Putin’s purse-strings: Russian Central Bank governor Elvira Nabiullina

In 2012, Putin returned as president after a brief Dmitry Medvedev stint and Nabiullina was appointed his assistant for economic affairs, confirming her inner-circle status. A year later, in June 2013, she was appointed governor of the Central Bank of Russia.

She made a quick impact. By 2014, she was credited with stabilising the rouble and boosting the confidence of foreign investors. She increased interest rates, allowed the exchange rate to float freely, and kept inflation in check.

She also withdrew around 300 banking licences from institutions that were under-performing, targeting one-third of Russian banks. In so doing, she facilitated a much-needed consolidation and strengthening of the Russian financial sector.

Plaudits and platitudes

In the years that followed, she earned international plaudits. Euromoney named her Central Bank Governor of the Year in 2015, while The Banker named her Central Banker of the Year for the European Region in 2017.

Nabiullina is known for being direct and forthright, offering analytical responses to questions about bank policies or Russia's economy. She is a professional and competent administrator, with a sharp eye for detail and an exceptional knowledge of economic and financial principles

Yevgeny Kogan, an investment banker and professor at the prestigious Russian HSE University, said Nabiullina's recollection of even the minutiae can catch peers out.

"One of my good friends told me that if you make a presentation in front of her and then use the same one again a year or two later, she says, 'Why are you showing me the same slides as before?' She has an excellent memory!"

He was speaking in an October 2023 news report marking Nabiullina's 60th birthday. Two years earlier, she had been reappointed for a third term.

For Russia, or the Kremlin?

Nabiullina's actions may have furthered Putin's interests. An NPR article in 2022 suggested that her bank consolidation from 2013-17 benefited three owned by Kremlin-connected oligarchs (Bank Otkrytie, B&N Bank, and Promsvyazbank), which then failed, costing the Russian taxpayers 2tn roubles.

Maximilian Hess, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in London, also pointed out how Nabiullina helped rescue Rosneft, the flagship Russian oil company, from the effects of Western sanctions.

She used what he called a "neat financial magical trick" that allowed her to loan billions of dollars to it by using the company's own promissory notes as collateral in 2022, despite this going against her duty as central bank governor to act independently from the government.

"The Russian Central Bank says it has a mandate of protecting the economy and keeping price stability in check as with most central banks, but really, Nabiullina only has one mandate: to protect the Kremlin and the Kremlin regime."

In November, Politico called her "the No. 1 Disruptor" in their Class of 2024 series, adding that she could no longer be considered a moderating influence on Putin.

Instead, she had become his silent enabler and "managed to stave off the effects of unprecedented Western sanctions designed to drain the Kremlin's coffers, prolonging the war on Ukraine".

Values and personal life

In a country known for corruption and greasing the wheels, she has never sought to enrich herself, unlike so many of her post-Soviet officialdom colleagues.

"She's never been suspected of anything," says Russian economist Prof. Sergei Guriev, speaking to the New York Times. He has known her for 15 years.

Despite her high profile, Elvira Nabiullina has successfully kept her private life private. A mother-of-one, she is married to Yaroslav Kuzminov, an economist who was the youngest ever rector of a state university when he was appointed to that position at the HSE University of Economics.

The media often mentions her love for opera, something other major financial figures (like Christine Lagard of the European Central Bank) have praised in the past.  

Pavel Romanov, a university classmate, told the news report on Nabiullina's 60th birthday that he often sees her "in Moscow at museums and theatres… Just like she did as a student, she continues her interest in culture".

Non-verbal signalling

She loves to read, with Tolstoy, Pushkin, and Brodsky among her favourite authors, but the press seems more interested in her choice of clothing, furthering an idea that she uses it to convey covert signals. 

For instance, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, several analysts noted her choice of black attire, which they felt signalled her opposition to the war. Indeed, during an interview with RTVi in November 2020, the subject came up.

She had appeared wearing a brooch depicting a bullfinch after keeping interest rates on hold for the third time in a row as the Covid-19 pandemic hit Russia hard, and was asked about it. "The bullfinch is a beautiful winter bird," she said. "It's a bird that can withstand various frosts. It's hardy."

Nabiullina has honed and crafted her public image of an analytical professional competently carrying out the duties of her hugely important job. Yet to most, she is still a closed book.

Pleased to be boring

The closest she came to being revealing was in a 2014 interview with Pozner, who asked her some questions from the Proust Questionnaire—a set of personal questions designed to define someone's character, often used by interviewers.

When asked what trait she considered most important in men, she said "gratitude". For women, she said the capacity to love.

Asked to describe herself, she said "boring", then went on to say that she "sometimes has no patience for other people's weaknesses," though she "wished she could be better at explaining why her actions were the right ones".

Pozner had opened that interview by saying: "If this were on American TV, I would introduce you as 'the embodiment of the American Dream,' which says that you can be anyone you choose to be, if you simply work hard enough."

Elvira Nabiullina has certainly worked hard in all her various roles in recent decades. Putin will be hoping that she continues, for there is much hard work ahead.