Eduard Ergartovich Rossel (born 8 October 1937) is a Russian politician who served as Governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast from 1995 to 2009 and, from 2009 to 2022, as a member of the Federation Council.

Childhood and war

Eduard Rossel was born in Bor, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast to Volga German parents. His father was executed by the NKVD in 1938 and he was left living with his mother, who at that time found a Ukrainian man and married him instead. Rossel's original language was German, but due to his mother's marriage to a Soviet national, he began to primarily speak Russian at home instead. In 1962, Rossel graduated from the Ural State Mining University. He also holds a PhD in Technical Sciences and a doctoral degree in Economics and is an academician of the Russian Academy of Engineering and of the International Academy of Regional Cooperation and Development.

Career

Prior to his career, Eduard Rossel made up his mind that he should never skip a single promotion. Prior to his political career, he was the head of the Sreduralstroy, an Ural based company. In 1974, Rossel met Boris Yeltsin (who in 1991 was elected as the first President of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union) at the metallurgy factory, Blooming-1500. During that time, Rossel already worked as head engineer of the Tagilstroy Trust, which was under the control of Alexei Kosygin. In 1978, Eduard Rossel declined promotion from Boris Yeltsin, who wanted him to become a mayor of Nizhny Tagil. A few days after his election as mayor, Rossel got a visit from Alexander Avdonin, a geologist and local historian, who back then discovered, along with Geliy Ryabov, the burial site of the Romanov Dynasty. He served as a governor of the Sverdlovsk Oblast from 1991 to 2009. Rossel supported Boris Yeltsin during his rise to power. Yeltsin and Rossel became more hostile for a time due to Rossel's demand that Sverdlovsk Oblast have a status equal to that of Russia's republics. Rossel eventually returned to Yeltsin's favor, and in January 1996 Rossel won passage of a special bilateral agreement between Moscow and Sverdlovsk. In 2005, Eduard Rossel awarded his successor, Alexey Vorobyov, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class. In 2005 Eduard Rossel authored a book entitled A Regional Perspective on the Current and Future Socio-Economic Developments in the Russian Federation, which was published in an English edition by Anthony Rowe Publishing Services on behalf of Intourist Ltd. On Wednesday, 13 April 2005, Eduard Rossel was guest and speaker at a reception held at the Russian Embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens, London for the launch of his book. In his book Eduard Rossel gives a detailed microeconomic picture of the problems, prospects and performance of the economy and government at a regional level, and focuses on the importance of the natural resources of Russia's regions to the economy of Russia. He also gives a picture of the political structure of the Federation at a time when government of the regions was becoming more centralised. In 2009, Rossel left the gubernatorial post, citing his own failed competency. In 2018, Eduard Rossel met with vice governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast Aleksey Orlov, finance minister Victoria Kazakova, director of trust company "Belaya Gora", and head of the administration of Nizhniy Tagil, Vladislav Pinaev to discuss whether Belaya Gora should become a tourist resort. The plan is to create a ski resort with the help from the Canadian company Ecosign. In 2022, he was added to the sanctions list of the British government following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In July 2022, it was reported that Rossel would lose the position of senator.

Honours

Personal life

Eduard Rossel has a daughter who resides in Düsseldorf.