Position held: RF Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology since 2004.

Business involvement: In 1988, Trutnev and partners set up the Contact cooperative, involved in exercise equipment development and manufacture. In 1990, Trutnev became head of EKS Limited (where his deputy was Oleg Chirkunov) that imported foods (such as Nestle chocolate) to Perm. According to Profil (Profile) magazine, Trutnev’s success is largely due to his friendly relations with local police chiefs, mainly Petr Latyshev, the then-Perm Regional Internal Affairs Administration deputy head and future RF President’s authorized representative to the Ural federal district.

Trutnev was on Zarya Urala (Urals Dawn) Bank’s board, and his company EKS Limited defaulted on a loan to this bank.

In 1996, EKS International JSC was set up, merging various EKS Limited group’s enterprises. Yuri Trutnev became EKS International president.

On December 8, 1996, Trutnev won the Perm mayoral elections, with his campaign run by his closest EKS Limited coworkers. Moscow and Perm media called his election campaign aggressive, denouncing the campaign team’s illegal strong-arm tactics against the campaign staff of Trutnev’s main opponent, the incumbent Perm mayor Vladimir Fil.

Trutnev ran for Perm Regional governor in October 2006 and won the election in December 2000. According to the media, Trutnev was supported by the Region’s most prominent businessmen, such as UralKaliy (Urals Potassium) head Dmitry Rybolovlev and Lukoil-Perm general director Andrei Kuzyaev (who was among those who nominated Trutnev to run for Governor).

According to Trutnev’s tax returns, his average 2004 monthly income was $317,198. Vedomosti newspaper published this information citing a Ministry of Natural Resources source, noting that the Minister receives an annual income from the deferred sale of EKS group stock (Trutnev sold the stock when becoming government official). The sale of EKS securities made up 92% of Trutnev’s 2004 income ($3.5 Mln.). The Minister’s 2005 income was 211,403,810 Rub. – the highest of any government member. In 2006, his income dropped by one-third to 133,605,000 Rub. Trutnev’s 2008 income was almost 370 Mln. Rub., and in 2009 it was 155 Mln. Rub.

Currently the EKS Group includes EKS International LLC, EKS Management Company LLC, EKS Real Estate Management LLC, and others.

According to the Uniform State Registry of Companies as of September 2010, EKS International LLC is owned by Svetlana Gennadievna Kuzmich, Oleg Anatolievich Chirkunov (Perm Krai Governor) and the Swiss company Norpexal Holding SA

Business influence: In December 2008, Minister of Natural Resources Yuri Trutnev intervened on behalf of his old friend Dmitry Rybolovlev’s UralKaliy (UralPotassium) when it was facing liability for a 2006 Berezniki mining accident that caused a landslide. Later that same year, the Federal Environmental, Engineering and Nuclear Supervision Agency (RosTechNadzor) special commission concluded that the accident was due to technical reasons beyond UralKaliy’s control. However, in October 2008, a decision was made at a meeting at Deputy RF Prime Minister Igor Sechin’s office to set up a new commission and reopen the investigation. In 2009, the government set the final compensation amount UralKaliy was to pay for the Berezniki accident: 7.8 Bln. Rub., 5 Bln. of which was to be used to build a 53-km railroad detour around all Verkhnekamskyi potassium deposit sites.

Family:

Former (second) wife: Maria Lvovna Trutneva, rhythmic gymnastics sports master and Perm Gymnastics Federation chairperson. Owns a clothing store in Perm; member of Anastasia charitable society as of 2004.

Son from second marriage – Dmitry Yurievich Trutnev, entrepreneur. In 2003-2005, he was involved in sales; In 2006-2007, he was assistant to the non-profit Corporate Development Institute’s general director. Starting in 2007, he was financial advisor at Central Cooperative Bank (Bulgaria). Trutnev serves on the boards of directors of two Kazan-based, Bulgarian-owned companies – Itil Insurance Company and TatInvestBank JSC.

In 2006, RF Minister of Natural Resources’ 23-year old son Dmitry Trutnev became owner of a picturesque Kama riverfront land lot adjacent to the renown Perm “holy spring” (a consecrated site revered in honor of the “Life-Giving Source” Holy Mother of God icon). The site’s address is Perm’s Starye Vodniki subdivision, Tantzorova Street 10. Perm mayor Arkady Katz’s June 7, 2006 Decision No. 922 permitted Dmitry Trutnev to build a 3-story house with service structures, covered parking and boiler room. However, the construction project later failed to pass the state ecological inspection.

Following a public outcry, Dmitry Trutnev made a media statement that he no longer owns the land. According to the Unified State Registry of Real Estate Titles and Transactions as of July 16, 2007, the Tantzorova St. 10 lot is owned by Alexander-Bisman Vladimirovich Ross-Johnson, who was listed as representative of Parma Engineering Company – a contractor for Dmitry Trutnev’s construction.

Wife Natalia Sergeyevna Petrova. In November 2006, Perm media closely followed residential construction on Dobryansky District Kama Reservoir coastal protection belt, noting that the lot was registered to Yuri Trutnev’s wife Natalia Petrova and the construction is overseen and frequently visited by the Minister’s son Dmitry Trutnev. The media noted that, in violation of laws in effect, the distance between the water’s edge and the building under construction is around 30 meters. The land lot was later put in a different person’s name.