Former Russian PM Viktor Chernomyrdin dies at age 72

[News_Editor]

Former Russian PM Viktor Chernomyrdin dies at age 72

2010-11-04 00:02:58 GMT+7 (ICT)

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (BNO NEWS) -- Former Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin died early on Wednesday morning at the age of 72, local media reported.

Chernomyrdin, who served as Prime Minister under President Boris Yeltsin from 1992-1998, died at around 4 a.m. local time in the Russian capital of Moscow.

After his term as PM, Chernomyrdin was appointed Russia's ambassador to Ukraine from 2001 to 2009 and later designated as a presidential advisor.

In the early 1980s, Chernomyrdin became deputy Minister of the Soviet Union natural gas industries, before becoming Minister in 1985. He helped turn the ministry into the state-owned gas company Gazprom in 1989.

Chernomyrdin was also the company's first chairman of the board, a post which he retained on-and-off until 2000, making him one of Russia’s richest men.

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