History of the Ministry

The Ministry of Finance was established by Alexander I by the special Manifesto on September 8, 1802 to be responsible for the «management of official and state units, delivering income to the government in amounts needed to maintain it, as well as general assignment of income for different items of government expenditure»

Aleksei Ivanovich Vasiliev became the first Minister of Finance (from September 8, 1802 to August 15, 1807). The Manifesto also charged this post with the duty «to make a detailed list of general state expenditures for the coming year at the end of each year»

After A.I. Vasiliev, the post of Minister of Finance was taken by Fyodor Aleksandrovich Golubtsov (from August 26, 1807 to January 1, 1810)

Dmitry Alekseevich Guryev became the third Minister of Finance (from January 1, 1810 to April 22, 1823). In his activities, he tried to combine the principle of separation of powers with the firmness of the autocracy. When discussing the establishment of provincial governments headed by governor-generals, he suggested that their functions should be limited to supervision. He was preparing draft solutions to the peasant issue

The Department of Manufactories and Domestic Trade was transferred from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior under that of the Ministry of Finance

Yegor Frantsevich Kankrin was the Minister of Finance from April 22, 1823 to May 1, 1844. Kankrin’s name is closely associated with the restoration of metallic currency, strengthening of the protection system, and improvement of State accounting and bookkeeping

Fyodor Pavlovich Vronchenko became the fifth Minister of Finance (from May 1, 1844 to April 6, 1852). He continued the policy of Kankrin, who compiled a special manual on the fundamentals of finance for Vronchenko. He put Kankrin’s monetary reform of 1839–1843 into practice

Peter Fyodorovich Brock became Minister of Finance from April 9, 1852 to March 23, 1858. After the war, he took a number of measures to regulate finances: he increased the amount of loans from commercial banks and collateral offices (1857). He actively contributed to the emergence of joint-stock companies

Aleksandr Maksimovich Knyazhevich became the seventh Minister of Finance (from March 23, 1858 to January 23, 1862). At the initiative of Knyazhevich, the drafts of a new Commercial Code (1860) were developed, and a committee was established to revise the factory and craft statutes (1859). Knyazevich expanded the trade rights of foreigners and Jews (1860)

After Knyazhevich, the post of Minister of Finance was taken by Mikhail Khristoforovich Reitern (from January 23, 1862 to July 7, 1878). Reitern’s merits include the publication of the customs tariff in 1868; the transformation of the tax system; the transformation of the system of commercial and industrial levies (1863)

On October 29, the Department of Foreign Trade was renamed the Department of Customs Duties, and the Department of Manufactories and Domestic Trade was renamed the Department of Commerce and Manufactories

All mining administrative units were transferred to the Ministry of State Property. The Ministry of Finance was still managing assay and mint units, including assay chambers, the mint division of the Mining Department, as well as the St. Petersburg Mint

The Ministry of Finance was headed by Samuel Alekseevich Greig for two years from July 7, 1878 to October 27, 1880. Greig pursued a balance between state revenues and indeed avoided deficits in ordinary items of income and expenditure. This was achieved almost exclusively by increasing indirect taxes on domestically produced goods and imports

Aleksandr Ageyevich Abaza was Minister of Finance from October 27, 1880 to May 6, 1881. Together with M.T. Loris-Melikov and N.K. Bunge, he developed a program for social and economic transformations in the sphere of taxation, money circulation, railroad construction, and financial management

Nikolai Khristianovich Bunge was made the eleventh Minister of Finance (from May 6, 1881 to December 31, 1886). During his ministerial tenure, Bunge passed the laws on compulsory redemption (1881), replacement of the tribute from state peasants with redemption payments (1886), and prepared a bill to abolish the mutual guarantee

Ivan Alekseevich Vyshnegradsky was the next Minister of Finance after Bunge (from January 1, 1887 to August 30, 1892). Vyshnegradsky strengthened the protectionist trend of the customs policy, began preparations for the wine monopoly and tobacco monopoly, increased direct and indirect taxes and stamp duty

Sergei Yulievich Witte was appointed Minister of Finance from August 30, 1892 to August 29, 1903. The eleven years during which Sergei Witte was the head of the Ministry of Finance were marked by a huge increase in the budget, the extensive development of the state economy, and major reforms in financial laws

On October 26 (November 8), the People’s Commissariat for Finance (NarKomFin, NKF) was established. NarKomFin was part of the Provisional Workers’ and Peasants’ Government of Russia. NarKomFin was intended to ensure the implementation of a uniform financial policy, as well as to provide overall guidance in the financial field in the country

The financial policy program of the Soviet state, developed under the direct supervision of V.I. Lenin, involved the nationalization of banks and insurance businesses, abolition of trade secrets, and establishment of workers’ control over the spending of funds, as well as introduction of progressive taxation and other measures

Between 1917 and 1918, three people’s commissars of the RSFSR were changed:

• Ivan Ivanovich Skvortsov-Stepanov
  October 26 (November 8), 1917 — January 20 (February 2), 1918
• Vyacheslav Rudolfovich Menzhinsky
  January 20 (February 2), 1918 — March 1918
• Isidor Emmanuilovich Gukovsky (pictured)
  March 1918 — August 16, 1918

By Decree of the Central Executive Committee of December 14 (27), 1917, private banks were nationalized, and the single People’s Bank of the RSFSR was established under the NKF. NKF also managed the Department of Treasury and local treasury offices. The same decree imposed direct taxation on the bourgeoisie, invalidated the national loans taken out by the tsarist government and the interim government, and liquidated stock trading exchanges

Nikolai Nikolaevich Krestinsky held the post of Commissar of Finance of the RSFSR from August 16, 1919 to October 1922

Grigory Yakovlevich Sokolnikov held the post of People’s Commissar of Finance from July 6, 1923 to January 16, 1926. He was a supporter of strict financial policy, an opponent of unrealistic economic plans and accelerated development of industry through inflationary mechanisms, which could lead to the collapse of the national currency. He was an advocate of «the slow, gradual, and cautious application of socialism in practice»

Nikolai Pavlovich Bryukhanov held the post of People’s Commissar of Finance of the USSR from January 29, 1926 to October 18, 1930.

Grigory Fyodorovich Grinko held the post of People’s Commissar of Finance of the USSR from October 18, 1930 to August 16, 1937.

In 1932, the construction of shared residential facilities for workers of the People’s Commissariat was completed. The staff of the tax unit of the People’s Commissariat of the USSR exceeded 17,000 people by 1930

Vlas Yakovlevich Chubar held the post of People’s Commissar of Finance of the USSR from August 16, 1937 to January 19, 1938

Arseny Grigorievich Zverev held the post of People’s Commissar of Finance of the USSR from January 19, 1938 to March 15, 1946. He was the Minister of Finance of the USSR from March 1946 to February 16, 1948, and from December 28, 1948 to May 16, 1960. He reorganized the structure of the People’s Commissariat for Finance by creating three main departments, i.e. the departments of state insurance, financial control, and labor savings banks, as well as several divisions

Aleksei Nikolayevich Kosygin held the post of Minister of Finance of the USSR from February 16, 1948 to December 28, 1948

Vasily Fyodorovich Garbuzov held the post of Minister of Finance of the USSR from May 16, 1960 to November 12, 1985. Under the leadership of Garbuzov, the country’s budget system had an active impact on the mobilization of monetary savings and the economy of state expenditures, the old banknotes were exchanged for new ones

Boris Ivanovich Gostev held the post of Minister of Finance of the USSR from December 13, 1985 to June 7, 1989. He was a supporter of changes in the financial and economic mechanism, but an opponent of market reforms

Valentin Sergeyevich Pavlov was Minister of Finance from July 3, 1989 to January 14, 1991. He was involved in establishing the Pension Fund and the Tax Inspectorate, founding commercial banks, raising the first investments, regulating the first cooperatives and joint ventures

Vladimir Yefimovich Orlov was Minister of Finance of the USSR from March 7, 1991 to August 28, 1991 (acting Minister until November 26, 1991)

Yegor Timurovich Gaidar held the post of Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation from November 11, 1991 to April 2, 1992. Under the leadership of Gaidar, the transition from a planned to a market economy began, prices were liberalized, the tax system was reorganized, the foreign trade was liberalized, the privatization began

Vasily Vasilyevich Barchuk was Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation from April 2, 1992 to March 25, 1993

Boris Grigoryevich Fyodorov held the post of Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation from March 25, 1993 to January 26, 1994

Vladimir Georgyevich Panskov was Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation from November 4, 1994 to August 15, 1996

Aleksandr Yakovlevich Livshits was Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation from August 14, 1996 to March 17, 1997

Anatoly Borisovich Chubais held the post of Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation from March 17, 1997 to November 20, 1997. At the initiative of Chubais, budget expenditures were sequestered. The budget was reduced by 30-55% for some items. The inflation rate was significantly reduced in 1997

Mikhail Mikhailovich Zadornov held the post of Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation from November 20, 1997 to May 25, 1999. He was involved in making a decision on the default in August 1998, following which he asked for his resignation, which was rejected

Mikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov held the post of Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation from May 25, 1999 to May 18, 2000. In a few months Kasyanov managed to solve the main problems of Russia’s foreign debt and thus laid the foundation for further economic growth

Aleksei Leonidovich Kudrin held the post of Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation from May 18, 2000 to September 26, 2011. Under the leadership of Kudrin, a large-scale tax reform was carried out: a «flat schedule» of income tax of 13% was introduced, the turnover and sales taxes were abolished, VAT and income tax rates were reduced, and the total number of taxes was cut threefold

Anton Germanovich Siluanov has been Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation since December 16, 2011