Summary: Former Russian PM Yevgeny Primakov dies
MOSCOW. June 26 (Interfax) - Well-known Russian politician and former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov died in Moscow on Friday, a source in the late politician's inner circle told Interfax.
"Yevgeny Maximovich Primakov passed away today after a lengthy illness," the source said.
A lying-in-state ceremony for Primakov may be held at the Column Hall of the House of Unions in Moscow on June 29, Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Sergei Katyrin told Interfax.
"I believe that on Monday we will pay our final respects to Yevgeny Primakov at the Column Hall," he said.
The late politician will be buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow, Katyrin said.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia will perform a funeral prayer for Primakov at Novodevichy Convent, Deacon Alexander Volkov, a spokesman for the Russian church leader, told Interfax.
Condolences from senior officials
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences to Primakov's family and friends.
"The president has been informed of the sad news about the death of Yevgeny Maximovich Primakov. The president is sending his profound condolences to the family and friends of Yevgeny Maximovich, as well as all people who knew him," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Primakov "was a great statesman, a scholar and a politician who left a big legacy," Peskov said.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also extended his condolences to the relatives and friends of the late politician.
"Yevgeny Maximovich Primakov is no more. It is a great loss. Yevgeny Maximovich was an authoritative statesman, an outstanding expert on oriental studies, a bright and extraordinary individual," Medvedev wrote on his Facebook page.
For long years Primakov held various senior positions, including as the head of government, "always proving himself as a real professional sincerely committed to the cause and the interests of his country," the premier said.
Condolences for Primakov also came from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who spoke of the contribution by Primakov in the building of the foundations of Russian foreign policy.
"He made an invaluable contribution to the development of the foundations of our foreign policy, in the development of the principles that remain fully relevant today," he said in a video address.
"It is impossible not to note the scale of this personality, a great man, statesman, politician, journalist, scientist and political commentator," Lavrov said.
Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) extended its condolences over Primakov's passing.
"Yevgeny Maximovich Primakov, a person who had great authority and was very respected in the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. Yevgeny Maximovich led Russian external intelligence in the period between September 1991 and January 1996," the SVR said.
"In that difficult period, Yevgeny Maximovich Primakov not only managed to preserve the existing foreign intelligence traditions, but also give a powerful impetus to transfer its work to a qualitatively new level that meets the current challenges," it said.
Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov also offered their condolences to the relatives and friends of late Primakov.
Condolences from parliamentarians
Friday's 'Open Tribune' session in the State Duma started with a minute's silence for Primakov.
"We have received bad news - Yevgeny Maximovich Primakov - a wonderful person and statesman - has passed away," State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said, opening the session.
It is a tragedy, he said.
"He [Primakov] made an enormous contribution to the development of domestic and even world science. He held high-ranking state posts. His career was connected with foreign relations in many ways, including at the post of foreign minister," Naryshkin said.
Primakov also made a major contribution to the development of modern Russia and its society, he said.
Primakov made a major contribution to the solution of major issues at all stages of his work, State Duma deputy speaker and United Russia faction head Vladimir Vasilyev said.
"Yevgeny Maximovich Primakov, a great person, a great diplomat, who played a very important role in the history of our country, has died today," Vasilyev said.
"The person made an important contribution to the solution of very difficult issues at all stages, no matter where he worked. It was in the external intelligence, when he preserved it during the endless reforms conducted in other special services. It was in the Foreign Ministry, and in the government, when he came after the default," he said.
The government led by Primakov was a truly people's government and its policies were in the interests of most Russians, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said.
"We were deeply saddened by this news. Yevgeny Maximovich was a true patriot of our Fatherland, a strong statesman, an honest, sincere and open person. He devoted his life to serving the people of Russia," Zyuganov said.
Zyuganov said it was under Primakov that "the Russian government met the challenges of its time and was a truly people's government, whose policies were in the interests of most Russians."
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and its faction in the State Duma, said he regrets the passing of Primakov very much.
"I knew him very well. He was a fine example of a scientist, an historian, a public figure, and a statesman," Zhirinovsky told Interfax.
Zhirinovsky said that Primakov had made a huge contribution to Russia's domestic and "especially international policies."
Head of the State Duma foreign affairs committee Alexei Pushkov believes that Primakov was the person who began the process of resuming independent foreign policies in Russia, Alexei Pushkov, the head of the State Duma committee on international affairs, said.
"In my view, his historical role was that Primakov began resuming independent foreign policies in Russia, policies based primarily on our national interests, not on the national interests of our American counterparts," Pushkov told reporters.
The Russian Federation Council members also extended condolences over the death of Primakov.
"He was a person of the highest patriotism, he was a great Russian and a great citizen of the world. Despite the fact that he has lived to an old age, his departure is an irreparable loss, in the direct sense of the word," Federation Council foreign affairs committee head Konstantin Kosachyov.
"In all his actions and in all his decisions he proceeded from the interests of statehood, he was a perfect professional and a man of honor. Such a combination does not happen in every generation of people and in every country," Kosachyov said.
Head of Federation Council committee on defense and security Viktor Ozerov called Primakov "a man of steel."
"A whole era is gone with Yevgeny Maximovich - an era of creation, an era of deep understanding of internal and international issues, he made a big personal contribution to ensure that our country's parity on the international scene is at a high level. He was a man of steel without any exaggeration," Ozerov told Interfax.
Condolences from foreign countries
The U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Tefft said that meetings with Primakov were a great honor for him, and expressed his regrets over his death.
"Yevgeny Maksimovich leaves an impressive legacy of government service. He is without doubt one of the great statesmen and diplomats of both Soviet and modern Russian history," Tefft said.
"I was honored to have had the opportunity to meet him a number of times and would like to express my deep condolences to his family and his friends," Tefft said.
The French embassy to Russia also extended its condolences over the demise of Primakov.
"We learnt with grief that today Yegeny Primakov passed away. We offer our most sincere condolences to his relatives and friends, as well as people of Russia," a statement posted on the website of the French embassy to Russia reads.
"France pays tribute to his memory," it reads.
Other condolences
Mikhail Gorbachev, first president of the USSR, said the death of Yevgeny Primakov is a major loss to all of society.
"An outstanding statesman of our country has died. His life was filled with a lot of work and active participation in the solution of vital state issues. His demise is a big loss to our entire society. Extend my sincere condolences to Yevgeny Maximovich's family, relatives and loved ones, to all his friends and colleagues," a report posted on the Gorbachev Foundation website says.
Gorbachev said he had worked with Primakov and was his friend for many years. "In the years of perestroika, I offered him to get directly involved in the reform of our state system. He became chairman of the Union Council of the new, democratically elected Supreme Council," Gorbachev said.
Leader of the Civil Initiatives Committee and Russia's former finance minister Alexei Kudrin described Primakov as an outstanding politician who "created the history of Russia".
"Yevgeny Primakov has passed away. He was an outstanding politician. He created the history of Russia," Kudrin tweeted on Friday.
Former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky also offered condolences to relatives and friends of Primakov calling him a strong and wise person.
"Yevgeny Maximovich is gone. I happened to work with him for some time. I was with him during the famous 'turn over the Atlantic.' And, although the decision, of course, had to be made by him, he listened to everyone then. He was a strong and wise person. May the memory of him live forever!" Khodorkovsky said in his condolences posted on his website on Friday.
Biography
Primakov, a Soviet and Russian economist and an Oriental and Arabic scholar, headed the Oriental Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Economics and International Relations and was a leading foreign policy advisor to the Soviet leadership and a supporter of Gorbachev in the 1980s.
In 1989 he was appointed to the post of chairman of the Union Council of the USSR Supreme Council, and in 1991 became a member of the USSR Presidential Council and a member of the USSR Security Council.
Primakov became famous as a diplomat during the Persian Gulf crisis and the first war in Iraq in 1991, when his policy was described by many as an alternative to the pro-Western position pursued by the Soviet Foreign Ministry, which was then headed by Eduard Shevardnadze.
During the August 1991 coup, Primakov refused to join GKChP (the State Committee on the State of Emergency) and supported Gorbachev. He was appointed to head the Soviet Union's Foreign Intelligence Service in September 1991, and in January 1992 was appointed the director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service by President Boris Yeltsin.
Primakov held the post of foreign minister from 1996-1998. His policy, including at the time of the Balkan crisis, was described as hard-line in the West. However, Primakov's work at this post enjoyed broad political support inside Russia.
Primakov became Russian prime minister in September 1998, amid an acute political crisis in the country, following the default and the collapse of Sergei Kiriyenko's government. Primakov was a compromise candidate for prime minister and suited all factions working in the State Duma at that time.
In March 1999, Primakov was heading to the United States for an official visit. Whilst flying over the Atlantic Ocean, he learned that NATO had started to bomb Yugoslavia. Primakov decided to cancel his visit, ordered the plane to turn around over the ocean and returned to Moscow.
In May 1999, he was dismissed from the post of prime minister and became one of the leaders of the Fatherland-All Russia bloc and an opponent of President Yeltsin.
In 2000-2001, Primakov led the Fatherland-All Russia faction in the State Duma, and held the post of president of Russia's Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 2001 to 2011.