Sergei Glazyev

Sergei Glazyev talks to President Vladimir Putin during the Summit of the Eurasian Economic Union in 2014 in Minsk, Belarus

Sergei Glazyev is a Russian economist.

'firm believer in state intervention and government spending'

Sergei Glazyev becomes spokesperson for the Eurasian Economic Commission according to an article dated August 16, 2019.

Sergei Glazyev, an economist and advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is leaving the Kremlin after seven years. His move was announced on August 16 by a spokesperson for the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), where Glazyev will soon be based.

In his new role, Glazyev will serve as minister for the integration and macroeconomics department, which oversees relations between member states of the EEC: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. He will be officially appointed on October 1.

Glazyev is a somewhat controversial figure, known for challenging more mainstream economic policies in the Kremlin

Glazyev is a somewhat controversial figure, known for challenging more mainstream economic policies in the Kremlin. A firm believer in state intervention and government spending, he has spoken out against the market-led approaches advocated by other prominent figures in the Russian Government, including former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin. In 2016, he put forward an alternative economic plan to Kudrin’s – one that proposed using domestic investment to inject up to RUB 5trn (€68.1bn) into the economy.

Investors have been wary of Glazyev on account of his isolationist policies. He has proposed abandoning the US dollar and liquidating Russia’s dollar reserves. He also suggested in 2017 that Russian banks embrace cryptocurrencies to avoid international sanctions and help the state make payments for “sensitive” services. He is still facing sanctions from the US and Europe for his involvement in the annexation of Crimea.

In 2004, Glazyev ran against Putin for the Russian presidency. As leader of the Rodina party, he championed universal healthcare, increasing the minimum wage and protecting trade unions. He promised to redistribute the wealth of oligarchs and put an end to corruption. He ultimately came third with 4.1 percent of the vote.

Glazyev was initially appointed by Putin in July 2012 to help develop a customs union for Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which later grew into the Eurasian Economic Union. His new role will see him return to this union and focus once more on economic integration between its member states.

'Strong Ties' with Dugin

In 2022, the Washington Post described Sergei Glazyev as "a leader of the patriotic political bloc Rodria and now Putin's top aide on 'Eurasian integration.'" The article noted that Aleksandr Dugin "forged 'strong ties'" with Sergei Glazyev.

Putin's 'Ukraine Point Man'

Vladimir Putin's ally and spy chief Sergei Naryshkin has been a vocal supporter the invasion of Ukraine. Excerpt from March 23, 2014 article at The Guardian:

...That the decision-making was adhoc does not mean it did not tap into aspirations that have long been bottled up among sections of the Russian elite. Putin's Ukraine point-man, the economist Sergei Glazyev, told the Guardian as long ago as September that if Ukraine were to sign the integration agreement with the EU, "political and social chaos" would ensue and Russia could be "forced to intervene" to protect Russians in the east and south. What happened after the successful revolution is so close to what Glazyev predicted might happen if Yanukovych had taken Ukraine westbound that it is tempting to think a contingency plan for a different scenario was taken off the shelf and activated.

The events of recent months have also solidified the hold of "Eurasianism" on the imaginations of Russia's top lawmakers. This ideology envisions Russia's re-emergence as a conservative world power in direct opposition to the geopolitical hegemony and liberal values of the west. The ideology was largely developed by Alexander Dugin, the son of a KGB officer who has become the wide-eyed prophet predicting a "Russian spring", as he called his recent plan for Russia's domination of Europe via Ukraine. Dugin serves as an adviser to State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin, a key member of the ruling United Russia party who has loudly supported Russian intervention in Ukraine, and has made widely viewed television appearances to discuss the Ukraine crisis alongside high-ranking members of the government. Glazyev is also an associate of Dugin's.

Upset with western criticism of him when he returned to the presidency for a third term in 2012, Putin realised that an independent Russia could never be part of the "western club" as he had previously wanted, says Dugin. "Putin sees the west as his main enemy, but to come to this conclusion he lived through a lot, he lived through a historical situation," Dugin said. "He came to the same conclusion in practice as we did in theory."