MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) – After making critical statements about the war in Ukraine, the former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich has left the board of directors of the flagship technology park Skolkovo near Moscow. According to the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta”, which is critical of the Kremlin, Dvorkovich spoke out in favor of a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict in an interview for a US magazine. The Kremlin party United Russia then spoke of “treason” and called for Dvorkovich’s dismissal. Dvorkovich is the best-known face in Russia to date, the Kremlin throwing it off because of the Ukraine war.
Dvorkovich wants to “focus on the development of educational projects,” the Skolkovo Foundation announced on Friday. Skolkovo was considered a prestige project by ex-Kremlin boss Dmitry Medvedev, whose close adviser was Dvorkovich. Both had praised the science center as “Russian Silicon Valley” and also advertised the participation of German companies. Critics see the project as a symbol of a failed modernization of Russia and a subsidy grave.
The 49-year-old Dvorkovich has long been considered an important string puller in Russian politics. He was Deputy Prime Minister responsible for the economy and has been working for the planned high-tech city of Skolkowo since 2018. He has also been President of the World Chess Federation Fide since 2018. Dvorkovich was also the chief organizer for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
He has repeatedly caused a stir in recent years. He called Vladimir Putin’s return as President in 2012 “no reason to be happy”. He also once described the imprisonment of Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky as harmful to Russia./wo/DP/mis