Vadim Bakatin

Vadim Viktorovich Bakatin (Russian: Вадим Викторович Бакатин; born 6 November 1937) is a Russian politician who served as the last chairman of the KGB in 1991. He is the last surviving former chairman of this organization. He was appointed to dismantle the KGB, but he was unable to control this organization and to fulfill the task[4] due to political reasons.[5] He was able to fulfill plan of KGB disintegration into separate organizations.[6] He ran for the Russian presidency as an independent candidate in June 1991.

Vadim Bakatin
Вадим Бакатин
Vadim Bakatin
Leader Inter-republican security service of the USSR
In office
6 November 1991[1] – 15 January 1992[2]
PremierIvan Silayev
Preceded byPost established
Succeeded byPost abolished
Chairman of the KGB
In office
29 August 1991[3] – 3 December 1991
PremierIvan Silayev
Preceded byVladimir Kryuchkov
Succeeded byPost abolished
Minister of Interior of the Soviet Union
In office
20 October 1988 – 1 December 1990
PremierNikolai Ryzhkov
Preceded byAlexander Vlasov
Succeeded byBoris Pugo
Personal details
Born (1937-11-06) 6 November 1937
Kiselyovsk, Kemerovo Oblast, Soviet Union
Nationality
  • Soviet (1937–1991)
  • Russian (1991–present)
Political partyCommunist Party of the Soviet Union (1964–1991)

Early life and education

Vadim Bakatin was born in Kiselyovsk, Kemerovo Oblast in 1937. He is a graduate of the Novosibirsk Civil Engineering Institute and the Academy of Social Sciences under the CPSU Central Committee.[7]

Career

From 1960 to 1971, Bakatin was supervisor, chief engineer, director of construction works. From 1964 to 1991, he was the member of the CPSU. From 1986 to 1990, he served as the member of CPSU Central Committee. Bakatin was appointed as Minister of Interior of the Soviet Union in 1988, replacing Alexander Vlasov.[8] Bakatin's tenure lasted until 1990. In 1991, he was made the head of KGB. Eventually, he was able to disintegrate the KGB, dismiss Fourth Department of the Chief Directorate "З", Fifth Chief Directorate, the actual political police apparatus that ran the secret informants, political dossiers, and dissident-hunting machinery.[6]

After the disintegration of the KGB, he served as head of the Inter-republican Security Service of the Soviet Union.

Bakatin had been put forth as a candidate for the Communist Party's nomination for the 1990 Soviet Union presidential election. However, he decided not to compete.[9]

In 1991, Vadim Bakatin as Chief of the KGB revealed to the US ambassador Robert Schwarz Strauss the methods that had been used to install covert listening devices in the building that had been intended to replace Spaso House as the American embassy in Moscow. Strauss reported that this revelation was made out of a sense of cooperation and goodwill, with "no strings attached". Bakatin's action was met with harsh criticism, including allegations of treason[10] which were eventually retracted.

In 1992, Bakatin was appointed vice-president and director of the department of political and international relations of the international "Reforma" fund. Since 1997, Bakatin has been a director/advisor of Baring Vostok (Moscow).

1991 presidential campaign
Main article: Vadim Bakatin presidential campaign, 1991

Bakatin was a candidate in the 1991 Russian presidential election. His running mate was Ramazan Abdulatipov. He ultimately placed last in the election out of six candidates, receiving 2,719,757 votes (3.5% of the votes cast).

Family

Vadim Bakatin, his grandson, (born 24 June 1998) is an International football player and plays for AS Monaco FC.[11][12][13]

Quotes

The traditions of chekism must be eradicated, must cease to exist as an ideology.[14]

References
  1. Указ Президента СССР от 06.11.1991 N УП-2818
  2. Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 15 января 1992 г. № 22 «Об освобождении от должностей руководителей министерств и ведомств»
  3. Постановление Верховного Совета СССР от 29 августа 1991 г. N 2370-I «О членах Кабинета Министров СССР»
  4. Yevgenia Albats and Catherine A. Fitzpatrick. The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on Russia--Past, Present, and Future. 1994. ISBN 0-374-52738-5
  5. J. Michael Waller. Russia: Death and Resurrection of the KGB.
  6. J. Michael Waller. Ibid.
  7. "Soviet Union: Political Affairs" (PDF). JPRS. 12 December 1989. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  8. Starov, Vadim. "MVD. The Ministry of Internal Affairs. Systema Spetsnaz". Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  9. Первый и последний: как Горбачев стал президентом СССР BBC Russian, 11 March 2015
  10. Martin Ebon KGB: Death and Rebirth. Praeger Publishers. pp. 58-65, 1994, ISBN 978-0-275-94633-3
  11. "Archived copy". www.asmonaco.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Archived copy". www.ftbl.ru. Archived from the original on 31 August 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. "Наш человек в "Монако". Как Вадим Бакатин пробивает себе дорогу в большой футбол". Life.ru. 25 July 2016.
  14. J. Michael Waller Secret Empire: The KGB in Russia Today, Westview Press. Boulder, CO., 1994, ISBN 0-8133-2323-1
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