Ivan Silayev

Who is Ivan Silayev?

Ivan Stepanovich Silayev is a former Soviet official who became a Russian politician following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He served as Premier of the Soviet Union through the offices of Chairman of the Interstate Economic Committee and Chairman of the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet economy from 6 September to 26 December 1991. Responsible for overseeing the economy of the Soviet Union during the late Gorbachev Era, he was the last Premier of the Soviet Union.

After graduating in the 1950s, Silayev began his political career in the Ministry of Aviation Industry in the 1970s. During the Brezhnev Era he became Minister of Aviation Industry, a Central Committee member, and Minister of Machine-Tool and Tool Building Industry. When Nikolai Tikhonov's Second Government was dissolved, Mikhail Gorbachev appointed him Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers in Nikolai Ryzhkov's First Government. He left all posts in the central government in 1990 to focus in his post as Chairman of the Council of Ministers – Government of the Russian SFSR. He faced several cabinet difficulties during his tenure, and supported the majority of Boris Yeltsin's policies. Having opposed Yeltsin's secessionist policies during his tenure as Soviet Premier, he was removed from his post as Russian SFSR Premier and succeeded in his post by acting Premier Oleg Lobov.