Psychological profile of the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia

Sergey Kiriyenko is among the candidates to replace Vladimir Putin as President of Russia.

Kiriyenko is quite energetic, he’s got the ear of Putin’s business partner Yuri Kovalchuk. Putin is grateful to Kiriyenko, as he backed him to become the FSB director in 1998. Putin has had a very high opinion of Kiriyenko and trusted him for many years. Kiriyenko is one of the few who has access to the President, and he is pretty much always admitted. Kiriyenko, however, has no presidential ambitions. He has a stake in retaining the post of the presidential administration chief of staff.

With all trust and favor, Putin is not ready to consider him as a successor: Kiriyenko is too smart and cunning, which Putin sees as negative characteristics. Then Putin is an ardent anti-Semite, and negative about Ukrainians. In case of Kiriyenko, we have a combination of these factors.

Kiriyenko is in charge of Putin’s union of the Slavic peoples of Russia, Ukraine and the Republic of Belarus. With this project implemented, he hopes to oversee the union’s domestic policy.

Recent reports suggest, however, that Kiriyenko reports to Patrushev, as the latter gives him tasks and recommendations.

That was Kiriyenko who offered Putin a detailed plan to unite Russia, the Republic of Belarus, and the occupied part of Ukraine into one state.

If the transit of power leads to Dmitry Patrushev becoming the president, Kiriyenko will preserve his post, but he will lose real opportunities to influence decision-making, with his career coming to an end. Kiriyenko leads the so-called gay lobby today, and Putin is loyal to them. If Patrushev comes, this option will be reduced to almost nothing.

Kiriyenko is among those who headed the Russian government at the age of 35, and whose administration culminated in default. Even more paradoxical is the fact that he has turned from a liberal into an authoritarian leader.

His political and psychological profile can be divided into two periods: Kiriyenko “before Putin’s rule” and Kiriyenko “during Putin’s rule”. These political personalities are totally different.

After analyzing his life, his ability to change his views and quickly adapt to new realities, to be useful to new leaders, we can say he is a person whose views can be influenced, and whose opinion can be changed, if someone manipulates his thurst for power and urges him to realize himself.

He is phlegmatic and choleric by temperament (though this combination is not common), but the situation determines everything. He works as a phlegmatic person, and he does his job well. He is a gambler like a choleric. He had been an introvert since childhood, but he became an ambivert over the years. He ponders long before making a decision, but once it made, he will go all the way.Familiar environment and support by senior managers are necessary for him to do a job.

Analysis of cognitive mental characteristics suggests he knows well how to hide his emotions and feelings, he has a strong will, therefore, with good control of his actions and behavior.Kiriyenko’s will manifests in self-demand, flexibility, independence, perseverance and determination, but the latter always depends on political instructions from above.

The main thing while talking to him is to follow his rules of business communication. He is smart, erudite, with vivid imagination, but he is very cruel, as he uses people for his own purposes (Boris Nemtsov), and he is ready to achieve success at any cost, even if it means sacrificing friendship.

His character accentuation manifests as an anxious type, with restrained movements, and postureoften restrained or closed. He tends to take full control of his emotions, constantly varies in different environment. He is pedantic, punctual, afraid to violate common terms and agreements.

He always keeps his true emotions bottled-up.

Kiriyenko is vulnerable psychologically, as he is afraid of innovations, especially when there is no support from the managers, and he might explode one day, as he always holds back his emotions. It will be possible to manipulate him, with playing on emotions of hidden choleric.

“Kinder surprise” nickname suits him very well, as he is a hidden neurotic who changes not justhis opinion, views, but even his worldview all the time. His pattern of behavior fully bases on adaptability. Kiriyenko here seeks to behave not to contradict Putin’s interests.

His main functions for Putin are to “agitate” and “administrate“ – he spreads Putin’s own propaganda and imposes distorted beliefs and ideology on people. That is new terms and wordsmanipulating method. He uses so-called “meaning-creation”, such as “people’s war”, “Russian Peace”. He considers himself an anti-crisis manager. He has high self-esteem.

He has been using political technology, available on social networks, as the main tool since he was appointed a first deputy chief of staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia. It is possible to compare him to the Nazi propagandist Goebbels. He often cites his words, expressions and ideas while speaking. All this is to change and distort people’s national self-consciousness, to activate their national self-identification. The latter awakens and boosts powerful emotional and psychological drivers of personality formation, such as patriotism and sacrifice, which neither mercantile calculations nor material gains can replace.