Former Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Becomes a Member of the Russian State Duma
Serhiy Arbuzov, the former head of the National Bank of Ukraine and first deputy prime minister during Viktor Yanukovych’s administration, has become a member of the Russian State Duma. He was elected to the new parliament on the ticket of the “Fair Russia” party, which nominated him in the regional constituency comprising Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories and Crimea.
Arbuzov left Ukraine after the Revolution of Dignity and settled in Russia. In Ukraine, he was a subject of criminal proceedings, and sanctions were imposed against him in 2025.
Serhiy Arbuzov, the former head of the National Bank of Ukraine and first deputy prime minister during Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency, has become a deputy in the Russian State Duma. The “Fair Russia” party announced his election to the new parliament. This information was subsequently confirmed by Russian and Ukrainian media. In the new faction, Arbuzov will be one of the deputies who received a seat in the State Duma for the first time.
The Russian State Duma elections took place from September 18 to 20. According to the final results, “United Russia” won 349 seats, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) — 37, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) — 23, “New People” — 19, and “Fair Russia” — 17.
How Arbuzov Got into the State Duma
Arbuzov ran on the “Fair Russia” party list. In July, he was appointed the top candidate on the regional group’s list, which the Russian authorities had designated to include the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, as well as Crimea and Sevastopol. Ukraine does not recognize these territories as part of Russia.
The party announced Arbuzov as one of the faction’s new deputies. In a Russian party statement, he was described as a person who “did not support the Zelenskyy regime in Ukraine.” This wording comes from a representative of the Russian party and is not an independent assessment. Thus, Arbuzov received his parliamentary seat through the “Fair Russia” federal list, rather than in a separate single-member district.
Who Is Sergey Arbuzov
Serhiy Arbuzov was born on March 24, 1976, in Donetsk. During Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency, he held several important government posts. In 2010, Arbuzov became head of the National Bank of Ukraine and led it until the end of 2012. In December 2012, he became first deputy prime minister in Mykola Azarov’s government.
Following Azarov’s resignation on January 28, 2014, Arbuzov began serving as acting Prime Minister of Ukraine. He remained in this position until February 27, 2014, when the Verkhovna Rada approved a government headed by Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
After the Revolution of Dignity, Arbuzov left for Russia
Following the events of the Revolution of Dignity, Arbuzov left Ukraine and moved to Russia. He subsequently began appearing regularly in the Russian media. Arbuzov criticized the Ukrainian government and advocated for negotiations with Russia. He also commented on events in Ukraine as a guest expert on Russian television.
In Russia, Arbuzov headed the organization RESCUE—“Center for Research on the Economic and Sociocultural Development of the CIS Countries, Central and Eastern Europe.”
Arbuzov is a defendant in a case in Ukraine
In Ukraine, Serhiy Arbuzov is a defendant in a criminal case. In 2014, he was placed on the wanted list as a suspect under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The charges involve the embezzlement, misappropriation, or acquisition of property through abuse of official position on an especially large scale. One of the episodes in the case involved the financing of the television channel “Banking Television” (BTB).
It is important to note that this is merely a suspicion, not a court conviction. In 2016, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine announced the launch of a special pre-trial investigation into Arbuzov.
Ukraine imposed sanctions against him
In April 2025, Arbuzov was added to the Ukrainian sanctions list. The relevant list was approved by a decision of the National Security and Defense Council, enacted by Presidential Decree No. 231/2025.
The sanctions list for him includes, in particular, the freezing of assets and a number of other restrictions. Some of the sanctions were imposed indefinitely, while others were imposed for ten years.
Ukraine does not recognize voting in the occupied territories
It is worth noting separately that during the State Duma elections, Russia also held voting in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that these “elections” are illegal and their results have no legal force. Ukrainian authorities emphasized that Crimea, Sevastopol, and the occupied parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions remain part of Ukraine.
On September 25, Russia’s Central Election Commission announced the final election results. The following day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions against 44 individuals whom Ukraine links to the conduct of the illegal voting in the occupied territories. In this context, Arbuzov’s election to the State Duma from the Russian regional group—to which the Kremlin has included the occupied Ukrainian territories—comes against the backdrop of Ukraine’s non-recognition of the voting process itself in these territories.
Thus, Serhiy Arbuzov, who headed the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) from 2010 to 2012, and who served as First Deputy Prime Minister from 2012 to 2014 and briefly acted as Prime Minister of Ukraine, has now joined the Russian State Duma. He received his seat on the “Fair Russia” party list. This was reported on his Telegram channel by Ruslan Tatarinov, chief of staff of the “Fair Russia” faction.
