Biography:
Aleksander Konovalov was born on June 9, 1968 in Leningrad to a family of a navy sailor. In 1986-1988 he served in the Army.
In 1992 he graduated from St. Petersburg State University, majoring in Jurisprudence.
In 1986-1988 he served in the Soviet Army.
In 1988-1992 he was a student St. Petersburg State University Law School.
In 1992 he was assistant attorney at Vyborg district of St. Petersburg.
In 1992-1994 he was investigator at Vyborg district of St. Petersburg.
In 1994-1997 he was public prosecutor at the Department for Supervision over the implementation of federal security laws of the St. Petersburg prosecutor’s office.
In 1997-1998 he was deputy public prosecutor of Moskovsky district of Saint Petersburg.
In 1998-2001 he was public prosecutor of Moskovsky district of Saint Petersburg.
In 2001-2005 he was deputy prosecutor and then first deputy prosecutor of St. Petersburg.
In 2005 he was prosecutor of Bashkortostan. In this position, he launched an investigation into the events in Blagoveshchensk and into issues of legality of privatization of power enterprises of Bashkortostan in 1993.
In 2005-2008 he was Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to Volga Federal District.
On May 12, 2008 he bacame Minister of Justice
On July 1, 2008 he was appointed Special Representative of the Russian Federation President on cooperation with the European Union concerning issues of freedom, security and justice.
Awards:
Medal of Honour (2008);
Medal "75 years of civil defense" (Russian Emergencies Ministry, 2007);
Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov, II degree (Russian Orthodox Church, 2006);
Order of St. Daniel of Moscow, II degree (Russian Orthodox Church, 2009).
He is State Councilor of the Russian Federation, 1 class (civil service), and Senior Councilor of Justice (prosecutors).
He is member of the Security Council and the Presidential Council for Priority National Projects and Demographic Policy. He is the author of two monographs and 20 scientific articles on civil rights.
He has a title of Candidate Master of Sports in rowing.
He is an Orthodox Christian, but he prefers not to advertise his religious views. While working at the prosecutor's office, he studied at St. Tikhon Humanities University by correspondence. He has Orthodox theological education.
He is married to Mariya Suslina and has two daughters.
In 2010 Konovalov earned 3.4 million rubles and his wife had an income of 1.6 million rubles. The Minister owned a land plot of 10 thousand square metres, a house 60 square metres, an apartment of 40 square metres, and two cottages, 150 and 120 square metres. His wife has a flat of 120 square metres in shared property with their two daughters.
Source: Wikipedia
Dossier:
In 2001 Konovalov was appointed deputy prosecutor, then first deputy prosecutor of St. Petersburg. Some media attributed the latter appointment to the fact that the city prosecutor was an old friend of his, Nikolay Vinnichenko.
Source: RIA Novosti, 14 November 2005
In January 2005 Konovalov stopped criminal proceedings against Konstantin Mirilashvili, president of Euroservice corporation, who was accused of kidnapping and murder.
Source: Kommersant, 15 November 2005
After Vinnichenko was appointed director of the Federal Bailiff Service, that is, Chief bailiff of the Russian Federation in October 2005, Konovalov, according to media reports, was considered as a candidate to be his first deputy. But instead, on February 24, 2005 he was appointed prosecutor of the Republic of Bashkortostan by the order of Vladimir Ustinov, the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. According to observers, the appointment of Konovalov as the prosecutor of Bashkortostan was a compromise between Moscow and Ufa: prior to the appointment, Bashkir parliament refused to approve the candidates proposed by the federal government for the position of the Republican prosecutor three times.
Source: Vremya Novostei, 15 November 2005
In 2005 Konovalov was supervising a case over legality of Bashkir fuel and energy complex enterprises privatization. In 1993, under the decree of president Murtaza Rakhimov, most enterprises were concentrated in the holding Bashneftekhim, shares of which were transferred to the company Bashkir capital Ltd. controlled by Ural Rakhimov, the his son of Bashkir head of administration. This privatization scheme, according to the Audit Chamber, was an unprecedented case of theft of assets in federal property. In August 2005, Vladimir Yevtushenkov’s Joint-Stock Financial Corporation Sistema announced the purchase of a 502 million dollar share of a number of oil companies from Bashkir capital, and next month Konovalov told the media that the prosecution could not return these companies into ownership of the republic through court. After this statement the case on the legality of the privatization of the Bashkir fuel and energy sector was closed.
Source: Vedomosti, 23 September 2005
On November 14, 2005 Konovalov was appointed Presidential Envoy in Volga Federal District. Previously this position was held by Sergey Kiriyenko. Observers speculated that the appointment of Konovalov was associated with some of Moscow plans to prepare new top managerial personnel for the country. In their view, in perspective the envoy could become the head of Bashkortostan instead of Rakhimov
Source: Kommersant, 16 November 2005
Konovalovs name was mentioned in relation to a scandalous situation that arose during the celebration of Russia Day on June 12, 2005 in Volga Federal District. Umar Idrisov, head of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod region, accused the envoy of discrimination against Muslims in favour of the Russian Orthodox Church. He rebuked Konovalov for not inviting him to the celebrations arranged on the Day of Russia, while the local Orthodox hierarch Georgy attended the festival as one of the chief guests.
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 16 October 2006
In 2011 Konovalov said that compulsory registration of political parties should be canceled and replaced by the notification procedure of their creation. But he made this proposal refereeing to "in the future," and he did not specify when exactly whether he meant nearest or distant future. Moreover, in summer 2011 the Justice Ministry refused to register the opposition People's Freedom Party (PARNAS). Allegedly it was due to the fact that the list of its members, submitted to the Ministry, included dead persons and minors.
Vladimir Ryzhkov, co-chairperson of PARNAS, said that Konovalov “out of shame” did not put his signature under the decision of the Ministry of Justice, but as the head of the ministry he is anyway responsible for the decision.
Source: Grani, 23 June 2011
