Valentina Matviyenko
| Valentina Matviyenko Валенти́на Матвие́нко |
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| Chairman of the Federation Council | |
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Assumed office 21 September 2011 |
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| President |
Dmitry Medvedev Vladimir Putin |
| Preceded by | Aleksander Torshin (acting) |
| Senator from St. Petersburg | |
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Assumed office 31 August 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Vladimir Barkanov |
| Governor of Saint Petersburg | |
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In office 15 October 2003 – 22 August 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Vladimir Yakovlev |
| Succeeded by | Georgy Poltavchenko |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Valentina Ivanovna Tyutina 7 April 1949 Shepetivka, Kamianets-Podilskyi Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Political party | United Russia |
| Spouse(s) | Vladimir Vasilyevich Matviyenko |
| Children | Sergey Matviyenko (b. 1973) |
| Alma mater | Leningrad Institute of Chemistry and Pharmaceutics |
| Profession | Politician |
| Religion | Russian Orthodox |
| Signature |  |
Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko (Russian: Валенти́на Ива́новна Матвие́нко; IPA: [vəlʲɪnˈtʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə mətvʲɪˈjɛnkə], née Tyutina (Тю́тина; IPA: [ˈtʲʉtʲɪnə]); born 7 April 1949), is a Russian politician who was Governor of Saint Petersburg from 2003 to 2011, and has served as Chairman of the Federation Council since 2011. Matviyenko was considered, until recent years, to be the highest-ranking female politician in Russia.
Born in Ukraine, Matviyenko started her political career in the 1980s in Leningrad (now called Saint Petersburg), and was the First Secretary of the Krasnogvardeysky District Communist Party of the City from 1984 to 1986. In the 1990s, Matviyenko served as the Russian Ambassador to Malta (1991–1995), and to Greece (1997–1998). From 1998 to 2003, Matviyenko was Deputy Prime Minister for Welfare, and briefly the Presidential Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District in 2003. By that time, Matviyenko was firmly allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an alliance which secured her a victory in the gubernatorial elections in Saint Petersburg, Putin's native city.
Matviyenko became the first female leader of Saint Petersburg. Since the start of Matviyenko's service as governor, a significant share of taxation money was transferred from the federal budget to the local budget, and along with the booming economy and improving investment climate the standard of living significantly increased in the City, making income levels much closer to Moscow, and far above most other Russian federal subjects. The profile of Saint Petersburg in Russian politics has risen, marked by the transfer of the Constitutional Court of Russia from Moscow in 2008.
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