Igor Olegovich Shchegolev, assistant to the president of the Russian Federation, professional journalist, member of Putin’s team is of interest to the public because of his informational closeness. In the media, he speaks exclusively "on business", rarely appears at social events and never talks about his family. Let's talk about how Igor Schegolev came to the Kremlin, how his career and personal life developed.
early years
Igor Olegovich Shchegolev was born on November 10, 1951 in the Ukrainian city of Vinnitsa. He categorically does not want to talk about his childhood and parents. Journalists suggest that nothing remarkable happened to the future Minister of the Russian Federation at that time. Since childhood, Igor was a very “decent” child, who did not cause particular trouble to his parents.
Education
Studied Igor Shchegolev in the most ordinary Vinnitsa high school. But he studied very well. From childhood, he showed clearly humanitarian inclinations and a great ability for languages. Despite the excellent study at school, Schegolev was not a “nerd”. He grew up very contact and active, went in for sports and from his teenage years he was aimed at a career. After school, he easily entered the Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages. M. Toreza. He is fluent in English, French and German.
During two years of study at the institute, Schegolev proved to be a very diligent and promising student. This was the reason that in 1984, as part of an international student exchange program , he went to study at the University of Leipzig. K. Marx. Only trustworthy and excellent students were taken to such programs. In 1988, Igor successfully completed his studies at two universities, defended two dissertations, and received the qualification of a German philologist. During his studies in Leipzig, according to journalists, Schegolev crossed paths with Vladimir Putin, who headed the House of Soviet-German Friendship there and served in state security agencies. Informed sources claim that it was then that Putin “recruited” a promising international specialist.
ITAR-TASS
Igor Schegolev began his career as an editor at the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union. He worked in the editorial office of the countries of America. In 1992, ITAR-TASS was opened on the basis of this news agency. In it, Schegolev works as an editor, and then as a senior editor of the general editorial office for European countries. Over the years, he showed himself not only as a good professional, but also demonstrated his trustworthiness. This allowed him in 1993 to become an ITAR-TASS correspondent in the Paris edition. During this period, Schegolev actively writes, his materials are published in such publications as the newspapers Trud, Izvestia, Krasnaya Zvezda, Today, and in the magazines Sovetnik and Anomaly. Notable were his publications on the conference on solving the problems of violence against women in the world, on the first world judo championship, a review of the memoirs of the French president F. Mitterrand. By this time, Schegolev became a recognized expert on European affairs.
In 1997, Shchegolev's overseas business trip ended. He returned to Moscow, where he began to work as head of the European sector at the ITAR-TASS editorial office, then the journalist moved to the post of deputy chief editor of the agency’s news service. At this time, Schegolev became a member of the so-called club of Kremlin journalists, he covered the activities and foreign visits of President B.N. Yeltsin.
Foreign intelligence
The future assistant to the President already in the years of his work at ITAR-TASS became an employee of the State Security Committee. In those days, it was the service in foreign intelligence that was almost a prerequisite for a successful career. Without such cooperation, it was almost impossible to go on a long foreign business trip, especially to the prestigious Paris edition. Shchegolev himself never confirmed or denied his work in foreign intelligence. He does not have a military rank and, according to journalists, was a KGB freelance employee.
Career in Government
In 1998, Igor Shchegolev, whose biography makes an unexpected turn, goes to work in the government of the Russian Federation, he becomes deputy head of the government information department. This castling indicated that his professional qualities and merits were appreciated by management. In addition, experts say that this transfer signaled that Shchegolev had good connections, because it’s impossible to just get into the government.
After 3 months, Schegolev became the press secretary of Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov. Igor Olegovich said that before this appointment he was not closely acquainted with Yevgeny Maksimovich, they only crossed several times on foreign trips. Subsequently, Schegolev became friends with Primakov, and they maintained good relations even after their joint work was completed.
After another 2 months, Schegolev was appointed to the post of head of the government information department. It was a very fast promotion. A year later, however, Schegolev was removed from this post, but he did not go down and became an adviser to the new Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin.
In 2000, he became the head of the press service of the Presidential Administration, and a year later - the head of the protocol of the head of state. He was involved in organizing events with the participation of the head of state, and also “insured” the president’s press service. Over the years of work in the Government and the Presidential Administration, Schegolev has developed good ties, many colleagues speak very positively of him.
Minister Schegolev
In May 2008, after Dmitry Medvedev won the election, quite unexpectedly for the general public, Igor Schegolev was appointed to the post of Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation. Perplexity in the ranks of political scientists and the expert community was caused by the fact that the new minister had practically no experience in telecommunications. This gap was filled by the assistant ministers, who became Alexander Provotorov and Konstantin Malofeev, well-known characters in the communications market.
Shchegolev’s merit at the ministerial post is the completion of the transition of domestic television to digital broadcasting, the creation of a unified telecommunications and media regulator, as well as the launch of the electronic government and public services website in practical use. The minister was also an active supporter of the introduction of various tools for controlling and supervising the Internet; he was the initiator of the development of a mechanism for monitoring and censoring Internet media. Shegolev was repeatedly accused of lobbying the interests of various business structures, but no one could provide any evidence for this.
After in 2012 V.V. Putin returned to the presidency, Schegolev lost his seat in the new cabinet.
Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation
In May 2012, President V. Putin issued an order stating that Igor Olegovich Schegolev was appointed assistant to the head of state. In this position, he is engaged in the preparation of Putin's speeches, the organization of his meetings. Shegolev also works as the editor-in-chief of the journal “Advisor”, acts as an expert on European countries in comments for the media.
Personal life
While still a minister, Igor Shchegolev, whose personal life is covered in a thick veil of secrecy, has repeatedly spoken out that it is necessary to tighten legislation regarding punishments for invading the privacy of citizens. He never talks about his family and the details of the private sphere. Journalists know that Schegolev is married. His wife, Shchegoleva Rimma Viktorovna, since 1998 works as an assistant professor of the German language department at the Academy of Foreign Trade. She has more than once completed internships in Germany. Like her husband, she is a specialist in Germanic languages ​​and a big fan of this culture and country. About whether the four Shchegolevs have children, nothing is known.
Interesting Facts
Igor Shchegolev, whose family is the most closed topic, is a supporter of the idea of ​​criminalizing paparazzi investigations in the field of personal life. Schegolev proved to be a fairly tough leader, he is an active conductor of the concept of "Safe Internet" and advocates for toughening responsibility for the quality of information in electronic publications.