Igor Sechin-Russia’s third man emerges from the shadows

Russia’s third man emerges from the shadows

As Russia battles to rebrand itself as both an assertive international player and a reliable partner for the west, Igor Sechin, deputy prime minister, is well placed to exert his influence on Russia’s economic and political direction, the FT’s Charles Clover, David Gardner and Catherine Belton report.

Judged to be a consummate Kremlin player – a sort of Russian Richelieu – Mr Sechin is the third man in the informal triumvirate headed by President Dmitry Med­vedev and Mr Putin, former president and now prime minister. Once, he operated only behind the scenes. In Africa in the 1980s he is said to have worked as a military translator. Now, the man who embodied the rise of the siloviki – literally the “men of power” – is starting to emerge from the shadows.

As Russia seeks to shake off an economic crisis that wiped out layer after layer of the oil-fuelled gains of the Putin era, Mr Sechin – viewed with fear and awe for overseeing the state takeover of the strategic heights of the economy – is striking a new, surprisingly accommodating tone. The Kremlin, taken aback by how vulnerable Russia’s oil and gas-driven economy proved to be to the global financial crisis and recession, has started to change its tune.

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