NOVO-OGARYOVO, April 20. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Deputy Finance Minister Mikhail Kotyukov to take the post of acting governor of the Krasnoyarsk Region.

The proposal was voiced during the head of state's online meeting with Kotyukov on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, the current head of the Krasnoyarsk Region, Alexander Uss, said that he had received an offer from the president to continue working at the federal level.

"Mikhail Mikhailovich [Kotyukov], you do not need to tell me what the Krasnoyarsk Region is, you yourself come from the Krasnoyarsk Region, worked there for many years, grew up there to become deputy governor, engaged in economics and finance, and in the central office, here in the center, engaged in higher education, science," the president told Kotyukov. According to Putin, the deputy finance minister "is aware of what the Krasnoyarsk Region is for Russia, of its significance for the country as a whole."

"It seems to me that you are quite fit to head such an important subject of the Russian Federation as the Krasnoyarsk Region," the president said. He asked whether Kotyukov was ready for the new appointment.

"Thank you very much for your trust, thank you very much for the support that you have constantly provided in Moscow, and for paying attention to the Krasnoyarsk Region," Kotyukov said. He assured that he would apply all his potential and capabilities to solve the most urgent and topical issues for the residents of his native region. "And I count on your support," Kotyukov told the head of state.

Kotyukov’s biography

Mikhail Kotyukov, 46, was born in Krasnoyarsk. He graduated from the Department of Economics of the Krasnoyarsk State University (KSU; now part of the Siberian Federal University) with a degree in Finance and Credit. From 1997 to 2000, he worked in the financial department of the Krasnoyarsk Region administration. Then, he was transferred to Krasnoyarskagropromdorstroy OJSC, which dealt with the construction of a section of federal highway M-53 Baikal, for a year.

From 2002, Kotyukov worked again in the Krasnoyarsk and Krasnoyarsk Region administrations, served as deputy governor of the Krasnoyarsk Region - head of the Finance Department, was the region's finance minister and the deputy chairman of the Krasnoyarsk Region government.

Since 2010, he has worked for the Russian Finance Ministry, including as Deputy Minister. Since 2013, he headed the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations (FASO). The agency was created the same year during the reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences and managed the property of scientific institutions of the academy, controlled and evaluated their work.

On May 18, 2018, Putin signed a decree appointing Kotyukov as Russia's Science and Higher Education Minister. He completed his tenure in 2020, when Dmitry Medvedev's government resigned.

Kotyukov is married, he has a son and a daughter.