The Federation Council of Russia announced that President Vladimir Putin has proposed the appointment of Andrei Belousov as the Minister of Defense. The Federation Council of Russia stated in a press release published on its Telegram channel today, Sunday, that it received a series of proposals from President Vladimir Putin regarding several candidates for federal executive minister positions. According to the statement, Putin proposed appointing Andrei Removich Belousov as the Minister of Defense, replacing the current minister Sergey Shoigu.
**Rich Biography**
Belousov, who graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1981, has a rich biography. He served as the director of the economics and finance department in the office of the Russian Prime Minister from 2008 to 2012. He worked as the Minister of Economic Development of Russia from 2012 to 2013 and as an assistant to the President of the Russian Federation from 2013 to present. He is a member of the management sections of several profit organizations listed in the "information disclosure" section, and has been a board member of Rosneft since 2015.
**Academic Background**
After graduating from the second school of physics and mathematics, he joined the economics faculty at Lomonosov Moscow State University, graduating with honors in 1981. During his training, he began collaborating with a group of economists led by Alexander Anshishkin, who was the head of one of the departments at the economics faculty from 1977 to 1981. After obtaining his higher education diploma, Andrei Belousov continued his postgraduate studies at the Central Institute of Economics and Mathematics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (CEMI). At the same time, he began his academic career there, initially as an intern researcher, then as a junior researcher in the human-machine systems modeling laboratory at CEMI, headed by E.B. Ershov. In 1988, Andrei Belousov defended his thesis "Simulation of Mechanisms for the Formation and Use of Working Capital (Diverse Approaches)." Three years later, in 1991, he was appointed head of the laboratory at IEPNT, a position he held until 2006, where he combined it with work in other organizations and was only released by switching to public service. Meanwhile, he began cooperating with state agencies from 1999 onwards. He was a member of the board of the Ministry of Economy and served as an advisor to several Prime Ministers: Yevgeny Primakov, Sergey Stepashin, Mikhail Kasyanov, and Mikhail Fradkov (working with Kasyanov and Fradkov as an independent advisor).
In 2000, Andrei Belousov founded and headed the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting (CMACP), which published a report in 2005 entitled "Long-Term Trends of the Russian Economy: Economic Development Scenarios for Russia until 2020."
**Public Service**
In 2006, Belousov began a new chapter in his biography by transitioning to public service. Invited by the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, German Gref, he took the position of his deputy. At the same time, he resigned from all other positions (the director of TsMAKP was succeeded by Elena Arkadyevna Abramova).
2008-2012: Director of the Department of State Economics and Finance.
2012-2013: Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.
2013-2020: Presidential Assistant.
January 21, 2020: First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, by executive order from the Russian President.
