Widely seen as the second-most powerful man in Russia, Sechin has trailed every step his longtime friend and boss Vladimir Putin took up the ladder to power. When Putin became the head of the Committee for Foreign Affairs in the St. Petersburg Mayor’s Office in 1991, Sechin was appointed his chief of staff. The pair has worked closely together ever since, culminating in Sechin’s appointment as deputy prime minister in 2008.

Since 2012, Sechin has been the chief executive officer of Rosneft, Russia’s state-owned energy giant.