Rustam Minnikhanov  Rustam Nurgaliyevich Minnikhanov (, ; born 1 March 1957) is a Russian politician and the second and current President of Tatarstan, a federal subject of Russia. Rustam Minnikhanov was born on March 1, 1957 in a Volga Tatar family in the New Arysh (; ) village of Rybno-Slobodsky District in the Tatar ASSR. He graduated from Kazan Agricultural Institute in 1978 as mechanical engineer and from Correspondence Institute of Soviet Trade as a commodity expert in 1986. He is a doctor of economic sciences. Minnikhanov is married and fathered two sons. His son Irek Minnikhanov died in the Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363 crash on November 17, 2013. After graduating from the institute in 1978, he began his career as an engineer in Sabinsky District Association of "Selkhoztekhnika". He then worked in the district as a senior engineer and chief power engineer in a state timber industry enterprise and was deputy chairman of District Consumer Society Board. In 1985–1993 he worked in Arsky District as chairman of the District Consumer Society Board, Chairman of the Executive Committee of People's Deputies District Council, First Deputy Head of District Administration. In 1993 he was appointed head of Vysokogorsky District administration and in November 1996 he was appointed minister of finance of the Republic of Tatarstan. From July 10, 1998 until March 25, 2010 he was prime minister of the Republic of Tatarstan. During his tenure as republican prime minister, Minnikhanov continued to be involved in industry, serving as chairman of the board of directors of the oil company Tatneft from 2005 to 2006. As prime minister, he was known for his enthusiasm for technological innovation, spearheading the republic's move to digital, paperless government and the streamlining of official business through the use of electronically distributed documents and electronic signing of official documents. On January 27, 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev nominated Rustam Minnikhanov to be the new president of Tatarstan and on March 25, 2010, Rustam Minnikhanov formally assumed the office of President. During the 2014 Crimean crisis, Minnikhanov acted as a mediator between the Kremlin government and the Crimean Tatar community over concerns raised amongst Crimean Tatars over potential persecution by Russia should it annex the peninsula. Minnikhanov is a keen motorsports enthusiast and was a regular competitor in the FIA European Championship for Rallycross Drivers, in 2007 driving a Citroën C4 T16 4x4 with 550+bhp that was built and raced in 2006 by 14-time European Rallycross champion Kenneth Hansen of Sweden.