By Anton Kulikov

Copyright pravda

Dmitry Kozak, longtime ally of President Vladimir Putin and Deputy Chief of the Presidential Administration, has submitted his resignation, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Over the weekend, Kozak wrote a letter requesting to step down from his position by his own decision. One source noted that a meeting with staff is scheduled for Wednesday. Both sources confirmed that Kozak is considering various offers to transition into the business sector.
A Veteran of the Putin Era
Kozak has been one of Putin’s closest associates since the early 2000s. Following Putin’s rise to the presidency in 2000, Kozak served first as Deputy Chief and later as First Deputy Chief of the Presidential Administration. In 2004, he moved into government, later serving as Presidential Envoy to the Southern Federal District, Minister of Regional Development, and Deputy Prime Minister. He returned to the Presidential Administration in 2020 under Chief of Staff Anton Vaino.
Role in Regional and International Affairs
In his most recent role, Kozak oversaw departments handling cross-border cooperation and interregional and cultural ties with foreign states, managing policy toward post-Soviet countries, including Ukraine. He also represented Russia in the Normandy Format peace talks.
“Kozak has worked with Putin since the St. Petersburg mayor’s office and has repeatedly held senior posts in government, including Deputy Prime Minister.”
In August, The New York Times reported that Kozak had privately urged Putin earlier this year to end hostilities in Ukraine, start peace talks, and pursue domestic reforms, including the creation of an independent judiciary. According to the paper, Kozak was the only senior Russian official who expressed dissent about the war behind closed doors.
Also in August, Putin ordered the dissolution of the departments overseen by Kozak, merging them into a newly created Directorate for Strategic Partnership and Cooperation, now overseen by First Deputy Chief of Staff Sergey Kiriyenko.
The move of senior officials into business is common in Russia. Examples include former Chief of Staff Alexander Voloshin, who went on to chair the boards of RAO UES and Norilsk Nickel, and Aleksei Kudrin, who became an adviser on corporate development at Yandex after leaving his role as head of the Accounts Chamber.