{{Short description|Russian politician (born 1982)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} {{family name hatnote|Anatolyevich|Nikiforov|lang=Eastern Slavic}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Nikolay Nikiforov | image = Nikolay Nikiforov portrait (cropped).jpg | office = [[Ministry of Communications and Mass Media (Russia)|Minister of Communications and Mass Media]] | term_start = 21 May 2012 | term_end = 7 May 2018 | predecessor = [[Igor Shchyogolev]] | successor = [[Konstantin Noskov]] | birth_name = Nikolay Anatolyevich Nikiforov | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1982|6|24|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Kazan]], [[Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic|Tatar ASSR]], [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]] (now Kazan, [[Tatarstan]], [[Russia]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.company.rt.ru/en/about/managers/board_of_dir/top_v_inner.php?ID=447000|title=Board of Directors: Nikolay Nikiforov|website=company.rt.ru|access-date=10 April 2020}}</ref> | death_date = | death_place = | party = | alma_mater = [[Kazan Federal University|V. I. Ulyanov-Lenin Kazan State University]] | profession = [[Economist]] | signature = | native_name_lang = ru | native_name = {{nobold|Николай Никифоров}} | caption = Nikiforov in 2012 }}
{{ Listen| filename= Nikolay Nikiforov voice.ogg |title= Nikolay Nikiforov's voice |type= speech |description= recorded April 2013}}
'''Nikolay Anatolyevich Nikiforov''' ({{langx|ru|Никола́й Анато́льевич Ники́форов}}; born 24 June 1982) is a Russian politician. In 2012, he became [[Ministry of Communications and Mass Media (Russia)|Minister of Communications and Mass Media of Russia]].
==Career== At age 19, Nikiforov became deputy director of the [[Kazan]] Portal company. From 2006 to 2010, he headed the Center of Information Technology of [[Tatarstan]]. In 2010, Nikiforov became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information and Communication of the Tatarstan Republic.
On 21 May 2012, at the age of 29, he was named as the [[Ministry of Communications and Mass Media (Russia)|Minister of Communications and Mass Media]] in [[Dmitry Medvedev's First Cabinet|Dmitry Medvedev's Cabinet]], thus becoming its youngest member.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://en.ria.ru/russia/20120522/173601150.html|title=Russia Appoints Youngest Minister|agency=[[RIA Novosti]]|date=21 May 2012|access-date=21 May 2012}}</ref>
In October 2012, Nikiforov criticized Russia's leading telecom operation, [[Rostelecom]] for failing to address "digital inequality" in the country. Nikiforov singled out Rostelecom's investment strategy, which has primarily focused on expanding its market share by acquiring other companies, as inadequate. This, Nikiforov said, means the company's energies are focused on areas that are already connected to the internet, rather than acting to expand internet access.{{cn|date=April 2023}}
He pursued the modernization of the [[Russian Post]], saying that modernization of the Russian Post will make it possible to deliver mail inside the country within a week. Nikiforov said the purpose of the Ministry of Communications is to ensure that all mail should be delivered within the boundaries of one large city of community within one day<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kaznin|first1=Dmitry|last2=Arno|first2=Tatyana| url =https://tvrain.tv/teleshow/here_and_now/pochta_rossii_vo_vsem_vinovata_tamozhnja-340711/| title ="Почта России": во всем виновата таможня|publisher=[[Dozhd]]| date=9 April 2013|access-date = 28 April 2013|language=ru}}</ref> and that he sees several instruments of financing the postal service’s upgrade program, such as the issue of [[infrastructure]] [[Bond (finance)|bond]]s, a rise in the prices of some services, the introduction of differentiated fees for the delivery of [[pension]]s (depending on the [[Federal subjects of Russia|region]]) and the introduction of [[tax break]]s.<ref>{{cite news| url =http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c142/712560.html| title =RF Government intervenes in the work of Russian post| agency=[[ITAR-TASS]]|date=19 April 2013|access-date = 28 April 2013}}</ref> Since 27 December 2017, he is on the supervisory board of [[Post Bank (Russia)|Post Bank]].<ref name=VTB24toVTBbank>{{cite news | title = Избран новый состав наблюдательного совета "Почта Банка" | url = https://www.pochtabank.ru/news/457247 | website=pochtabank.ru|publisher= [[Post Bank (Russia)|Post Bank]]| language = ru | trans-title = The new composition of the "Post Bank" Supervisory Board was elected | date =27 December 2017 | access-date = 15 February 2018}}</ref>
Nikiforov was responsible for the transition away from [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] [[iOS]] products towards [[Samsung]] [[Android (operating system)|Android]] products for use as government IT tools sometime between 2010 and March 2014, when it was first noticed by journalists at a cabinet meeting. He was quoted by [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]] as saying "American special services … will significantly increase the volume of information they intercept (which) of course causes serious concern to many governmental clients. This obviously orientates Russian clients, primarily state ones, to be very choosy about their partners in IT."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/26/russian-officials-switch-apple-ipad-samsung-security|title=Russian officials switch from iPads to Samsung over security concerns|newspaper=The Guardian |agency=Agence France-Press in Moscow|via=TheGuardian.com|date=26 March 2014|access-date=28 March 2019|last1=France-Press |first1=Agence }}</ref>
==Accusations of academic dishonesty== In 2011, Nikiforov defended his thesis in Economics. According to an examination by [[Dissernet]], this doctoral thesis contains at least 97 pages with undocumented plagiarism from six other works<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dissernet.org/expertise/nikiforovna2011.htm|title=Никифоров Николай Анатольевич|website=Dissernet.org|date=6 April 2014|access-date=28 March 2019|language=ru}}</ref> and data fabrication.<ref>{{cite web|last=Parkhomenko|first=Sergey |authorlink=Sergey Parkhomenko|url=http://www.dissernet.org/publications/kak-ministru-nikiforovu-zaigoshili.htm|title=Как министру Никифорову заигошили ученую степень...|website=Dissernet.org|date=17 April 2014|access-date=28 March 2019|language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Dolgov|first= Anna|url=http://old.themoscowtimes.com/article/497705.html|title= Mass Media Minister's Thesis Was Plagiarized, Online Group Says|work=[[The Moscow Times]]|date=8 April 2014|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref> On 22 June 2016, the dissertation council of the [[Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration]] confirmed the existence of plagiarism in Nikiforov's thesis, but refused to recommend stripping Nikiforov of his degree.<ref>{{cite news|last=[[Andrey Zayakin|Zayakin]]|first=Andrey|url=https://meduza.io/news/2016/06/22/dissovet-otkazalsya-lishit-uchenoy-stepeni-ministra-svyazi-nikiforova|title=Диссовет отказался лишить ученой степени министра связи Никифорова|website=Meduza.io|date=22 June 2016|access-date=28 March 2019|language=ru}}</ref>
==References== {{Commons category}} {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-bef|before=[[Igor Shchyogolev]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Ministry of Communications and Mass Media (Russia)|Minister of Telecommunications]] |years=21 May 2012 – 7 May 2018}} {{s-aft|after=[[Konstantin Noskov]]}} {{s-end}}
{{Current Russian Cabinet}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikiforov, Nikolay}} [[Category:1982 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Government ministers of Russia]] [[Category:Kazan Federal University alumni]] [[Category:Politicians from Kazan]] [[Category:Russian economists]] [[Category:United Russia politicians]]