’s post-Soviet economic reforms, is the most senior official to resign since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As per reports, he has fled the country and is currently in Turkey with his wife.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti state agency that Chubais resigned “according to his own desire” but, did not confirm if he had left the country.

According to sources cited by Reuters, Chubais does not intend to return to Russia.

Let’s take a look at who Chubais is, the influence he holds and what his resignation means for Russia.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the 66-year-old economist became known for his crucial role in helping reform Russia’s economy in the 1990s under President Boris Yeltsin. He was also responsible for a privatisation drive that created a large number of very wealthy oligarchs.

It was Chubais who gave Putin his first job at the Kremlin in the mid-1990s. Under Putin’s presidency, Chubais held several senior business and political profiles before being selected Kremlin’s special envoy to international organisations.

He was in charge of “achieving goals of sustainable development” in 2020, days after resigning as the head of Rusnano, a firm established by the Russian state to develop nano technology.