Valentina Matvienko

Date of Birth: 07.04.1949

Place of Birth. Education. Born in Ukraine - Schepetovka, Chmelnytskyi region. In 1972, she graduated from the Leningrad Chemical-Pharmaceutical Institute, in 1985 from the Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and in 1991 completed a postgraduate course for senior diplomats at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR.

Career. Since 1972 she has been active in the Komsomol. She rose from the head of the Petrograd District Committee of the Komsomol to the first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of VLKSM.

1984-1986 - First Secretary of the Krasnogvardeisky District Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. 1986-1989 - Deputy Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Lensovet.

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In 1989 she was elected as a people's deputy of the USSR. She was the chairperson of the Committee of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for Women's, Family, Motherhood, and Child Protection Affairs.

From 1991 to 1998 she was active in the diplomatic service. She served as Ambassador of the USSR and the Russian Federation to the Republic of Malta (1991-1994), Director of the Department for Relations with Subjects of the Federation, Parliament, and Socio-Political Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1995-1997), a member of the Collegium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1995-1997), and Ambassador of Russia to Greece (1997-1998).

1998-2003 - Deputy Chairperson of the Government of the Russian Federation, responsible for social issues (in the governments of Yevgeny Primakov, Sergei Stepashin, Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Kasyanov).

From March 19 to October 15, 2003 - Plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation (Putin) in the Northwest Federal District.

On October 5, 2003, Matvienko was elected as the Governor of St. Petersburg.

From December 20, 2006, upon proposal by President Putin, the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg transferred the powers of Governor of St. Petersburg to her until 2011.

On August 22, 2011, she was elected as a deputy of the Municipal Council of the Krasnenkaja Tetschninka IV municipal district.

On August 31, 2011, she was appointed as a member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation - representative of the Federation Council of the Executive Authority of St. Petersburg.

On September 21, 2011, she was elected as the Chairperson of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. Before Matvienko, this position was held by Sergey Mironov (until May 2011).

Sanctions. According to the resolution of the Schepetovka City Council and the public of the city of March 2, 2014 Matvienko is under number one on the city's dishonor board (the Federation Council of the Russian Federation under her chairmanship granted Putin permission to introduce Russian troops into the territory of Ukraine).

On March 17, 2014, sanctions were imposed against Matvienko by the U.S. government, including entry bans to the U.S. and the seizure of assets and properties in the United States. The American side considered the speaker of the Federation Council as one of the main figures of the Russian Parliament responsible for violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Similar measures were taken by the Canadian government.

For her actions during the annexation of Crimea, sanctions by the EU were imposed against Matvienko – she was banned from entering European Union countries and all of her assets on its territory were frozen.

Awards. Awarded the Order of the 'Sign of Honor' (1976), Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1981), For Services to the Fatherland III class (1999), For Services to the Fatherland IV class (2003), Legion of Honour in the highest class (2007), For Services to the Fatherland II class (2009), Friendship of Peoples (2009), State Prize of the Republic of Finland - Grand Cross of the Order of the Finnish Lion (2009).

Family. Widow. On August 30, 2018, Valentina's husband passed away. The couple was together for 45 years. She has a son, Sergey Matvienko (born 1973), head of a subsidiary development company of the Russian VTB Bank - JSC VTB-Development, which manages development projects in the Northwestern region of the Russian Federation.

04.06.2022