Igor Ivanovich Sechin (; born 7 September 1960) is a Russian oligarch and a government official, considered a close ally and "de facto deputy" of Vladimir Putin. Sechin has been a confidant of Russian leader Vladimir Putin since the early 1990s. Sechin was chief of staff to Putin when he was the deputy mayor of St. Petersburg in 1994. When Putin became President in 2000, Sechin became his deputy chief of staff, overseeing security services and energy issues in Russia. Putin appointed Sechin as chairman of Rosneft, the Russian state oil company in 2004. He was as Deputy Prime Minister of Russia in Vladimir Putin's cabinet from 2008 to 2012. He is currently the chief executive officer, president and chairman of the management board of Rosneft. Sechin is often described as one of Putin's most conservative counselors and the leader of the Kremlin's Siloviki faction, a lobby gathering former security services agents. He has been sanctioned by some foreign governments following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His nickname is Darth Vader. Career Sechin graduated from Leningrad State University in 1984 as a linguist, fluent in Portuguese and French. In the 1980s, Sechin worked in Mozambique. He was officially a Soviet interpreter. From 1991 to 1996, he worked at Saint Petersburg mayor's office, and became a chief of staff of the first deputy mayor, Vladimir Putin in 1994. From 1996 to 1997, Sechin served as a deputy of Vladimir Putin, who worked in the presidential property management department. From 1997 to 1998, Sechin was the chief of the general department of the main control directorate attached to the president, led by Putin. In August 1999, he was appointed head of the secretariat of the prime minister of Russia, Putin. From 24 November 1999 until 11 January 2000, Sechin was the first deputy chief of the Russian presidential administration. Between 31 December 1999 and May 2008, he was deputy chief of Putin's administration. In May 2008, he was appointed by President Dmitry Medvedev as a deputy prime minister in a move considered as a demotion. According to Stratfor, "Sechin acts as boss of Russia's gigantic state oil company Rosneft and commands the loyalty of the FSB. Thus, he represents the FSB's hand in Russia's energy sector." On 27 July 2004, Sechin became the successful and influential chairman of the board of directors of JSC Rosneft, which swallowed up the assets of jailed