Ivan Silayev

Ivan Silayev
Иван Силаев
Silayev in 1991
Chairman of the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet Economy
In office 24 August 1991 – 25 December 1991
Preceded by	Valentin Pavlov (as Prime Minister of the Soviet Union)
Succeeded by	Post abolished; Boris Yeltsin as Prime Minister of Russia
Permanent Representative of Russia to the European Community (later European Union)
In office 18 December 1991 – 7 February 1994
Preceded by	Lev Voronin (for the Soviet Union)
Succeeded by	Vasily Likhachev
Chairman of the Inter-republican Economic Committee of the Soviet Union
In office 20 September 1991[1] – 14 November 1991
Preceded by	Post established
Succeeded by	Post abolished
Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian SFSR
In office 15 June 1990 – 26 September 1991
Preceded by	Alexander Vlasov
Succeeded by	Oleg Lobov (acting)
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union
In office 1 November 1985 – 9 October 1990
Premier	Nikolai Ryzhkov
Minister of Aviation Industry
In office 20 February 1981 – 1 November 1985
Premier	Nikolai Tikhonov Nikolai Ryzhkov
Preceded by	Vasily Kazakov
Succeeded by	Appolon Systov
Minister of Machine-Tool and Tool Building Industry
In office 19 December 1980 – 20 February 1981
Premier	Nikolai Tikhonov
Preceded by	Anatoly Kostousov
Succeeded by	Boris Balmont
Full member of the 26th, 27th, 28th Central Committee
In office 3 March 1981 – 26 July 1991
Personal details
Born	(1930-10-21)21 October 1930 Baktyzino, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died	8 February 2023(2023-02-08) (aged 92) Nizhny Novgorod, Russia[2]
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1959–1991)
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Ivan Stepanovich Silayev (Russian: Ива́н Степа́нович Сила́ев; 21 October 1930 – 8 February 2023) was a Soviet and Russian politician. He served as Prime Minister of the Soviet Union through the offices of chairman of the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet economy (28 August – 25 December 1991) and chairman of the Inter-republican Economic Committee (20 September – 14 November 1991). Responsible for overseeing the economy of the Soviet Union during the late Gorbachev era, he was the last head of government of the Soviet Union, succeeding Valentin Pavlov.

After graduating in the 1950s, Silayev began his political career in the Ministry of Aviation Industry in the 1970s. During the Brezhnev Era he became Minister of Aviation Industry, Minister of Machine-Tool and Tool Building Industry, and a Central Committee member. When Nikolai Tikhonov's Second Government was dissolved, Mikhail Gorbachev appointed him in 1985 deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers in Nikolai Ryzhkov's First Government. He left all posts in the central government in October 1990 to focus in his post as chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian SFSR, which he had been appointed to in June of that year. There he faced several cabinet difficulties during his tenure, and while he supported the majority of Boris Yeltsin's policies, he opposed the secessionist policies of Yeltsin, which led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, during his concurrent tenure as Soviet Premier, which he overtook in August 1991. Therefore, a month later, he was removed from the post of Prime Minister of the Russian SFSR and was replaced by acting Prime Minister Oleg Lobov.

Silayev de facto became Prime Minister of the Soviet Union on 28 August 1991 following the failed August coup and the abolishment of the Cabinet of Ministers, when no new cabinet could be formed and the new economic committee, chaired by him since 24 August, was granted the authority of the cabinet. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he continued to work for the Yeltsin administration as the Permanent Representative of Russia to the European Community (the European Union since 1992) until his resignation in 1994. During the 2007 legislative election, Silayev ran as a candidate for the Agrarian Party of Russia.