In addition to Prime Minister Fradkov, Deputy Prime Minister Zhukov and Chief of Staff Kozak (see previous article for background information), Putin's Cabinet of Ministers includes:

Yuri Chaika, Justice Minister. Chaika has spent most of his career working in the prosecutor general's office of the Irkutsk region and served as Prosecutor General from 1993-1995. He has been Justice Minister since August 1999.

Andrei Fursenko, Education & Science Minister. A physicist and mathematician by training, Fursenko served as Deputy and then First Deputy Minister of Industry, Science and Technologies from 2001-2003. He assumed his current position in November 2003.

Alexei Gordeyev, Agriculture Minister. A PhD in Economics, Gordeyev was the former superintendent of Glavmosstroy and Gosagroprom. In 1998, he became First Deputy Minister of Agriculture and has been Minister of Agriculture since August 1999. From May 2000 to March 2004, Gordeyev served as Vice President of the Cabinet.

German Gref, Economic Development and Trade Minister. Gref has served in this position since soon after Putin's election in May 2000. A lawyer by training, he worked with Putin in the St. Petersburg local administration and joined the government as deputy privatization minister days after an economic crisis erupted in August 1998.

Sergei Ivanov, Defense Minister. The 51-year-old Ivanov is a close confidant of Putin and, like the president, is a former KGB intelligence officer from St. Petersburg. He has been the Defense Minister since March 2001.

Viktor Khristenko, Energy & Industry Minister. A long-time senior cabinet member and moderate liberal reformist, he was a former Deputy Prime Minister and Russia's long-standing top energy official. In 1998, he was named Vice President of the Cabinet and took on the responsibilities of First Deputy Minister of Finance.

Alexei Kudrin, Finance Minister. Finance Minister since 1997, Kudrin is credited with presiding over a steady decline in Russia's external debt and reining in inflation. He earned his PhD in Economics from Leningrad State University (St. Petersburg) and later worked in several important positions in the St. Petersburg mayor's office. As Vice President of the Committee for Economic Development in 1991-1992, he occupied a key position during Yeltsin's shock-therapy reforms.

Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister. The respected Russian foreign policy veteran and U.N. envoy, Lavrov was born in 1950 and joined the foreign ministry in 1972. From 1990-1992, he directed the Department of International Organizations and Global Issues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since September 1994, he has been Russia's permanent representative to the U.N. Security Council.

Igor Levitin, Transportation and Communications Minister. Former Deputy General Director of the transportation arm of steel giant Severstaltrans, Levitin previously served as Deputy Head of the Military on the Moscow railways before his current appointment.

Rashid Nurgaliyev, Interior Minister. A Colonel-General in the military with a PhD in Economics, he has held numerous positions of authority in the KGB, FSK and FSB. In 1999, he headed the Office for Drug Trafficking Control in the Department of Economic Security and later served as Deputy Director of the Inspectorial Office of the FSB. In 2002, Nurgaliyev was appointed First Deputy Minister of the Interior.

Sergei Shoigu, Emergency Situations Minister. A Colonel-General in the military, Shoigu is co-head of United Russia, Putin's political party, and has been in his current post since January 2000.

Alexander Sokolov, Culture and Press Minister. Sokolov is the former rector of the Moscow Music Conservatory, where he completed his studies in history and theory in 1973. As Culture and Press Minister, he is committed to addressing problems of inter-ethnic relations.

Yuri Trutnev, Natural Resources Minister. A former governor of the Perm region in the Urals, Trutnev is a self-made businessman specializing in the retail sector with no apparent ties to domestic oil companies.

Mikhail Zurabov, Healthcare and Social Development Minister. Zurabov is the former Chairman of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Konverskbank, General Director of the Moscow-based insurance company MAKS and Deputy Minister of Health and Advisor to the President. Zurabov's professional training is in Engineering and Cybernetics.