Alfred Koch

Who is Alfred Koch?

Alfred Reingoldovich Kokh is a Russian writer, mathematician-economist, and businessman of German origin.

He served as a deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin and was an ally of economic reformer Anatoly Chubais, a chief architect of Russia's privatization. On September 12, 1996, Kokh was appointed head of Russia's State Property Committee, acting as Russia's privatization chief. He left the position on August 13, 1997, after the privatization auctions.

In June 2000, Alfred Kokh became head of Gazprom-Media, a subsidiary media holding of Gazprom, and oversaw the gas giant's controversial takeover of NTV, an independent television company owned by Vladimir Gusinsky. He was succeeded by Boris Jordan in October 2001. He also served as head of the 2003 election campaign staff for the Union of Right Forces, a pro-business, democratic party of young reformers including Yegor Gaidar, Boris Nemtsov and Irina Khakamada, the first woman to run for the Russian presidency.

He wrote the 2006 Russian best-seller, A Crate of Vodka, a dialogue with journalist Igor Svinarenko about the twenty-year period that covered the last Soviet generation and the first, truly free Russian generation. The English translation will appear in spring 2009.