Sergei Mironov

Sergey Mikhailovich Mironov (; born 14 February 1953) is a Russian politician. He was chairman of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, from 2001 to 2011. He leads the faction A Just Russia in the Parliament of Russia. Life and career In 1967 he joined the Komsomol. In the 1970s, Mironov served in the airborne troops in the Soviet Army. In 1973 he was elected as deputy secretary committee of the Komsomol on ideological educational work at the Leningrad Mining Institute. After graduating from the Institute he worked as an engineer-geophysicist. After a brief time of working as an entrepreneur, he entered politics and, in 1994, was elected deputy of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly. In June 2000, he was elected vice-Chairman of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly and, in 2001, entered the Federation Council of Russia as a representative of St. Petersburg. In December 2001, Mironov was elected to be a Speaker of the Federation Council. Since February 2003, Mironov has been the Chairman of the Council of Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of States – members of the Commonwealth of Independent States and since April 2003 – Chairman of the Russian Party of Life. Sergey Mironov is from Saint Petersburg. Mironov was a candidate in the 2004 presidential election. He was not considered to be a serious candidate and was quoted as saying: "We all want Vladimir Putin to be the next president." He polled less than one per cent of the vote.