Evgeny Aleksandrovich Primakov personal life. Evgeniy Sandro (Primakov)

Evgeny Aleksandrovich Primakov (Sandro)(born April 29, 1976, Moscow, USSR) - Russian journalist, television and radio presenter, historian. Grandson of Evgeny Primakov.

Biography

Evgeny Primakov was born on April 29, 1976, in Moscow in the family of Alexander Primakov, the son of Evgeny Primakov, an orientalist scientist. At the age of 5 he lost his father. To work in the media, he took a pseudonym in honor of his father - “Evgeniy Sandro”.

In 1999 he graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of the Russian State University for the Humanities with a degree in history.

For some time he worked at the Ekho Moskvy radio, at TASS, in the Kommersant-Dengi magazine, and was published in Obshchaya Gazeta.

She has been working on television since 2002. Initially, he worked on the TVS channel as a military correspondent for the news programs “News” and “Itogi”. He was among the channel's journalists covering the Iraq war - he was a correspondent in Israel.

In May 2003, he left TVS and went to work for the NTV channel. Worked for the programs “Today”, “Country and World” and “Profession - Reporter”. In the initial period of work, he most often worked in Moscow, less often as a special correspondent for the Middle East. Covered the terrorist attack at the Krylya beer rock festival in July 2003.

From 2005 to 2007, he was the head of NTV's Middle East bureau. In his reporting he covered the Second Lebanon War. He left the TV channel in June 2007.

From autumn 2007 to October 2011 - correspondent for the Directorate of Information Programs of Channel One (programs "News", "Time", "Other News"). From April 2008 to January 2011, he was the head of the Channel One bureau in Israel.

Worked for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Turkey and Jordan. He heads the autonomous non-profit organization “Russian Humanitarian Mission”.

Evgeny Maksimovich Primakov was born on October 29, 1929 in Kyiv - died on June 26, 2015 in Moscow. Soviet and Russian economist, orientalist-Arabist, political and statesman, Doctor of Economics (1969), Professor (1972), Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (1996).

Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC RTI; President, Chairman of the Council of the Mercury Club; Head of the Center for Situational Analysis of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1979; corresponding member 1974). Laureate of the USSR State Prize (1980) and the Russian State Prize (2014).

Member of the CPSU since 1959. Member of the CPSU Central Committee (1989-1990; candidate member of the Central Committee in 1986-1989).

Member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, member of the Presidium of the Presidential Council Russian Federation for Science and Education, Member of the Scientific Expert Council under the Chairman of the Federation Council Federal Assembly Russian Federation, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Russian Council on international affairs. Chairman of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1989-1990), head of the Central Intelligence Service of the USSR (1991), director of the Service foreign intelligence Russia (1991-1996), Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (1996-1998), Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation (1998-1999), President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2001-2011). Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the third convocation (2000-2001).

short biography Evgeny Maksimovich Primakov:

There is no official information about the father; according to unofficial published data, he was repressed three months after the birth of his son.

Mother - Anna Yakovlevna Kirshenblat (1896-1972), worked as an obstetrician-gynecologist. Immediately after the birth of the child, she returned to Tbilisi, where her family lived.

Primakov spent his childhood and youth in the capital of Georgia, but he studied in Marneuli, then went to study in Moscow.

After the seventh grade of school in 1944, he entered the naval preparatory school in Baku as a cadet, and did his internship on the training ship Pravda.

Graduated from men's high school in Tbilisi (1948). Favorite subjects were history, literature and mathematics.

He graduated from the Arabic department of the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies (1953) with a degree in regional studies in Arab countries and then postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University (1956).

In 1956, Primakov became a senior research fellow at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the USSR Academy of Sciences (IMEMO).

At the invitation of the editor-in-chief of the Arabic editorial office of the Main Directorate of Radio Broadcasting to Foreign Countries, Sergei Kaverin, Primakov began working in this editorial office. From 1956 to 1962, he worked at the USSR State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company as a correspondent, executive editor, deputy editor-in-chief, and editor-in-chief of broadcasting to Arab countries.

In 1957 he made his first trip to the East - a cruise on the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1959 he defended his thesis “Export of capital to some Arab countries - a means of ensuring monopoly high profits”, Candidate of Economic Sciences.

From September to December 1962 - senior researcher at IMEMO. In 1962, due to a conflict with curators from the Department of Propaganda and Agitation of the CPSU Central Committee, he submitted his resignation at his own request.

Since 1962, he worked at the Pravda newspaper as a literary employee, columnist for the Asian and African department, and since 1965, as Pravda’s correspondent in the Middle East, staying in Cairo (where he spent four years), deputy editor of the Asian and African department. While serving in the Middle East, he met with politicians: Zuain, Nimeiri. In 1969, during a trip to Baghdad, he met Saddam Hussein, and later met one of his close people, Tariq Aziz, who at that time was the editor-in-chief of the Al-Thawra newspaper. During this period, he made many trips to northern Iraq, often visiting the winter residence of Kurdish rebel leader Massoud Barzani.

In 1969 he defended his dissertation on the topic “Social and economic development Egypt", becoming a Doctor of Economic Sciences.

In 1977-1985 he was director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and since 1979 he was also a professor at the Diplomatic Academy.

In 1985-1989 - Director of IMEMO of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Academician-Secretary of the Department of Economics, since 1988 - Department of World Economy and International Relations, member of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

In February 1988, he was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In 1989-1991 - People's Deputy of the USSR. In 1989-1990 - Chairman of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In 1990-1991 - member of the Presidential Council of the USSR. He was part of M. S. Gorbachev’s inner circle.

Since March 1991 - member of the USSR Security Council. On August 21, 1991, he flew to Gorbachev in Foros as part of a delegation headed by Vice-President of the RSFSR Alexander Rutskoy.

Since September 30, 1991 - Head of the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR - First Deputy Chairman of the KGB. He refused the rank of general.

In September 1993, he did not support the anti-constitutional decree of President Yeltsin on the dissolution of the Congress people's deputies and the Supreme Council.

On January 9, 1996 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia. The name of Primakov is associated with Russia's transition from Atlanticism to a course towards a multi-vector foreign policy. Diplomat Alexei Fedotov noted that while in this post, Primakov “restored dignity to Russia’s foreign policy and its diplomatic service.” The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation E.M. Primakov pursued a deliberate foreign policy, under him Russia developed partnerships with countries of the West and East equally.

On September 10, 1998, President Boris Yeltsin proposed Yevgeny Primakov for the post of Chairman of the Russian Government. On September 11, 1998, Primakov’s candidacy was approved by the State Duma, 315 out of 450 deputies voted for him, including the opposition faction of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Before his appointment as Prime Minister, he received an offer from Viktor Chernomyrdin to become his first deputy and agreed to this, but the State Duma did not support the appointment of Viktor Chernomyrdin as Prime Minister. Having refused the first time, he subsequently accepted Yeltsin’s offer to head the government after the latter refused the same offer to Yuri Maslyukov, declaring that he was ready to work as Prime Minister Primakov’s first deputy.

Speaking on September 16, 1998 at an extended meeting of the Board of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Primakov said that discussions about some kind of “red revenge”, “the end of reforms” do not have the slightest basis.

On March 24, 1999, Primakov was on his way to Washington on an official visit. Over the Atlantic, he learned by telephone from US Vice President Al Gore that a decision had been made to bomb Yugoslavia. Primakov decided to cancel the visit, ordered the plane to be turned around directly over the ocean and returned to Moscow.

On May 12, 1999, Primakov was dismissed from his post as chairman of the government. Primakov's resignation was greeted sharply negatively by the population: 81% of those surveyed by the Public Opinion Foundation said they did not approve of it. At the same time, the majority of respondents expressed the opinion that Primakov’s government managed to achieve economic and political stabilization in Russia.

On December 19, 1999, he was elected to the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the third convocation. Chairman of the faction "Fatherland - All Russia" (OVR) (in 2000-2001).

For two terms, from December 2001 to February 21, 2011, he served as president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

One of the leading Russian orientalists, a major scientist in the field of world economics and international relations, in particular, in the field of complex development of issues foreign policy Russia, studying theory and practice international conflicts and crises, research into the world civilization process, global problems, socio-economic and political problems of developing countries.

Honorary Member Russian Academy education.

On February 21, 2011, he announced his resignation from the post of president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. During a press conference dedicated to the upcoming regular congress of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Primakov recalled that he has already held the position of head of the chamber for two terms. “That's enough, I won't be re-elected at this congress,” he said. On March 4, at the VI Congress of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he officially resigned as president. Primakov's deputy, S. Katyrin, was elected as the new head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

On November 23, 2012, he was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC RTI (solutions in the field of integrated communication and security systems).

After a long illness. with state honors.

Family of Evgeny Maksimovich Primakov:

Primakov's cousin is the prominent Soviet biologist Yakov Davidovich Kirshenblat.

In 1951, Primakov married a student at the Georgian Polytechnic Institute, Laura Vasilievna Kharadze (1930-1987), the adopted daughter of NKVD General M. M. Gvishiani.

Children - son Alexander (died in 1981 of a heart attack) and daughter Nana, from whom E.M. Primakov has two granddaughters. Grandson from his son - Evgeny Aleksandrovich Primakov (creative pseudonym - Evgeny Sandro, Sandro - in honor of his father (Alexander)), correspondent for Channel One and Russia24, orientalist.

The widow is Irina Borisovna, a therapist, formerly the attending physician of E. M. Primakova.

The main works of Evgeny Maksimovich Primakov:

"The Countries of Arabia and Colonialism" (1956);
“International Conflicts of the Sixties and Seventies” (1972, co-author);
“Egypt: the time of President Nasser” (1974, 2nd ed. 1981; co-authored with I. P. Belyaev);
"The Middle East: Five Paths to Peace" (1974);
“Energy crisis: the approach of Soviet scientists” (1974);
"The Energy Crisis in the Capitalist World" (1975, editor);
"Anatomy of the Middle East Conflict" (1978);
“New phenomena in the energy sector of the capitalist world” (1979);
"The East after the Collapse of the Colonial System" (1982);
"East: turn of the 80s" (1983);
“The story of one conspiracy: US Middle East policy in the 70s - early. 80s." (1985);
“Essays on the history of Russian foreign intelligence” (in 6 volumes, 1996);
“Years in Big Politics” (1999);
“Eight Months Plus...” (2001);
"The World After 9/11" (2002);
"Confidential: The Middle East on Stage and Behind the Scenes" (2006, 2nd ed. 2012);
"Minefield of Politics" (2006);
“A world without Russia? What does political myopia lead to" (2009).

Yevgeny Primakov's books have been translated into many foreign languages. In particular, they were republished abroad in Chinese, Italian, English, Bulgarian, Turkish, Persian, Arabic, German, Japanese, Greek, Serbian, Macedonian, Romanian, French and other languages.

He graduated from high school in Tbilisi.

I wanted to enter the Caspian Higher Naval School (Baku), but did not pass the medical examination.

1948-1953 – student of the Arabic department of the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies. Languages ​​were difficult for Primakov; for a long time he could not get rid of his strong Georgian accent.

1953-1956 – studied in graduate school at the Faculty of Economics of Moscow state university and worked as a correspondent for the USSR State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.
He left his scientific career due to financial difficulties after the birth of his son.

1956-1960 – executive editor, Chief Editor Main Directorate of Radio Broadcasting of the USSR State Television and Radio.
1960-1962 – deputy editor-in-chief of the main editorial office of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting.

1959-1991 - Member of the CPSU.

1962-1970 – columnist for the Pravda newspaper, own correspondent for the Pravda newspaper in Egypt, deputy editor of the Asia and Africa department of the newspaper.
It is generally accepted that Primakov began collaborating with intelligence in Egypt. But experts claim that the Pravda correspondent network was not used by the KGB as an “operational cover” until the end of the 80s. Former KGB general Oleg Kalugin, who teaches in the United States, claims that Primakov nevertheless worked for the KGB as an intelligence officer (Moscow News, August 17-23, 1999). According to Kalugin, Primakov began collaborating with Soviet intelligence services in his last year at the institute. An agent under the name "Maxim" carried out some of the most sensitive assignments for the KGB, meeting with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Kurdish rebels, among whom he found understanding with the Kurdish leader Barzani. He predicted the power struggle in Iraq and the victory of Saddam Hussein over General Qassem, "with whom Primakov had a close acquaintance, which turned out to be very valuable for him. Then he became friends with Saddam himself and a person close to him, Lieutenant Tariq Aziz... He developed friendly relations with the Libyan dictator Gaddafi, Syrian President Assad and a dozen other politicians of various calibers." Kalugin highly praises Primakov the intelligence officer: “And he was right. He always predicted events quite accurately - a kind of intuition based on knowledge, analysis and political instinct.” Kalugin tells how Primakov foresaw the deterioration of relations with Egypt, and that the introduction of troops into Afghanistan could have an undesirable reaction in the Muslim world. "His initiatives and innovations never went beyond what was reasonable. He was always realistic, prudent and cautious."

1970-1977 – Deputy Director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
From 1974 to 1979 – Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Since 1979 – Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He was part of a group of Kremlin speechwriters.
1977-1985 – Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences (IVAS) of the USSR.
1981-1985 - Chairman of the All-Union Association of Oriental Studies.
1985-1991 – Director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations.
He demanded that institute employees be punctual and ordered them to come to work four days a week (previously they went to work two days). The employees who helped Primakov in developing analytical reports on the countries of the East for the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee very quickly received academic titles. Not everyone liked this leadership style, and the Committee state security regularly received signals about the Zionist origins of the prominent freemason Primakov.

1986-1989 - candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee.
1989-1990 - Member of the CPSU Central Committee.
From September 1989 to July 1990 - candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.
Member of the commission for international politics Central Committee of the CPSU.
Member of the Presidential Council (March–December 1990) and member of the USSR Security Council (1991).
In 1989, he traveled to Tbilisi to normalize the situation after the troops dispersed a peaceful demonstration and participated in negotiations to end the strikes with the leaders of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan.
In 1990, he headed the party and government commission that insisted on sending troops to Baku and armed suppression of the Armenian pogroms. Then for another three or four years, the leaders of the Popular Front told journalists that Primakov was preparing provocations against them...
In December 1990, as a personal envoy of the President of the USSR, he negotiated with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, trying to prevent a war in the Persian Gulf. Came under American bombing.

His career rise coincided with a personal tragedy - within a year Primakov lost his son and wife.

1988-1989 – Academician-Secretary of the Department of World Economy and International Relations of the USSR Academy of Sciences, member of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Since December 1991 – Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
He was a member of the board of the Soviet-Iraqi Friendship Society, deputy chairman of the Soviet Peace Committee, chairman of the Soviet National Committee for Asia-Pacific Cooperation, and a member of the Council of the United Nations University. Member of the Club of Rome (since 1975).

1989-1992 – member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the eleventh convocation.
From June 1989 to September 1991 - Chairman of the Council of the Union of Armed Forces.
Tried unsuccessfully to mediate between the CPSU Central Committee and the Interregional Deputy Group.
He headed a commission to investigate cases of unjustified privileges given to officials.

From September 1991 to November 1991 - First Deputy Chairman of the KGB of the USSR - Head of the 1st Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR.
From November 1991 to December 1991 – Head of the Central Intelligence Service (formerly the 1st Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR).
From December 1991 to January 1996 – Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of the Russian Federation.
In 1992, he achieved the adoption of the law “On Foreign Intelligence of the Russian Federation.” The law removed intelligence from structures law enforcement, prohibited forced recruitment and established the use of diplomatic cover.
Under Primakov, intelligence stopped interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. Due to budget cuts, operations in most of Africa and Southeast Asia were stopped, newspaper offices used for journalistic cover were closed, and cooperation between the Foreign Intelligence Service and the intelligence services of other countries was established.
Despite the curtailment of the SVR's activities, Primakov generously distributed military ranks and rewards for their subordinates. Before Primakov came to the SVR there was one general, by 1996 their number exceeded a hundred.
The main focus of the SVR’s work was monitoring economic and political processes that could harm Russia’s interests. The SVR annually submitted reports to the president on these processes.
The first report, “The New Challenge After the Cold War: the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction” (1993), addressed the problem of “brain drain” and lethal technologies from developed countries to third world countries.
The second report - "Prospects for NATO expansion and Russia's interests" (1993) - drew attention to the fact that, expanding to the countries of Central and of Eastern Europe, NATO does not guarantee its transformation from a military alliance to a political one. The report recommended the regrouping and rearmament of Russian troops in the west of the country and caused outrage in the United States and Europe.
The third report is “Russia-CIS: Does the West’s Position Need Adjustment?” (1994) – condemned the activities external forces trying to disrupt the process of integration between the CIS countries, and proposed that the commonwealth create a single defense space.
Fourth report - "Non-Proliferation Treaty" nuclear weapons. Extension Problems" (1995) - three years before the first nuclear tests in India and Pakistan, he warned that these countries should sign the NPT.

Permanent member of the Security Council. In this capacity, he participated in the decision-making on the military operation against Chechnya in 1994.
Member of the Defense Council of the Russian Federation (since the creation of the council in 1996).

From January 1996 to September 1998 – Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
He established himself as a champion of the integration of the CIS countries and an opponent of NATO expansion to the east.
During the first year, Primakov traveled all over the world - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, all of Yugoslavia, India, Syria, Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, Indonesia, Finland, Italy, Vatican, France, Germany, Portugal - but never went to the USA.
Among the features of Primakov-style diplomacy: a tougher attitude towards the Baltic countries due to their constant violation of the rights of the Russian-speaking population and ignoring the reproaches of the United States and Israel about Russian supplies of dual-use technologies and missile technologies to Iran.

From September 1998 to May 1999 – Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.
At the end of 1998 - beginning of 1999, there was ongoing talk that Primakov, if asked very nicely, would agree to run for president of Russia. At the same time, the fact that Primakov was not going to run for president was not taken into account at all.
“His descendants will mark his premiership by the unprecedented number of corruption cases initiated.<...>To begin with, Primakov decided to free Yeltsin from the traps of the “illegal economy” into which his family had fallen. Without the support or neutral position of the president, it is impossible to work in a system built personally for Yeltsin. The work had to be delicate, in several stages. But the old scout knew the deal.<...> <Президент>and the system created through his efforts grew together like Siamese twins. And the operation to separate them could be fatal with a 90% probability. Yeltsin understood this and had no intention of thanking Primakov. The approaching cheap farce of impeachment doomed Primakov to the humiliating role of a bargaining chip" (Novaya Gazeta, #17, 1999).
Yeltsin signed the decree on the resignation of Primakov’s cabinet a few days before the vote in the State Duma to begin the impeachment procedure. The media noted that Primakov did nothing (or did not want to do anything) to prevent this vote from happening at all.
In a televised address, Yeltsin admitted that Primakov's government "completely fulfilled the tactical task assigned to it." The president explained his action by the government's lack of economic strategy and the fact that the economic situation is not improving.

Consultant to the administration of the Orenburg region on geopolitics (1999, regional governor - Vladimir Elagin).

In the summer of 1999, politicians of various directions swarmed around Primakov, calling on him to lead their election bloc in the elections in State Duma third convocation. The media were convinced that politicians were harassing Primakov in the hospital in Switzerland? and at the dacha in Yasenevo. Primakov claimed that no one came to see him and that he was busy writing a book.
On August 17, 1999, at a joint meeting of the political councils of the Fatherland - All Russia association and the Agrarian Party of Russia, he was elected chairman of the coordination council of the Fatherland - All Russia bloc. It was decided that Primakov would head the bloc’s election list.
Back in Switzerland, when asked whether he was going to run for the post of President of Russia, Primakov replied: “I don’t rule out anything for myself in the future.”

In October 1999, he refused to meet with President Boris Yeltsin, explaining that he did not want to associate himself with the policies pursued by the president’s entourage.

Family

Father is a military man. He served in Kyiv, then in Tbilisi. Shot as an "enemy of the people."
Mother Anna Yakovlevna is a pediatrician.
Russian patriotic newspapers write that " real name"Primakova – Kirshinblat. In fact, Kirshinblat is the husband of Primakov’s mother’s sister, a famous surgeon.
Among the “close relatives” attributed to Primakov is General Vitaly Markovich Primakov, who was repressed in 1934 in the Tukhachevsky case (1897-1937). Evgeniy Primakov he, most likely not relatives.

Married for the second time.

The first wife is Laura Kharadze. We met in Tbilisi. They got married in 1951. She died a year after the death of her son.
The nephew of Primakov’s wife is the famous mathematician Alexei Gvishiani. Her brother, academician Jermaine Gvishiani, was married to the daughter of the Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, Alexei Kosygin.
Son - Alexander. Worked at the Institute of the USA and Canada. In the mid-80s, he died of a heart attack on a bench in the Alexander Garden during the May Day demonstration - the ambulance was unable to break through the cordon to Red Square. The death of his beloved wife and son greatly undermined Primakov’s health.
Daughter Nana is a defectologist by profession.
Grandson – Evgeniy, born in 1984. The youngest granddaughter is Masha, born in 1997.

Second wife – Irina Borisovna. We met at the clinic: she was Primakov’s attending physician.

Titles and awards

Since 1974 - Corresponding Member, since 1979 - Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, since 1991 - Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Having headed the SVR, he refused the rank of general due to his status.

Awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, Friendship of Peoples "Badge of Honor", "For Services to the Fatherland" III degree, medals.

Laureate of the USSR State Prize, Nasser Prize, Prize named after. Avicenna.

Friends and enemies

Friendly relations puts it above any political differences.

Unlike most people who lose contact with childhood friends over time, Primakov kept all his friends. Over the years, their ranks only grew. They joke that he still has friends even from... kindergarten. It is impossible to list all of Primakov’s friends.
Friends of childhood and youth: famous cardiac surgeon academician Vladimir Burakovsky, former employee of the CPSU Central Committee Leon Onikov, film director Lev Kulidzhanov.
The Georgian government has been trying to get Russia to extradite Igor Georgadze for several years to no avail. The Russian Foreign Ministry replies that it has no idea where he is. According to some reports, the former chief of the Georgian Security Service is also a childhood friend of Primakov.
In various interviews, Primakov called his friends: artist Mikhail Shemyakin, intelligence officer Donald Donaldovich McLane, philosopher Merab Mamardashvili, film scriptwriter Anatoly Grebnev, executive secretary of the Intelligence Veterans Committee Konstantin Gevandov.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Ignatenko in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper (May 15, 1996) said: “he played an excellent role in the lives of many people. He keeps the memory of friends who have already passed away. He never forgets about their families in the turmoil of life. He loves friends, and his friends love him."

Primakov was invited to work at the Pravda newspaper by the newspaper's deputy editor-in-chief Nikolai Inozemtsev. In 1970, academician and director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations Inozemtsev invited him to become his deputy. “Inozemtsev thought well, but was slow to write, so Primakov prepared materials for him,” another of Primakov’s patrons later recalled. former secretary Central Committee of the CPSU Alexander Yakovlev. Yakovlev introduced Primakov to Mikhail Gorbachev. Primakov’s academic career was also helped by the President of the Academy of Sciences, Mstislav Keldysh.
But still, Primakov’s career is the result of his personal abilities: the ability to win the favor of his subordinates and superiors.

Robert Markaryan has been Primakov’s adviser since the time of the Institute of Oriental Studies. In the SVR, Markaryan received the rank of major general. After Primakov’s appointment as Prime Minister, he became the head of the secretariat of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.
Yuri Zubakov has been Primakov’s assistant since 1990. After Primakov’s appointment as prime minister, he became chief of staff of the Russian government.
Primakov’s security guard is Gennady Alekseevich Khabarov.
Primakov’s press secretary at the SVR was Tatyana Samolis.

At the Institute of Oriental Studies, Primakov was the scientific supervisor of Saddam Hussein's cousin and Heydar Aliyev's daughter.
Primakov met Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the mid-60s, when he acted as a mediator in negotiations between the Iraqi Kurds and the Iraqi government. But Primakov’s friendship with Hussein had no impact on the Iraqi leader’s policies. In 1991, Primakov failed to convince Hussein to withdraw troops from Kuwait. But this friendship irritates Western diplomats: a photograph went around the whole world - Yevgeny Primakov’s kiss with Saddam Hussein.

The relationship between Russian Foreign Minister Primakov and US Secretary of State Warren Christopher had a somewhat comical tone. The first time they met was in Helsinki, where Primakov deliberately violated protocol. It was planned that when Christopher got out of his car in a raincoat at the residence of the Russian minister, Primakov would approach him (also in a raincoat) and they would shake hands in front of the movie cameras. But Primakov did not go to Christopher’s car, but remained standing in a suit on the porch, which put Christopher in the position of a guest... Then Christopher made a visit to Moscow, but Primakov never made a return visit to the USA...
So when in April 1996 Primakov actively became involved in the peace process in the Middle East, pushing the French settlement plan, Christopher, who was pushing the American version, did not want to meet with him (citing the busy schedule of the visit). He also insisted that Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres demand that Primakov not interfere in the negotiations.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries reached a dead end, and the United States had to change its secretary of state. The phlegmatic and faceless Warren Christopher was replaced by a strong-willed, decisive and well-versed lady in the Russian language - Madeleine Albright - an active supporter of NATO's advancement to the east and the forceful solution of interethnic conflicts. Despite such strong contradictions in their views, Primakov and Albright literally “sang together” (in July 1998, at a banquet marking the end of the conference of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, they sang a duet from “West Side Story”). Having made friends with Albright, Primakov “thawed out” and visited Washington.
Primakov is rightly called the “Mikoyan of our days.” This is the only case when a person who held such high positions under Mikhail Gorbachev retained them under Boris Yeltsin. Despite the frequent changes of governments under Yeltsin, Primakov was always in demand, and his career only advanced.

After Primakov was appointed prime minister, people began to come to power former employees KGB and SVR: head of the government apparatus Yuri Zubakov, deputy secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Oleg Chernov, head of the state company Rosvooruzheniye Grigory Rapota, chairman of the State Committee for Fisheries Nikolai Ermakov, deputy head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation for personnel issues Vladimir Makarov, etc.

The biggest loser from the fight against corruption launched by Primakov in 1999 was the politician-entrepreneur Boris Berezovsky. The media wondered which of the two would win. Berezovsky's chances were quickly approaching zero. After Primakov’s resignation from the post of prime minister, newspapers began to write that Berezovsky had also set it up.
On January 29, 1999, before flying to Davos, Berezovsky told reporters that his personal relationship with Primakov “has long-standing roots, the origins of which lie back in the Academy of Sciences.” “I am consistent in my policy, he is consistent in his, but our directions do not coincide.<...>I am convinced that Primakov really thinks about the country, I never said that he is opportunistic, but I said that the path that Primakov is taking is wrong" (from Berezovsky's interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station, April 28, 1999) .

Life style

His main talent is organizational: he equally skillfully manages any team - scientists, intelligence officers, diplomats, ministers.
Gallant in dealing with women.
He never speaks ill of anyone. Even about people who deliberately offended him.
Has a unique memory for names and dates.
Hard worker. Calm, balanced, stubborn, secretive.

Loves Georgian cuisine and Georgian feasts with toastmaster and toast. On the days of family celebrations, a “narrow” circle of closest friends gathers - about fifty people.
He prefers vodka as an alcoholic beverage, but does not abuse it.
Writes poems. Shoots at a shooting range. I used to go to the pool often.
He takes newspaper articles about himself painfully.

I have never been in excellent health. They say that after the death of his first wife and son, he lives on medication and is saved by the closeness of two doctors - his wife and a friend.
But no one saw the prime minister tired. He easily endures long meetings, long flights, and time zone changes.
In April 1997, he underwent surgery for gallstone disease.
In the spring of 1999, there was an exacerbation of radiculitis. He was treated at home and refused to go to the hospital. From Primakov’s interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper (May 5, 1999): “Is this the first attack of radiculitis? - So acute - yes. But, apparently, the treatment gives something. I had physiotherapy and a set of other procedures. By the way, I "I'm very touched that letters and telegrams poured in with advice on how and what to treat. But, of course, I can't try them all on myself."
In June 1999, Primakov underwent hip surgery in a Swiss clinic. “Madeleine Albright wrote me a very warm letter. And in this letter she writes to me that she thinks a lot about me after this back operation. And that she wants to meet and so on.<...>I answered this way: what<...>I was touched by her warm letter, I also want to meet her. But at the same time, she has to tell the CIA that she's being given the wrong information, absolutely. Because the operation was not on my back, but on my leg" (Primakov, NTV, Itogi program, September 5, 1999).

Evgeniy Maksimovich is conservative in his clothes - he prefers formal suits and blue “club” jackets. He loves “chameleon” glasses with tinted lenses, but lately he’s been wearing regular ones.

As director of IMEMO, he lived on Leninsky Prospekt. This is how Vice-Governor of the Lipetsk Region Yuri Dyukarev described his housing in an interview with Profile magazine: “An old, pre-war house with windows overlooking a noisy, dusty street. An antediluvian elevator rattling in an armored iron mesh. A spit-stained “proletarian” entrance with a mouse smell."
After the death of his wife and son, he left this apartment and moved to Yasenevo - closer to the headquarters of the SVR. This is how the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper describes his home in the fall of 1998: “No sets, crystals or “custom-made” Italian lamps. A sofa covered with a blanket, a modest carpet on the floor and a huge teddy bear, given to Evgeny Maksimovich by a little man dear to him. And There are still a lot of books."
In October 1999, submitting information about his income to the Central Election Commission, Primakov indicated a house and a plot of land (172.9 square meters - 25 acres) and an apartment of 213 square meters (judging by the area - the prime minister's). Primakov’s income for 1998 amounted to 505,638 rubles (prime minister’s salary, scientific and creative activity, income from bank deposits).

Books

Author of books on modern history East: "The countries of Arabia and colonialism", "Egypt: the time of President Nasser" (together with I. Belyaev), "The war that might not have happened."
In 1999, he wrote a book about his work in intelligence and the Foreign Ministry (not yet published). “I wrote everything myself. No one helped me in terms of literary processing or regrouping of the material. Only my wife helped, who proofread what came from the typist” (Primakov, interview with Versiya, September 7-13, 1999).

dubious information

On January 30, 1999, Sergei Dorenko in the Vremya (ORT) program accused Primakov of supporting the Interstate Aviation Committee, which is headed by his wife Tatyana Anodina. Later it turned out that Anodina has nothing to do with Primakov.

At the end of March 1999, The New Yorker magazine published, citing British intelligence, information that Primakov received a bribe of $800,000 from Iraqi Prime Minister Tariq Aziz for obstructing the UN international inspection's access to military facilities. Iraq. Even the Americans didn't believe it. Primakov also laughed for a long time, joking that such services cost more.

An article entitled “Primakov’s List” appeared in Novye Izvestia (October 9, 1999). The point was that in February 1999, at Primakov’s request, the General Prosecutor’s Office received a list of 163 names of prominent corrupt officials. “This is a typical provocation, and multi-purpose. Firstly, I did not send any requests anywhere, I am telling you this absolutely unequivocally.<...>This time. Secondly, this list reminds me of something. When I started looking at this list, I suddenly felt: I saw it somewhere, and it almost exactly conveys this rating list, which is published in Nezavisimaya Gazeta.<...>Only Berezovsky was put in first place in order to give such, well, certainty or reliability, if you like.<...>These people, who were supposedly sent in response to my request, they may be offended. Among them there are those who have no reason to be offended, but there are also those, the majority, who normal people, and among many of my comrades and friends. I intend to file a lawsuit for the first time in my life on this matter, right? And if I get it, I will ask for a large sum, the newspaper is not poor, apparently, and let all this money go to kindergarten"(Primakov, "Hero of the Day", October 11, 1999).

http://pics.bp.ru/ovr/lider_a.shtml

Evgeniy Sandro (Primakov)- Russian journalist, TV presenter, oriental historian. Grandson of Evgeny Primakov... pseudonym "Evgeny Sandro"... - Russian journalist, TV presenter, orientalist historian. Grandson of Evgeny Primakov.
Evgeny Primakov born on April 29, 1976, in Moscow in the family of Alexander Primakov, the son of Yevgeny Primakov, an orientalist scientist. At the age of 5 he lost his father and was raised by his grandfather. I took it for work in the media pseudonym "Evgeniy Sandro".
Graduated from the Russian State University for the Humanities - Faculty of History and Philology, majoring in history. He worked for the Ekho Moskvy radio, TVS TV channel, was the head of the Middle East bureau of NTV, Channel One, and worked in the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Turkey and Jordan. Currently, the author and presenter of the International Review program on the Russia-24 TV channel, heads the autonomous non-profit organization Russian Humanitarian Mission.

Evgeny Primakov (Sandro)
Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Primakov
Occupation: journalist, radio host, TV presenter, oriental studies
Date of birth: April 29, 1976
Place of birth: Moscow, USSR
Citizenship: USSR → Russia
Father: Alexander Evgenievich Primakov

He graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology with a degree in history from the Russian State University for the Humanities.

For some time he worked at the Ekho Moskvy radio, at TASS, in the Kommersant-Dengi magazine, and was published in Obshchaya Gazeta.

She has been working on television since 2002. Initially, he worked on the TVS channel as a military correspondent for the news programs “News” and “Itogi”. He was among the channel's journalists covering the Iraq war - he was a correspondent in Israel.

In May 2003, he left TVS and went to work for the NTV channel. Worked for the programs “Today”, “Country and World” and “Profession - Reporter”.

From 2005 to 2007, he was the head of NTV's Middle East bureau. In his reporting he covered the Second Lebanon War. He left the TV channel in 2007.

From 2007 to 2011 - correspondent for the Directorate of Information Programs of Channel One (programs "News", "Time").

Since 2008 - head of the Channel One bureau in Israel.

Worked for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Turkey and Jordan. He heads the autonomous non-profit organization “Russian Humanitarian Mission”.

Personal life
Married for the third time, has four daughters.

\Evgeny Primakov Jr.: I saw my grandfather with a cigarette only once - during his persecution in 1999
“Well, okay, be Primakov”
-...I dreamed of having a big interview with your grandfather...
- Me too.
- Evgeniy Maksimovich even promised me once, he said: call me in two months. This was about two years before his death. Unfortunately, it didn't work out.
- It would be strange if I interviewed him.
- But I had a short conversation with him on the phone. We printed it, and on the day of his death this phonogram was played on the radio. I think most who have been watching TV in recent years know you well. But not as Evgenia Primakova, but as Evgenia Sandro. Let's explain why you were Sandro, and why you have now become Primakov...
- I became Yevgeny Sandro because I couldn’t afford to be Yevgeny Primakov at that time. I was and am Yevgeny Primakov, that’s what it says in my passport, but I started out in journalism on the Ekho Moskvy radio. And there it was necessary to come up with something like that, because it sounded simply idiotic - Evgeny Primakov - at that time.
Since I am Alexandrovich, I made a pseudonym from my patronymic, (In memory of my father, who died of a heart attack in 1981 - A.G.) And our family’s connections with Georgia are known, my grandfather grew up there, my father spent his childhood there , there are still relatives there. That's why Sandro– such a normal “radio” pseudonym, a little loud-sounding, really.
- No, it was perceived normally on TV, especially from such a region.
- Yes, may be. Then this story arose with “ International review" For a long time I doubted very much, I consulted with my grandfather whether it was possible to allow myself to perform under my real name, since this was a kind of respect for the program that we had revived, and I believed that I somehow needed to pick up the banner, as they say. And my grandfather and I decided that yes, okay, so be it. I stopped being Sandro at some point.
- And before, when you were from Yevgeny Primakov, young guy turned into Sandro, - did your grandfather mind?
- I explained my reasons to him, he agreed with me.
- Did you seriously plan to do an interview with your grandfather?
- No. There was such a joke in our brigade. When we started our program, we invited Valentin Zorin to open it. And my colleagues said: let’s interview Evgeniy Maksimovich for a complete set. We decided that this would be too much.
"He treated me like a son"
- You said at the funeral service that Evgeniy Maksimovich replaced your father when your dad passed away... Did you live in your grandfather’s family, in his house?
- No. We are talking, let's say, about certain moral guidelines, about some kind of comparison with... We somehow talk more about me in an interview.
- Let's switch gears.
- A father is a person to whom you can always turn for advice, who can evaluate the loyalty and infidelity of your actions better, probably, than friends, colleagues and others. It so happened that instead of such authority I had a grandfather. And it seems to me that he treated me not as a grandson, but as closer to a son. He even wrote the last book that he published, when he signed it, not to Zhenya, but to Sasha. Typo...

Evgeny Maksimovich with his son Sasha. 1960s. More pictures in our photo gallery.

- And then he didn’t get better?
- I said nothing.
- Is it still like that?
- Yes. He sometimes made a slip - that’s what he called me.
- You also became a journalist, an orientalist. This, apparently, is not accidental, did Evgeniy Maksimovich somehow guide you? Maybe he was setting you up?
- It was always valuable to me that he didn’t place me anywhere. This was important to me, and I think he appreciated it too. Regarding the orientalist. It sounds loud. Life just happened that way, I was interested in it, I went there, and stayed there. Of course, books in the house, conversations, and so on - all this influenced me. I won’t hide that it was sometimes easier for me to work in the East, perhaps than for my colleagues, because there is a certain recognition.
- I remember an episode in Palestine... You were doing a report there, and Sergei Stepashin said to the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas: here is Yevgeny Primakov, the grandson of Yevgeny Primakov. And Dr. Abbas immediately beamed.
- In principle, I interviewed President Abbas before.
- So, he knew you?
- Yes. But a person has many different activities and concerns, so I think it is unlikely that he is fixed so strongly.
- But I would have fixed my attention on Yevgeny Primakov.
- On my grandfather, of course. Unlikely for a grandson.
“I was joking in Baghdad. And they kicked me out of there."
- How did your grandfather raise you, maybe scold you for something, instruct you somehow, put you in a corner, punish you?
- No, my grandfather never punished me.
- There was no reason, or what?
- No, he was just a very patient person. In terms of instructions? He cured me of categoricalness. You know, there is such a trait, mostly in young men, when all judgments are given very simply, they are emotional, not everything is thought through. For a long, long time, he gradually taught me that there is no need to chop with a saber.
- Can you remember a specific example?
- I have many examples. But since my judgments were wrong...
- On the contrary, it’s interesting how you got out of the wrong situation.
- Listen, I was very emotional about many events in the Middle East, I was prone to this while working in Iraq, for example, in Palestine, in Israel... It happened to me that I emotionally experienced some things related to war, with the death of people...
- Remember a specific episode. Just a picture, as they say. What, did you call him or come?
- No, he could have called me.

Evgeny Primakov with his family. More pictures in our photo gallery.
Photo: personal archive of E. Primakov.
- Or did he see your report?
- Most often it’s like a report, I wrote something on a blog or something like that. He could tell me: why are you so abrupt?
- For example?
- Literally two weeks before the start of the war in Iraq, I was in Baghdad. This is 2003. I think it was in February. It was a funny situation. The Iraqis really wanted to demonstrate to the world how they would defeat America when the war started. And in order to show their power and strength, they decided: let's hold a big military parade in Tahrir Square in Baghdad. Then they decided that no, a big parade is fraught with danger, what if there’s something wrong there, let’s hold a demonstration. Then they abandoned the demonstration.
As a result, they staged an exhibition of civil defense achievements, which looked absolutely squalid. There was a carpet tent where fire extinguishers, shovels, a carious tooth from a nearby dental clinic and a cutaway plastic baby were displayed. They collected everything they could and stuffed it there. And a brass band.
And since all this was so helpless, mediocre and stupid, in the report that I issued from there, I openly made fun of them. And that was wrong. And then my grandfather told me.
- Did he call you?
- It was after. There has never been any censorship in our family.
- He called and what did he say?
- Didn't call. I have already returned. I was kicked out of there.
- Did the Iraqi authorities kick you out?
- Yes, they didn’t renew my visa.
- This is despite the fact that this is Yevgeny Primakov?
- Yes. He told me that I was doing stupid things in vain. You know, this was generally his attitude towards our modern journalism.
- Did you try to convince him?
- Of course, I tried. In this he was unshakable. This even applies to our current program. He was very critical and negative about all sorts of fun things on air, and didn’t understand why it was at all. This is a man, as they say, from an earlier time. The information must be meaningful. And my attempts to explain to him that now it is impossible to present information the way we presented it before, now we need to somehow captivate and entertain the viewer...
- Or the reader.
- Yes, or the reader. He seemed to formally agree with this, but, naturally, he did not agree with it. We did one of the programs, there was an episode about Britain. And we called the head of the Moscow bagpipe ensemble. Later my grandfather also told me: what kind of tent is this, why did you do it, why? I tell him: this is an illustration. This is nonsense, not an illustration. He lacked meaning and content. Not only in a specific program, but in life in general, in what he saw around him. He carefully watched the news, read newspapers, read the Internet. He was technically savvy in that sense. We even talked on Skype when I was leaving somewhere. I have last call Skype from him - April 27. Usually the grandfather sat down and called all his relatives and friends, if anyone had Skype. He wasn't that mossy, you know. Tech savvy.
-Has Evgeniy Maksimovich read our newspaper?
- He read your newspaper. I can't say that he...
- Did you scold him a lot?
- Not really. He agreed with something, disagreed with something, argued with something. Your newspaper is very popular in the country, it is one of the leaders public opinion, so to speak. Naturally, he read it.
- That is, he didn’t treat her with disgust?
- Why? He was squeamish, as in general in principle, about the “yellowing” of the press...
- No, our paper is normal.
- Do you understand what I'm talking about.
- Yes... Why didn’t he give us an interview, he never said anything about it?
- You know, for the last few years, and especially Last year, in general - due to illness - he sharply reduced his communication with journalists. He wasn’t particularly sociable with them before, let’s put it that way. This is not because he did not like journalists; he himself was originally a journalist. It was for exactly the same reason that he wanted to say something meaningful. You know how television, for example, works. The interview is 10 minutes, the person says something, and then we still cut 20 seconds out of it. The content suffered, the meaning suffered. This always not only annoyed him, but probably upset him. Therefore, he reduced and reduced his communication with journalists. And the last year has been physically difficult at times.
“He never complained about anything.”
- He didn’t have an easy life. This includes the loss of loved ones. How did he even hold up? Now they say: Primakov is a rock, a block. But how did you actually see him?
- That's how they saw it. I don't mean that he was stone cold towards his loved ones. Not at all. He was a very warm person, a very loving grandfather, father, husband. This was not the kind of person who displays strong emotions in public. This is an unaffordable luxury.
- But you are not the public, you are close.
- Yes, of course, we are close... How can I tell you? This is not the character to complain to anyone. These are mostly internal experiences. Even in difficult times of acute political struggle, he naturally worried, but he didn’t have to complain about anything.
- When, roughly speaking, he was “killed” in a terrible way on TV channels...
- He was very worried about it.
- Was he angry, was he ready to launch something at this screen? Or have his temples turned silver?
“It was incredibly stressful for him.”
- 98th - 99th years.
- Yes. You know, for all his pragmatism and so on, he was an idealist, in the sense that he did not expect that politics could be so dirty. It was incomprehensible to him, he did not accept it, he saw how some of his friends or people whom he considered friends began to run away from him. He took the betrayal seriously. But he did not run around the room and did not break dishes. This is not the same person.
- What, he was sitting in thought? Did he open up to you? Did you give him any advice?
- You see, you could advise him on anything, he always made the decision himself. And his decision was that he would not participate in the quarrel. As far as I remember, he did not file any lawsuits against anyone, although he probably had numerous chances to do so and win the courts. There was something like that, there were a couple of some courts, something was won, he sent money somewhere to an orphanage, as far as I remember.
He could discuss all this emotionally with friends and family, but “not outwardly.”

Yevgeny Primakov and Muammar Gaddafi. More pictures in our photo gallery.
Photo: personal archive of E. Primakov.
- That’s why you don’t want something “out” now?
- Why is this? It's all the past. The only thing is that now, when my family and I received condolences, you know, so many “interesting” people appeared who had previously done dirty tricks and crap many times, and who are now expressing...
-You won’t name names?
- Of course not. From our journalistic...
- I can even guess who it is. And how did you react to this?
- You know, everyone has the right to say goodbye. And everyone has the right to forgiveness, especially now. The only thing is that I still won’t shake hands with a certain number of people, just as my grandfather didn’t do it.
— By sending condolences or coming to the funeral service, did they thereby ask Primakov for forgiveness?
- I don’t know what their motivation is. Sometimes it seems to me that in connection with everything that happened, some people did not offer condolences to the family, but checked in, checked the box that they were present. For God's sake, may God bless them all.
Listen, this is some kind of strange topic. I’m talking about this now, and it sounds as if I’m listing some grievances. There are no such grievances. In fact, these people are invisible in the general flow, and we don’t even seem to be particularly focused on them. Now this just had to be said.
“I miss his balance and analyticalness”
- According to the testimony of close friends and even your relatives, Primakov Jr. somewhere repeats the character of his grandfather, somewhere he copies some of his habits. You probably know about this. What did you take from him?
- Listen, I don’t do anything meaningful that this needs to be adopted, I’ve never thought about it. If people who knew my grandfather and know me think so, I am very pleased. Because if I adopted something from him, then it means something good.
- But you yourself can’t say what captivated you about Evgeny Maksimovich, what you perhaps envied, what was in his character, in his habits, in his traditions that you didn’t have? That you are not yet the Yevgeny Primakov you would like to become...
- Naturally, yes, what do I care about him? I would like to take more from him of his balance, his disinclination to make quick, frivolous judgments, his analytical nature. There are a huge number of his qualities that I would like to further develop in myself...

Yevgeny Primakov and former French President Jacques Chirac. More pictures in our photo gallery.
Photo: personal archive of E. Primakov.
- Remember an example that struck you.
- The wrong word is “struck.” He was always very attentive towards his friends, relatives, distant relatives, children of his friends, and so on. If he could help someone, he helped. For example, I found out that he regularly sent some money to distant relatives in Tbilisi. Moreover, to the relatives of his wife Laura, my deceased grandmother. Or the children of his friends, supported someone without advertising it at all. I am incredibly grateful to my grandfather for the attention to people that was inherent in him. This, of course, needs to be cultivated and nurtured in oneself. Because the essence of a person is not only himself, but also what he has cultivated around himself, what he has surrounded himself with, and what he does for other people.
- Your life has turned out in such a way that you have two grandmothers. If you don't want to, you don't have to answer this question. How was this theme present in the house?
- Irina Borisovna, when she appeared in our family... She somehow grew through our family. She became and is a part of it so organically, and she always treated the memory of Laura Vasilievna Kharadze (the first wife of Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov, died of a heart attack in 1987 - A.G.) with such respect that there were no conflicts, friction, there could never be any doubt. She is an absolute continuation of her grandfather, a continuation of our family, she is absolutely organic. There is no such thing: at first it was like this, and then it became like that. Moreover, Laura Vasilievna’s friends became Irina Borisovna’s friends. This naturally happened.
“...And I inherited books”
- Besides the surname, first name Evgeniy Primakov, character, profession, perhaps, the methods of workers, what else did you receive as an inheritance (naturally, in a figurative sense) from Evgeniy Maksimovich?
- Books. The most important thing is books. One of the first he wrote. He wrote that I should continue his work. And this is for me... Then I was much younger than now.
- Then – when is this?
- This is the first book after 98-99. He wrote, you know, how they write when... How many years have passed? 15-16. It was completely incomprehensible to me then.
- What did the phrase he wrote sound like, at least approximately?
- I won't quote. But there - that this is for my grandson Evgeniy Sandro, who will continue...
- Does he call you Sandro there?
- Yes.
- Which will continue...
- My way. If we talk about legacy, this is such a burden, something that I have already talked about. It’s hard to be Yevgeny Primakov, even the younger one. You will always be compared, and it will always not be in your favor. We are not talking about benefits, but these are very big obligations that you take on.
- What are your plans?
- For me, the most important thing now is banal routine work, done efficiently and with conscience. And I have something to do. I'm making a television program. Launched a humanitarian mission. I will make films. I will do what I have. And I will do it well.
- Tell me more about the humanitarian mission.
- I just don’t want to promote this topic. I just mean that there is some work that needs to be done well. It's routine, it's everyday...
- You said at the memorial service: I can handle it.
- I can handle it, of course. Do I have a choice? No.
- So, in any case, you will have to cope?
- Yes. Where can I get away from the submarine?
* * *
- Evgeny, excuse me - maybe the questions are too intrusive...
- No, great questions.
- You simply avoided some. They did this on purpose, right - for balance?
- What answer do you want to hear?
- You look now like Evgeniy Maksimovich.
- Thank you...

Journalist Yevgeny Primakov during a secret mission in Northern Iraq. 1970s. More pictures in our photo gallery.
Photo: personal archive of E. Primakov.
WHAT ELSE EVGENY PRIMAKOV’S GRANDSON TOLD ABOUT...
“His worst curse was: you’re a pot!”
- Did your grandfather ever punish you or scold you?
- Yes, I don’t remember that. I remember once we went to a sanatorium. I did something wrong there. But I was small, I either broke something there.
- How many years?
- About 10-11 years old. I broke some vase. And I thought it was just a tragedy. I was so worried that my grandfather said: worry about important things, but this is completely nonsense. Although I expected it to be oh-oh-oh.
- After that, did you continue breaking vases?
- Of course not. Grandfather knew how to explain what is good and what is bad, in words so that later you didn’t want to act badly.
- What other inappropriate actions have you done? Maybe already when they grew up.
- How did my grandfather have a poem: “I have sinned many times, but I never betrayed.” Everyone has some things they regret in life. Grandfather, for example, because of some of my mistakes (I also don’t want to talk about this more specifically now) could swear, but his worst curse was... He said: you’re a pot.
- What did this mean?
- Well, you fool, you dunce. Pot. These are apparently some old cases from Tbilisi.
- And often did he use this word pot?
- Because he was definitely smarter than all of us, that’s why we were all pots for him all the time. He just didn't always say it.
- Is this ironic?
- Of course yes.
“Several times I caught my grandfather with a cigarette”
- You, in principle, are also a street boy? Here I am, for example, from the working-class outskirts, from the provinces. Or did you have some special academic environment...
- No, I grew up in the 9th microdistrict of Teply Stan.
- Didn't you smoke on the sly?
- Well, my grandfather won’t scold me for this anymore. There was a period in my life when I smoked. But I somehow don’t get used to it, I stopped just as much as I started. By the way, someone recently told me that my grandfather was also not used to smoking, although he used to light up several times in some stressful situations, but somehow he also stopped, and that was all.
- In 1998-1999 he didn’t smoke?
- There were several times, I caught him with a cigarette.
- How did you catch it?
- Well, I mean: oh, what are you doing, what do you have here?
- Was he embarrassed?
- “Cigarette, what?” Well, I took it once, it didn’t take long.”
- He?
- Yes.
- What about drinking? He has a Georgian upbringing. And how are you?
- A strange topic – about alcohol.

Yevgeny Primakov during a meeting with Yasser Arafat. More pictures in our photo gallery.
Photo: personal archive of E. Primakov.
- We are journalists, we have always, at least in our youth, loved to show off and drink. I'm talking to myself. Maybe you had something else.
- There is no such story - you should drink or you shouldn’t drink. This in itself is not just like that: now let's get drunk and have fun. Alcohol is a part of the feast. This is not something that people drink from a soap dish in the hallway. This is a feast, this is company, this is a conversation, this is something surrounded by some important attributes... It has always been like this in the family.
WORDS OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT
“Our whole family is very grateful to the country’s leadership for organizing the funeral”
- If you don’t mind finishing this topic... Weren’t you and your loved ones amazed by the organization of the funeral itself? I remember how Boris Nikolaevich was seen off in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin - in a government complex somewhere in the Mosfilmovskaya area. Evgeniy Maksimovich - in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions. There they said goodbye to the general secretaries, leaders... The executives were fully assembled. Did the organization itself touch, amaze or surprise you? Or is this an inappropriate question, do you think?
- No, this is a relevant question. The whole family is very grateful to the country's leadership for organizing the funeral, for relieving the family of a huge amount of headache associated with preparing this whole matter. Because emotionally it was, of course, difficult. And how carefully and respectfully this whole thing was carried out evokes great, great gratitude from us, the family.
If there is an opportunity to thank me again so that people can hear it, thank you very much.
The scale of the funeral, its design (Hall of Columns, etc.), I talked about this, we have to realize that Evgeniy Maksimovich does not completely, let’s say, belong to his family. And here we have nothing to argue with, disagree with anything, we accept everything that happened as it is. Just a huge, huge thank you again.

VERBATIM
...And finally, about the Middle East, Hezbollah and the USA
- Our special correspondent Daria Aslamova met with one of the leaders of a Shiite paramilitary organization that enjoys enormous influence in the Middle East.
- Hezbollah?
- Yes. This is Sheikh Naim Kassem. Have you ever met him?
- With Kassem, no.
- So, he claims that America itself inspired chaos in the Middle East, it itself is mired, confused and does not know how to get out. And all this, the sheikh believes, poses a threat to Russia and, above all, to North Caucasus. Because the terrorist potential in the Middle East region is growing at an increasing rate. Do you agree, as a specialist in this region, on this issue, with this conclusion?
- The fact is that Americans in the Middle East have always been driven by a certain situational situation. Firstly, the Americans as a kind of decision-making center, there is no such thing - the Americans all got together and decided. This, naturally, is a huge number of different elites, groupings within, which contradict each other. Naturally, there are people who are trying to calculate some strategic things. There are, of course, centers that are developing chaos theory.
- You somehow spoke even more cheerfully. That's what it means to change the subject.
- It's a reflex. But in general, Americans have always reacted situationally. That is, there is some kind of problem, we need to quickly solve it now. Roughly speaking, they need to find some people who want and know how to fight against, say, the government of Syria. And then there is no longer any particular choosiness in funds. You can also throw weapons there, which it is unclear to whom it ends up and eventually ends up with ISIS. In a recent interview, Barack Obama admitted, by the way, that the United States was partially to blame for the emergence of ISIS.
- Something doesn't look like him.
- It was in a very mild form. He said: yes, it was our mistake. They've done this before. We remember, say, supplying the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, what it turned into. I recently saw an excellent article on the Internet from the Independent, if I’m not mistaken. There was an interview with young Osama bin Laden, how great he is, how well he does everything.
Yes, they made this mess. There are, you know, objective reasons for the “Arab Spring”... And then a kitchen begins where there are many who want to take advantage of what is being prepared there. The Americans actively got involved in this, throwing firewood into the firebox, etc. Naturally, now they cannot deal with what they have brewed, this is true.
- With whom and how should Russia cooperate in this region to stop this threat? And how do you, as a journalist, assess the steps taken by our Foreign Ministry and the Russian leadership to improve the situation and reduce tension in this region?
- How absolutely faithful. There is no other chance to stabilize this region other than to use the support of legitimate governments that are now under attack from terrorist groups. I also mean Damascus. The world is such that without cooperation with the same United States, if they understand the fallacy of their current policy, it is impossible to achieve stability and pacification of the Middle East. But, unfortunately, our partners have a long way to go in realizing their mistakes. We can only hope that this will happen sooner or later.
- Evgeny, are these thoughts consonant with the feelings of Evgeny Maksimovich Primakov? After all, he was with us not so long ago.
- Yes, they are consistent with what he wrote and said many times in interviews.
- Does he now help you a lot in this regard (I mean professionally), in understanding the world, in analysis?
- He helped and continues to help. I think it will help in this sense.

BY THE WAY
What to do with the legacy of the patriarchal politician?
- In the West, after a person of such stature as Evgeniy Maksimovich passes away, museums, research centers, and libraries are created. The Nixon Research Center in the USA, we have the Yeltsin Foundation, we have a grandiose museum in the Black Spur of Chernomyrdin. Will there be something for Primakov to not only perpetuate his memory, but also, let’s say, so that the intellectual legacy of Yevgeny Maksimovich will continue to work after his death?
- I think it’s only 9 days now, and it’s too early to talk about it. Some outlines were discussed. So far only outlines. I think that we will return to discussing some specifics after some time.
- Didn’t your grandfather leave a will on this matter?
- I don’t know about such a will. The only thing that my family and I would like is that if there is some kind of perpetuation in the form of foundations or museums, that it would be some kind of working history, and not just something bronzed. For example, if this is some kind of center, so that situational analyzes are carried out there, so that this center produces some kind of analytical product that will help the country. If these are some kind of charitable foundations... I just don’t know in what form this is being discussed now, what it will be, but in any case it should be something practical and working..
VERY PERSONAL
“My grandfather told me: if you get divorced again, we will kick you out and leave your wife.”
- Tell me, these are such difficult moments in life, for example, the attitude towards a woman, the relationship with a woman. You say you were a street urchin too. I know how this topic is discussed on the street, as in the family. How could the father say and how could the grandfather? In this regard, could you remember? Did you show your girls to Evgeniy Maksimovich?
- Yes, I...
Primakov Jr. smiles, either mysteriously or shyly.
- Judging by your smile, it was?
- I personally have a strange story connected with this.
- Finally, we got to some concrete things!
- Not a specific story. Just a grandfather... Nana, the daughter of Evgeniy Maksimovich, told him that you have made so many mistakes in life, but the main thing that you can do is choose your wives well. It was Nana who was talking about Irina Borisovna. Of course, in this sense, I have been following this path for a long time, since I am already married for the third time. This is one of the reasons why I have been called a potty multiple times.
- Was it Sandro’s or grandfather’s fault?
- My personal. He never told anyone or forced them to do this or that. He left the man room for error, even though he was getting his point across.
- Did Evgeniy Maksimovich approve of your choice? It's not just that you...
- I didn’t always approve. Either he approved or he was disappointed. But in terms of his attitude towards the woman, it was infinitely respectful. There could never be any obscene jokes or discussions. We all understand that the grandfather is, after all, a person who grew up in Tbilisi, in the Caucasus, and some kind of verbal frivolity is impossible in principle.
- Were you frivolous with women?
- We're talking about me again.
- Is this Evgeniy Maksimovich’s omission here, perhaps? Or how?
- No. This is an opportunity for me to grow.
- You understand me correctly. The female half of the editorial staff, if I do not clarify this issue, they simply will not forgive me, they will accuse me of unprofessionalism. In this regard, some other of his covenants, let’s say, how to treat a woman, how to behave with her. When a man breaks up with a woman, is it the fault of the man or the woman... Did you consult with him at all when you got together and, say, divorced?
- Of course, I consulted. It just seems to me that the moment and circumstances are wrong to discuss this topic.
- I took the wrong topic...
- No, no, it just sounds very strange. To indulge in some stories in this context...

Yevgeny Primakov at negotiations in Tehran. More pictures in our photo gallery.
Photo: personal archive of E. Primakov.
- This is a program about Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov.
- Perhaps precisely because this is a program about Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov, this is one of the topics that... You know, it’s strange to discuss a code of conduct.
- And yet - your grandfather was very worried about you, did you feel it? Have you ever been ashamed?
- Well, of course, yes.
Primakov Jr. sighs.
-Did you go to him with your eyes downcast?
- Of course, I was ashamed of some of my life decisions, in particular, this concerned my relationships with my chosen ones. But now, based on the results of how things are for me now, I’m no longer ashamed. The only thing that my grandfather, shortly before he left, about six months ago, told me: well, you know, if you get divorced again, we will kick you out and leave your wife.
- Do you have children?
- Yes, four. All girls: the oldest is 16 years old, the youngest is one year and nine months.
- How did Evgeniy Maksimovich treat them?
- He loved them all very much...

Economist Mikhail DELYAGIN recalls how the country was brought out of default.
In 1993, I read a report that Yevgeny Primakov prepared as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service. It was a detailed analysis of how the West discriminates against Russia - under the guise of talking about friendship. Indeed, in the early 90s, many, including me, were in euphoria: together we defeated communism, now we will live!
And only Primakov proved the opposite: in fact, now we will be robbed! His report showed the blatant, cruel squeezing of Russia from all markets.
Later I told Evgeniy Maksimovich that this report began my transformation from an enthusiastic liberal into a normal, sober person. He was pleased.
The year 1998 showed that Primakov was looking at the root cause. Complete chaos after the default. Many did not realize the horror that actually occurred. And the huge colossus of the economy simply began to stop. The volume of cargo transportation fell every day: yesterday less than today, today less than yesterday. There was a collapse ahead: there would be no light, no water... We ran around the world in search of 50 million dollars. This is an insignificant amount for a huge country! I remember the feeling of being beaten down, beaten down. After all, the default happened when the entire budget was simply stolen!
Primakov's candidacy for the post of prime minister was proposed by representatives of the Yeltsin Family - I think simply out of horror. Of course, they didn’t look at cargo transportation statistics, but they understood that they would soon be demolished and eaten. The hatred towards them was already colossal.
I was in the State Duma hall when the voting was taking place. They announced: Primakov will come out now. He said: I don’t promise you anything, I’m not a magician, I’ll have to work very hard. All.
I remember how the atmosphere suddenly changed. Just now there was hopelessness, everyone shrank in their chair. And suddenly the deputies relieved themselves of the burden of responsibility: a man from the old days was found, he will do everything, he knows how. And we will continue to have fun.
Primakov was later accused of not doing anything, but he did a lot. To begin with, he canceled all the crazy decisions of the previous government regarding accelerated bankruptcy. Translated into Russian - accelerated robbery: if I like your plant, I can easily take it away. Introduced discounts on transportation of significant cargo by rail, primarily grain and coal. AND railways agreed like bunnies. Canceled the stupid pension reform. The reformers did not have enough money in the pension fund, and the government of Sergei Kiriyenko illegally decided to take an extra 2% of taxes from people on all income. Accountants found themselves in an unimaginable situation - either breaking the law or breaking a government regulation. Strict regulation of capital movements was introduced and speculation was limited.
Primakov then saved Russia. He gathered into the government people who market economy They didn’t understand things very well, but they understood that stealing was bad. And within six months they stabilized the country.