Igor Levitin

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Igor Levitin
Игорь Левитин
Levitin in 2013
Aide to the President of Russia
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 September 2013
PresidentVladimir Putin
Secretary of the State Council
In office
3 September 2012 – 29 May 2024
PresidentVladimir Putin
Preceded byAleksandr Abramov
Succeeded byAleksey Dyumin
Adviser to the President of Russia
In office
22 May 2012 – 2 September 2013
PresidentVladimir Putin
Minister of Transport
In office
9 March 2004 – 21 May 2012
Prime MinisterMikhail Fradkov
Viktor Zubkov
Vladimir Putin
Dmitry Medvedev
Preceded bySergey Frank
Succeeded byMaksim Sokolov
Personal details
Born (1952-02-21) February 21, 1952 (age 72)
Tsebrikovo, Odesa Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
AwardsAlt text

Igor Yevgenyevich Levitin (Russian: Игорь Евгеньевич Левитин; born 21 February 1952) is a Russian political figure, aide to the president of the Russian Federation since September 2013, and Class 1 active state advisor of the Russian Federation (2013).[1][2] He previously served as the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation (from 9 March 2004 until 21 May 2012). He is the chairman of the supervisory board of the Table Tennis Federation of Russia. He is also a member of the president advisory council at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)[3] and president of European Table Tennis Union until March 2022 when he stepped down temporarily due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[4][5]

He has the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation.[6]

Life and career

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Levitin was born in the suburbs of Odesa to a Jewish family. In his early life, Levitin practiced table tennis at Odesa sports school for 10 years.[7]

Military career

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In 1970, at the age of 18, he was called up for mandatory military service in the Soviet Union. In 1973, he graduated from Mikhail Frunze Leningrad Command College of Railroad Troops and Military Communications. He began his service as Assistant Military Commandant in Odesa military command region at Transnistrian Railway. Between 1976 and 1980 he served in Southern Group of Soviet Armed Forces in Budapest.[8] In 1983, he graduated from Military Academy of Rearward and Transportation having been trained as a railway engineer. From 1983 to 1985 he served as Military Commandant of a railway district and Urgal station at Baikal–Amur Mainline (BAM).[9] He participated in the laying of the Golden Link.[a] From 1985 to 1994 he served in the military communication bodies at Moscow railway as a railway district Military Commandant and later as a Deputy Head of Moscow Military Railway Communications Service. His rank is colonel in reserve.

Business career (1994-2004)

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In 1994, Levitin changed his occupation to join Financial and Industrial Company of Railway Transport. where in 1995 he was appointed a vice president. In 1996, he joined Severstaltrans (a subsidiary of Severstal Group), which was founded as one of the first private competitors to Russian Railways. In the company, Levitin was responsible, among all, for transport machine building and railway transportation. After two years of service, he became Deputy Chief Executive Officer. During the same period, he was a member of the Public Council at the Government Commission of Russian Federation on the reform of railway transport.[15] He was actively participating in research of cargo routing.

Career in the Russian government (2004-2012)

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On March 9, 2004, Levitin was appointed Minister of Transport and Communications (Russian: Министр транспорта и связи) in Mikhail Fradkov's First Cabinet. In May 2004, the Ministry of Transport and Communications was split into two: Ministry of Transport (headed by Levitin) and Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (headed by Leonid Reiman) during Fradkov's Second Cabinet.[16] In Viktor Zubkov's government formed on September 14, 2007, Levitin remained in the same post. He continued his service as Minister of Transport in the next Cabinet (formed on May 12, 2008) under Vladimir Putin.

Upon assuming his office, Levitin reduced the central apparatus of the Ministry by over 20% following the decree on state personnel reduction issued by the state leadership. About two thousand officials were dismissed across regional and local bodies, while the Ministry apparatus faced a fourfold reduction.[17]

On October 3, 2005 in Brussels, Levitin and EU Commissioner for Transport Jacques Barrot signed a joint agreement, which determined the general principles, goals, and structure of the Russia – EU dialogue in the area of transport and infrastructure.[18] In early 2007, Levitin as chairman of an Intergovernmental Commission negotiated the cooperation with Latvia.[19] As a result, in spring 2007 Russia and Latvia finally signed the border agreement, which had long been a controversial issue. In December 2007, Levitin and Foreign Minister of Lithuania Petras Vaitiekūnas signed an agreement on navigation in Curonian Lagoon as well as inland waterways of Kaliningrad Oblast. According to the document, authorisation-based rules for foreign navigation in the Russian waters were cancelled. The Russian ships received in these waters equal rights with the Lithuanian vessels.[20][21][22]

In late October 2008, Levitin was elected chairman of the board of directors at Aeroflot, one of the biggest Russian carriers.[23] He was also a member the Public Council at the Government Commission on the reform of railway transport.

Levitin was not part of Dmitry Medvedev's Cabinet formed on May 21, 2012.

Government career from 2012 to present

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Between March and June 2012, he served as interim head of Maritime Collegium of the Russian Federation. From May 22, 2012 to September 2, 2013, he was advisor to the president of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.[1] On 2 September 2013 he was appointed aide to the president. In August 2012, he became a member of the Presidential Council of the Russian Federation on the development of physical culture and sport.[24] On 25 September 2013 he became deputy chairman of the Presidential Council of the Russian Federation on the development of physical culture and sport.[25]

Following a decree (3 September 2012) by the administration of the president of Russian Federation, he was appointed Secretary of State Council of the Russian Federation.[26] On October 17, 2013 Levitin became a member of Presidential Economic Council of the Russian Federation.[27]

Table tennis and Russian sports

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Media have pointed out active development of table tennis in Russia since Levitin joined the Table Tennis Federation of Russia (TTFR). In particular, a lot of efforts have been focused on participation in the activities of the International and Continental Federations. As a result, in 2007 Russia hosted the Table Tennis World Cup in Saint Petersburg.[28] In May 2014, he was elected vice president of the Russian Olympic Committee.[29] In October 2014, Levitin became a member of Supervisory Council on hosting the 2018 Football World Cup.[30] Upon Levitin’s initiative, since 2015 Russia has celebrated the World Table Tennis Day.[31]

In 2006-08 Levitin was president of the Table Tennis Federation of Russia. In 2008 he became chair of the board of trustees of the TTFR. Levitin engaged Russia – on many occasions as a host country – in a number of competitions, including the ITTF World Tour since 2006; World Cup 2009; European Super Cup; European Championships (2008 and 2015); and World Team Cup. He prepared to host the 2017 European Under 21 Championship in Sochi. He also prepared the bid to host the 2020 World Team Cup in Yekaterinburg. With support of Levitin, table tennis centres have been created in several cities of Russia, including Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg (Olympic training centre for Russian national teams and Tatiana Ferdman’s Table Tennis School), Kazan, Sorochinsk, Orenburg, and the Chuvash Republic. A number of ETTU and ITTF tennis tournaments were held there, and presently these centres serve as training platforms for the youth of the reserve national teams, and host get-togethers with foreign teams.

Levitin has drastically improved the funding of Russia’s national teams. Procedures of rehabilitation and training have been set, which involve high profile physicians, psychologists, massage therapists, and foreign specialists. Under Levitin, the board of trustees organises regular seminars and workshops for coaches and referees in various regions of Russia. Foreign speakers have often been invited, including Richard Prause, Ferenc Korsai, and Dubravko Skoric. With support of Levitin, Team Cup of Russia became one of the strongest competitions not only in Europe, but at the world level. Russian clubs are attended by Vladimir Samsonov (Belarus), Dimitrij Ovtcharov (Germany), and Jun Mizutani (Japan). With the support of the Referee Committee of the Federation, Levitin is improving the rules and the system of running the competition in table tennis.

He was president of European Table Tennis Union until March 2022, when he stepped down temporarily due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[32][33]

In March 2023, Levitin expressed his confidence that temporarily suspended Russian athletes would be allowed to participate at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.[34]

Personal life

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Levitin is married to Nataliya Igorevna Levitina (Russian: Наталья Игоревна Левитина) (b. May 21, 1954) who is a housewife that oversees the Pan Press Publishing (Russian: «Пан-пресс»), a part of Dormashinvest (Russian: «Дормашинвест»).[35][36]

His daughter Yulia Zvereva (Russian: Юлия Зверева) (b. May 15, 1975) works for Milikon service LLC (Russian: ООО «Миликон сервис») and Staltekhinvest LLC (Russian: ООО «Стальтехинвест»).[37][38][36]

Honours and awards

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Notes

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  1. ^ On September 29, 1984, the Alexander Bondar (Russian: Александр Бондарь) west crew and the Ivan Varshavsky (Russian: Иван Варшавский) east crew constructing the BAM met at Balbukta (Russian: Балбухта) and laid the Golden Link (Russian: «Золотое звено») which was not the intended meeting location of Kuanda (Russian: Куанда) which is 40 km west of Balbukta. On October 1, 1984, a formal ceremony at the Kuanda station was held for the joining of the east and west lines of BAM in which the workers replaced two links with two golden painted links.[10][11][12] However, more rails were laid to complete the BAM in 1991 and the Baikal–Amur Mainline became operational later.[13][14]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Igor Levitin.
  1. ^ a b c "УКАЗ Президента РФ от 21.08.2012 N 1186 "О ПРИСВОЕНИИ КЛАССНОГО ЧИНА ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЙ ГРАЖДАНСКОЙ СЛУЖБЫ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ ФЕДЕРАЛЬНЫМ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫМ ГРАЖДАНСКИМ СЛУЖАЩИМ АДМИНИСТРАЦИИ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ": Игорь Левитин стал советником президента" [Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of August 21, 2012 N 1186 "On the Assignment of the Class Rank of the State Civil Service of the Russian Federation to the Federal State Civil Administration of the President of the Russian Federation": Igor Levitin became an adviser to the president]. The Kremlin (in Russian). February 4, 2015. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015.
  2. ^ Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 21 августа 2012 года № 1186 «О присвоениии классного чина государственной гражданской службы Российской Федерации федеральным государственным гражданским служащим Администрации Президента Российской Федерации»[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Левитин вошел в президентский совет Международной федерации настольного тенниса" [Levitin joined the Presidential Council of the International Table Tennis Federation] (in Russian). RIA Novosti. May 2, 2014. Archived from the original on August 14, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  4. ^ "ETTU.org - Newly-elected ETTU President Igor Levitin promises innovation as he looks to elevate European table tennis". www.ettu.org.
  5. ^ "Russia claims partial victory against table tennis sanctions as clubs reinstated". www.insidethegames.biz. May 5, 2022.
  6. ^ О присвоении классных чинов государственной гражданской службы Российской Федерации и классных чинов юстиции федеральным государственным гражданским служащим (Decree 770) (in Russian). President of Russia. 7 October 2013.
  7. ^ "Игорь Левитин — министр и президент" (PDF).
  8. ^ "Пришедшие вместе" [Come together]. «Коммерсантъ», № 43 (2882), (Kommersant) (in Russian). November 3, 2004. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  9. ^ "Igor Levitin". Renaissance Capital. Cyprus. 2006. Archived from the original on November 1, 2006. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  10. ^ Сидорчик, Андрей (Sidorchik, Andrey) (October 1, 2014). ""Золото" БАМа. Как завершали последнюю великую стройку СССР" ["Gold" BAM. How to complete the last great construction of the USSR]. Argumenty i Fakty (in Russian). Retrieved December 16, 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "БАМ 40 лет" [BAM 40 years] (in Russian). TASS. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  12. ^ ""Золотое звено" БАМа уложили 35 лет назад" [BAM’s “Golden Link” was laid 35 years ago]. Парламентская газета (Parlamentskaya Gazeta) (in Russian). October 1, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  13. ^ Kaminski, Anna (February 5, 2014). "A train to nowhere in Siberia: Built in an inhospitable land of extreme winter cold, the 3,140km-long Baikal-Amur Mainline blazes a path through some of Russia's least accessible terrain". BBC. Archived from the original on February 15, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  14. ^ Jones, Finn-Olaf (August 10, 2012). "The Other Siberian Railroad". New York Times. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  15. ^ "События ∙ Президент России". Президент России. 17 July 2023.
  16. ^ "Правительство назначило С.Аристова заместителем министра транспорта РФ" [The government appointed S. Aristov Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation]. Vedomosti. May 31, 2004. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  17. ^ "Игорь Левитин: Аппарат министерства мы сократили в четыре раза: Глава создаваемого суперведомства - о знакомстве с Путиным, российских дорогах и поддержке писателей-патриотов" [Minister of Transport and Communications of the Russian Federation Igor Levitin: We have reduced the apparatus of the ministry four times: The head of the super-departmental organization is about getting to know Putin, Russian roads and the support of patriotic writers]. Komsomolskaya Pravda (in Russian). April 19, 2004. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  18. ^ "Россия и ЕС подписали документ о диалоге в сфере транспорта" [Russia and the EU signed a dialogue document in the field of transport] (in Russian). RIA Novosti. October 3, 2005. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  19. ^ "Россия – Латвия: шаги навстречу" [Russia - Latvia: steps towards.]. RZD (in Russian). September 20, 2016. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016.
  20. ^ "Калининград и Литва регламентировали судоходство". www.ng.ru.
  21. ^ Kazakhstan wants to build road from south to St Petersburg. ExKz
  22. ^ "New Kazakh-Russian Transport Route Opened". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. November 9, 2006. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  23. ^ Горелова, Мария (Gorelova, Maria) (October 28, 2008). "Главой совета директоров "Аэрофлота" стал Игорь Левитин: На этом посту министр транспорта сменил бывшего помощника президента Виктора Иванова" [The head of the board of directors of Aeroflot was Igor Levitin: In this post, the Minister of Transport succeeded former presidential aide Viktor Ivanov]. Komsomolskaya Pravda (in Russian). Retrieved December 16, 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ "Состав участников совета" [Board members]. Kremlin (in Russian). Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  25. ^ "Структура ∙ Президент России". Президент России.
  26. ^ [1] State Council of the Russian Federation
  27. ^ [2] Presidential Economic Council
  28. ^ [3] Календарь спортивного болельщика на 2008 год
  29. ^ [4] ROC executive committee (elected May 29, 2014)
  30. ^ [5] )
  31. ^ "6 апреля 2015 года Всемирный день настольного тенниса!". ttfr.ru. Archived from the original on 2016-05-07. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  32. ^ "ETTU.org - Newly-elected ETTU President Igor Levitin promises innovation as he looks to elevate European table tennis". www.ettu.org.
  33. ^ "Russia claims partial victory against table tennis sanctions as clubs reinstated". www.insidethegames.biz. May 5, 2022.
  34. ^ "Левитин уверен в допуске российских спортсменов к Олимпиаде в Париже". 8 March 2023.
  35. ^ "Левитина Наталья Игоревна" [Levitina Natalya Igorevna]. Персона РФ (in Russian). Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  36. ^ a b Левитин Игорь. Slon.ru website. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  37. ^ Ролдугин, Олег (Roldugin, Oleg) (December 9, 2011). "Как зарабатывают дети политэлиты?" [How do political elite children earn?]. Собеседник.ry (sobesednik.ru) (in Russian). Retrieved December 16, 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  38. ^ "Левитина (Зверева) Юлия Игоревна" [Levitina (Zvereva) Julia Igorevna]. Персона РФ (in Russian). Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  39. ^ [Presidential Decree on February 15, 2012 № 189 «On awarding the Order For Merit to the Fatherland III degree Levitin IE"
  40. ^ [6] Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has Levitin the Order For Merit to the Fatherland III degree
  41. ^ Presidential Decree of 20 September 2009 № 1058 «On awarding the Order For Merit to the Fatherland IV degree Levitin IE
  42. ^ Presidential Decree of January 9, 2008 № 18
  43. ^ "Министр транспорта России И.Е. Левитин награжден орденом св. блгв. кн. Даниила Московского I степени / Новости / Патриархия.ru". Патриархия.ru.
  44. ^ "Святейший Патриарх Кирилл вручил церковные награды участникам торжеств в честь 700-летия преподобного Сергия Радонежского / Новости / Патриархия.ru". Патриархия.ru.
  45. ^ "В Неделю Торжества Православия Предстоятель Русской Церкви совершил Литургию в Храме Христа Спасителя / Новости / Патриархия.ru". Патриархия.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-07-16.
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