Yury Luzhkov

Yury Luzhkov (born September 21, 1936, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.—died December 10, 2019, Munich, Germany) was a Russian politician who served as mayor of Moscow (1992–2010). As mayor, he transformed Moscow into the engine of post-Soviet state capitalism.

Luzhkov studied mechanical engineering at the Gubkin Academy of Oil and Gas in Moscow. After graduating in 1958, he was a junior scientist at the Research and Development Institute of Plastics. He subsequently worked at various positions of increasing stature in the chemical industry, and by 1986 he was head of the science and technology department of the Chemical Industry Ministry in Moscow. In 1987 he became first deputy chairman of the Moscow government. Three years later, he rose to the position of executive committee leader under Mayor Gavril Popov, and he became deputy mayor when Popov was reelected in 1991. Popov’s resignation in June 1992 prompted Russian Pres. Boris Yeltsin to name Luzhkov the new mayor.

Popular and powerful, Luzhkov was the quintessential khozyain (“boss”), a strong-willed, at times bullying, leader who had harnessed his loyal team to the single goal of remaking the city of Moscow. Through careful manipulation of post-Soviet privatization, the city owned about 1,500 businesses outright and had a financial stake in some 300 more. Luzhkov took a personal interest in these enterprises, from regular visits of construction sites to approving the menu and logo of Russkoye Bistro, a fast-food chain created to compete with McDonald’s. Though cognizant of the influence of organized crime in some new businesses, his administration was untainted by any major scandals. In 1994 Luzhkov persuaded Yeltsin to give him control over the city’s vast inventory of state holdings, and in 1996 Moscow took in $1 billion in privatization revenues.

Often appearing in public in an open collar and peaked leather cap, Luzhkov affected a populist stance in his public battles with the Kremlin. Although he had backed Yeltsin in times of crisis—the coup attempt of August 1991, the parliamentary revolt of October 1993, and the presidential elections of June and July 1996—Luzhkov was often critical of the president and his young reform-minded advisers, particularly First Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais. Luzhkov frequently squared off against Chubais over the handling of the privatization process in Moscow. Outlying provinces also harboured suspicions of the mayor and his city’s newfound wealth, but Luzhkov was praised by his constituents, nearly 90 percent of whom reelected him over a communist challenger in June 1996.

By the late 1990s, having overseen a wave of entrepreneurialism and a building boom that had pushed office rents higher than those of New York City, Luzhkov had transformed Moscow into the engine of post-Soviet state capitalism. In September 1997 he hosted a lavish birthday party for his native city. The three-day extravaganza, which cost at least $60 million, was intended not only to celebrate Moscow’s rich 850-year history but also to show the world that the Russian capital, already home to two-thirds of the country’s foreign investment, was eager to maintain its rapid pace of development.

In 1998 Luzhkov started the Fatherland political party to serve as a platform for the 2000 presidential election. When he was not endorsed as the party’s presidential nominee, he ran for reelection as mayor of Moscow; he was reelected in 1999 and again in 2003. From 2003 he served as a co-chairman of United Russia, a party formed by Fatherland and other groups.

As a strong proponent of Russian nationalism, Luzhkov directed a significant part of the city’s budget toward the support of Russian separatists in Moldova and the Russian military in Ukraine as well as the building of new housing in Russian enclaves in Georgia. Luzhkov also had particularly outspoken views on homosexuality: he banned the city’s first planned gay pride parade in 2006 and later forbade other gay rights events in Moscow.

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Meanwhile, under Luzhkov’s tenure, Moscow continued on a path of unprecedented growth. A thermal power station and a waste-processing plant opened in the city, new hotels and office complexes were constructed, and many of the city’s historic buildings were renovated. In 2007 Luzhkov was appointed to a fifth mayoral term by Pres. Vladimir Putin, who in 2004 had initiated a bill that gave him the power to appoint regional leaders. However, Luzhkov reportedly angered Putin’s successor, Dmitry Medvedev, by publicly criticizing his performance as president. After Luzhkov refused to resign, Medvedev dismissed the long-standing mayor in September 2010.