Andrei Illarionov

Dr. Andrei Illarionov is a Russian economist and public figure residing in Washington, D.C., USA. In 1992 he was an Economic Advisor to Russia’s Acting Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, in 1993-1994 he was Chief Economic Advisor to Russia’s Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin, in 2000-2005 he was Chief Economic Advisor to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Russian Sherpa in G-8.

Andrei Illarionov graduated from the St. Petersburg State University (SPSU, Department of Economics) in 1983. He completed his Ph.D. in Economics at the same institution in 1987 with a dissertation on history of government finance of developed nations in the XX century. He also studied economics in Austria (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg), the United Kingdom (Birmingham University) and the United States (Georgetown University) as well as political studies (Stanford University).

After his graduation from the St. Petersburg State University, Dr. Illarionov worked as an assistant professor at the SPSU and then as a head of the analytical group of the research laboratory at the St. Petersburg University of Economics and Finance. There he was recruited into the small group of ambitious young economists, mostly from Moscow and St. Petersburg, who prepared themselves to transform the Soviet planned economy into the market one.

In January 2014 he publicly warned Ukraine that Mr. Putin is going to occupy and annex Crimea, the prediction that turned out to be true two months later.

Dr. Illarionov is a member of the Mont-Pelerin Society, the Economic Freedom Network, the European Association of Comparative Economic Studies and International Institute of Public Finance. Dr. Illarionov received honorary doctorates in economics from the SPSU, the Financial Academy in Moscow, and the Kyrgyz Slavonic University in Bishkek. He is also a Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. Over the course of his career, organizations have bestowed upon him the titles of Man of the Year, Forecaster of the Year, Financial Oracle of the Year.

Dr. Illarionov has co-authored several programs for Russian government, has written three books and over 1000 articles, op-eds, and comments on Russian economic, social and political issues. He is a regular commentator on current events in Russia.