Chernomyrdin, Viktor Stepanovich, << chehr noh MEER duhn, VEEK tuhr stih PAHN uh vihch >> (1938-2010), was prime minister of Russia from 1992 to 1998. He was named to the office by Russian president Boris N. Yeltsin. His term ended abruptly in March 1998, when Yeltsin dismissed Chernomyrdin and the entire Russian cabinet. Some critics called Yeltsin’s move a show of power.
As prime minister, Chernomyrdin supported economic reform. During the mid-1990’s, he was one of Russia’s most powerful leaders. Many experts believe he unofficially took charge of the government several times when President Yeltsin was ill but remained in office.
Chernomyrdin was born on April 9, 1938, in the village of Cherny Otrog in southeast Russia. He studied engineering at Russian technical schools and held technical and administrative positions in government energy agencies. From 1985 to 1989, he headed the department that supervised the Soviet natural gas industry. In 1989, he became head of Gazprom, a huge state-run corporation that replaced the gas department. Chernomyrdin died on Nov. 3, 2010.
