- Valentin Pavlov
"For other uses, see Pavlov (disambiguation)."
Infobox Officeholder
name = Valentin Pavlov Валентин Павлов
nationality =Russia n
order = Prime Minister of the Soviet Union
term_start =January 14 1991
term_end =August 22 1991
predecessor =Nikolai Ryzhkov
successor =Ivan Silayev
birth_date = birth date|1929|9|28|mf=y
birth_place =Moscow ,Soviet Union
death_date = death date and age|2003|3|30|1929|9|28|mf=y
death_place =Moscow ,Russia Valentin Sergeyevich Pavlov ( _ru. Валентин Сергеевич Павлов;
September 26 ,1937 -March 30 ,2003 ) was the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union from January to August 1991. He was one of the leaders of the August Coup that attempted to deposeMikhail Gorbachev in 1991.Born in
Moscow , Pavlov had been a government economist and head of theGosplan 's finance department and had been an official in the finance ministry since 1959 when he became Soviet finance minister in 1989. He joined the Politburo in 1990. After the collapse of the Ryzkhov government, Pavlov was elected to the new position ofPrime Minister as a compromise candidate. Gorbachev was facing increasing resistance toperestroika due to the unpopularity of the reforms and the high inflation they caused. The growing political crisis and his opposition to the proposed "New Union Treaty " that was to decentralise power in the USSR to the republics influenced him to join the "State Committee for the State of Emergency" led byGennady Yanayev ,Boris Pugo ,Dmitri Yazov and other hardliners. The Committee launched theAugust Coup which attempted to depose Gorbachev on August 19, 1991.With the collapse of the coup, Pavlov was sacked as Prime Minister on August 22 and then arrested on August 29th. He was released from prison after several months and granted an
amnesty in May 1994.After his release, Pavlov became head of a
commercial bank and conducted research for several academies. He became a vice president of both the Free Economic Society of Russia and the International Management Academy.He defended the coup for the rest of his life and, in 2001, expressed his support for Russian President
Vladimir Putin .External links
* [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/320096881.html?&FMT=ABS Obituary in "The Washington Post" archives (requires log-in)]
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