Vladimir Yakunin – One year of Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute

Russian business leader and philanthropist. Former President of Russian Railways (2005-2015). Head of the Department of State Governance of the Faculty of Political Science of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Doctor of Political Sciences; visiting professor at the Stockholm School of Economics; visiting professor at Peking University; Honorary Doctor of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry; Member of the Russian Academy of Social Sciences. Vladimir Yakunin graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Mechanics as a Mechanical Engineer in 1972. After completing military service he worked with the Administration of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for Foreign Trade and as a department head at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute. In 1985-1991, Vladimir Yakunin was Second and then First Secretary of the USSR’s Permanent Representative Office at the United Nations. In the 1990s, Vladimir Yakunin occupied various positions in business and public service, including high-ranking positions in the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation. Yakunin served as Deputy Minister of Transport and as first Deputy Minister of Railways. In 2005 he was appointed CEO of Russian Railways, Russia's largest employer, a position he held until 2015. Vladimir Yakunin is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the St Andrew the First-Called Foundation and a member of the Russian-French Trianon Dialogue Coordination Council. In 2013, Vladimir Yakunin founded the Endowment for the World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations, aimed at supporting research in the sphere of political and social sciences, religion and culture, developing communication between countries on political and economic matters, and seeking compromise in cases of social unrest and international disputes. In 2016, together with the Former Secretary General of the Council of Europe Walter Schwimmer and Professor Peter W. Schulze of the Georg-August University of Gőttingen, he founded the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute. Vladimir Yakunin was appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Institute. Vladimir Yakunin has received around 30 state awards, both Russian and international.