By Andrey Pertsev & Svetlana Reiter, Meduza, 10/5/23

In the 2010s, Marat Khusnullin nearly rebuilt the city of Moscow. Today, he’s maneuvered himself into a leading role as the overseer of Russia’s “restoration” of annexed Ukrainian territories. Meduza explains how this construction bureaucrat from Tatarstan won a prized position in the federal government and especially in Vladimir Putin’s circle of trusted underlings.

Last month, in early September, Vladimir Putin christened a new section of the “Vostok” expressway connecting Moscow and Kazan. “You’re cleared… Let’s go,” the president said with a smile. Joining him at the ceremony was Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, who oversees construction projects for the federal government. He hurriedly and obsequiously noted that the highway would have been impossible without Putin, crediting the president with “all the comprehensive solutions” needed “to build such a beauty of a road!”

A source close to the presidential administration told Meduza that Putin’s expressway jamboree was staged as a campaign event. Indeed, the ceremony took place just a few days before a gubernatorial election in the Nizhny Novgorod region (where the new highway section was built), and United Russia candidate Gleb Nikitin later won the vote handily. But the Kremlin already had a bigger campaign on its mind, says Meduza’s source, who calls Marat Khusnullin a “key figure” in Putin’s re-election next spring.

The administration will reportedly rely on Khusnullin to serve as one of the leading “event suppliers” ahead of election day. Meduza has already written about the Kremlin’s plan to transform next year’s race into a “parade of holidays” celebrating the many “achievements of Putin’s Russia.” Some of these festivities will feature the opening of new infrastructural facilities, including new chunks of expressway.

Meduza’s sources with knowledge of the Kremlin’s election plans say that Khusnullin has become “one of Putin’s favorite subordinates.” For example, when the president made a brisk nighttime visit to occupied Mariupol in March 2023, it was Khusnullin who accompanied Putin on a drive around town, boasting about Russia’s “restoration” of a city it bombed and shelled to the ground in many places.

“A helicopter arrives, there were two escort cars, and he got behind the wheel. He even chose the route himself. Nobody saw it coming… People recognized him and started exiting their apartments… So, everything turned out very friendly,” Khusnullin later said, describing Putin’s tour of the city.

A source close to the federal government cabinet told Meduza that Putin first noticed Khusnullin when the latter oversaw Tatarstan’s Construction Ministry. (Before this job, Khusnullin worked for local construction companies and also served as a deputy in Tatarstan’s State Council.) Two decades ago, Putin frequented Kazan, which celebrated its millennium in 2005 and hosted the Universiade (now known as the FISU World University Games) in 2013. When Putin came to town, Khusnullin took him on tours of construction sites around the city. “He always knew how to present himself to his superiors and point out his role in the common cause,” recalls a long-time acquaintance who worked with Khusnullin in Tatarstan.

Meduza’s sources attribute Khusnullin’s rapid career rise to these encounters in Kazan. By 2010, he oversaw construction in Moscow as one of the city’s deputy mayors and intersected with Putin even more often as one of the officials leading renovations to the Luzhniki Olympic Complex ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Additionally, he was front and center in creating Moscow’s Zaryadye landscape urban park and renovating buildings throughout the city. Khusnullin was also involved in the Moscow Subway’s expansion between 2012 and 2019 when the Metro added another 47 stations.

Dozens of businesspeople from Tatarstan followed Khusnullin to Moscow, where they found leading positions in the city’s construction sector. An investigation in September 2018 by journalists at Novaya Gazeta identified 46 of these people. For example, Khusnullin’s former deputy at Tatarstan’s Construction Ministry, Mars Gazizullin, went on to manage Moscow City’s Mosinzhproekt civil engineering company, which oversaw the subway’s expansion.

From 2011 to 2018, companies from Tatarstan and firms connected to entrepreneurs from the region won Moscow City contracts worth almost half a trillion rubles (roughly $5 billion in today’s currency). Investigative reporters found that some of these businesses and their owners had ties to Khusnullin, but he denies any corruption allegations.

Khusnullin didn’t limit himself to just participation in such projects but labored to promote himself publicly in any way he could. A source who worked at Moscow City Hall told Meduza that Khusnullin reads the news media (“even opposition outlets”) and Telegram channels and tries to ensure that he’s mentioned. For example, while working for the Mayor, Khusnullin’s press office regularly compiled “positive news” about Moscow and pushed it on Telegram.

But he always stresses shared achievements and puts his bosses first. “Meaning, it was the mayor when he worked at City Hall, not Mr. Khusnullin. The top figure came first; he was just the good executor of the leadership’s will. Irreplaceable, perhaps, but a mere operator,” says Meduza’s source.

This tactic paid off. In 2020, Khusnullin reached the federal level, becoming a deputy prime minister charged with overseeing construction projects. He promptly announced plans to build a network of roads between Russia’s regions and to renovate housing across the country. “Construction is movement; it’s energy,” he said in 2021, describing his feelings about the job. “You can see the results of your work immediately. If everything is going well, your mood improves instantly. I even love the smell of paint, cement, and dust.”

Sources who know Khusnullin say he lacks any “special political views.” “He understands the planned economy of the Soviet era, but he’s also fine with the free market,” the individuals told Meduza, adding that Khusnullin “loves hands-on management” and takes “subordination” very seriously: “He understands who is above him and who is below him. There’s a real cult of personality on his team.”

A source close to United Russia’s Moscow branch leadership told Meduza that Khusnullin is “crude but effective.” “Mr. Khusnullin is an experienced vizier from the East,” says a source close to the Kremlin. “He always knows what to tell the Shah, how to interest him, and how to thank him. For the president, this style of communication has become comfortable lately.”

As Meduza reported in the fall of 2022, Putin lost almost all interest in civilian affairs and domestic issues in the early months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Even construction projects receded from the president’s agenda. While others in the federal government cabinet tried to keep their distance from the war, Khusnullin dove head-first, traveling regularly to the “new territories” and becoming Russia’s de facto curator of “restoration” infrastructure projects in occupied Ukraine. This, of course, caught Putin’s attention again, says a source with ties to the Kremlin.

Today, Khusnullin and the Construction Ministry he controls are key in allocating Russia’s construction contracts in the occupied territories. The total cost of this work is unknown, but the Russian authorities have estimated that the “restoration of infrastructure” will require at least 1.5 trillion rubles (more than $15 billion).

A source close to the Russian government cabinet told Meduza that Khusnullin understands how vital this restoration work is to Putin, and he even tries to outperform the president’s expectations, setting speed records and overfulfilling plans. For example, Khusnullin was the official who reported on the early completion of repairs to Russia’s coveted Crimean Bridge, which a truck bomb damaged in October 2022. Khusnullin has also declared that “the people are returning to Mariupol” thanks to the Russian authorities’ efforts. (He’s careful not to emphasize the invasion assault that caused the city’s exodus and devastation in the first place.)

On multiple occasions, Putin has praised Khusnullin. With the front lines in Ukraine frozen in many places, the president “is gradually getting tired of military topics” and regaining his interest in domestic affairs, say sources close to the Kremlin. “It’s become important to prove [to the West] that the economy is holding up and everything is going like before,” explained Meduza’s sources. “Construction, roads, and bridges — this is stuff he gets. It brings back memories of the good ole days.”

A source with ties to Russia’s government says Khusnullin “knows what he’s doing,” but that doesn’t mean he harbors specific career ambitions. “He just knows how to grow,” said Meduza’s source. “He knows that the boss doesn’t like it when someone articulates some clear goal and then achieves it. The president knows better where and who is needed. If they tell [Khusnullin] to take over as prime minister, he’ll do it. He’ll be happy to do it. But it would be wrong to say he’s working toward his premiership.”

A journalist from Tatarstan who spoke to Meduza on condition of anonymity recalled that rumors circulated not so long ago about Khusnullin’s possible return to the region, this time as its leader. But that chance seems to have gone with the “zeroing out” of incumbent Rustam Minnikhanov’s term clock. A source close to the federal government told Meduza that Khusnullin going back to Tatarstan is off the table. “He now carries more weight than the whole republic.”