Vadim Olegovich Petrov

Vadim Olegovich Petrov

Russian scholar and public official

State Secretary, National Committee for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

since 2024

Chair, Public Council under the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet)

since 2022

Predecessor

Yury Sarkisovich Tsaturov

Deputy Director, Unified Scientific Centre of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation (VNII Ecology)

since 2018

Date of birth

19 March 1984

Place of birth

Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

Education

Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)

Profession

Scholar, international lawyer, environmental expert, and Master of Public Administration (MPA)

Occupation

Public official, civic leader, and columnist

Languages

English, German

Father

Oleg Vadimovich Petrov

Military Service

Rank

Lieutenant

Honours and Awards

Medal for Contribution of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation; Medal for Distinguished Service and Exemplary Work of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation

Vadim Olegovich Petrov (born 19 March 1984, Moscow) is a Russian scholar, international lawyer, expert in international economic relations, public official, civic leader, author, and public affairs commentator. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree. He serves as Deputy Director of the Unified Scientific Centre of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the All-Russian Research Institute for Environmental Protection (VNII Ecology). He is Chair of the Public Council under the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet), Co-Chair and State Secretary of the Environmental Chamber of Russia, an expert involved in analytical and expert review activities of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, State Secretary of the National Committee for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and a member of the Russian delegation to UNESCO.

Biography

Vadim Olegovich Petrov was born into a family of public officials, party leaders, and diplomatic professionals. He is the son of Oleg Vadimovich Petrov and a descendant of Alexander Mikhailovich Shkolnikov, former Chairman of the USSR Committee of People's Control.

He graduated with honours from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, specialising in international law. While pursuing postgraduate studies at MGIMO's Department of International Law, he began his academic and teaching career. In 2019, he completed the advanced professional programme “Management of National Projects in Public Administration: Advanced Competencies” at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). In 2021, he completed a professional development programme at the Institute for Advanced Training of Managers and Specialists of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet). In 2023, he earned a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Higher School of Public Administration of RANEPA.

From 2006 to 2008, Petrov served as Chief Legal Counsel, Business Development Director, and shareholders’ representative for the Russian subsidiaries of the diversified financial groups Generali Holding Vienna and Munich Re. Between 2007 and 2012, he was Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Kassa 24 Group, one of the first Russian companies to introduce a bill presentment system for the housing and utilities sector. The company was subsequently acquired by a major Russian bank in 2012. In 2013, he participated in the establishment of the Environmental Chamber of Russia, created under the programme of the President of the Russian Federation to support non-governmental organisations.

Since 2018, he has held senior management positions at the Unified Scientific Centre of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation (VNII Ecology). From 2019 to 2021, he headed the Project Office of the federal Clean Country Project. Since 2021, he has served as Deputy Chair of the inter-agency Arctic Agenda Working Group, Adviser to the Director and Senior Research Fellow at the N.N. Zubov State Oceanographic Institute, and Assistant to State Duma Deputy B.V. Agaev on matters related to the Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection. Since 2022, he has served as Chair of the Public Council under the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet).

Government and International Activities

Petrov participated in the design and implementation of the National Ecology Project and subsequently led the Project Office of the federal Clean Country Project. Under his leadership, the project achieved 100 per cent fulfilment of its performance indicators and milestones, with budget execution reaching 95.82 per cent, one of the strongest performances among the environmental components of the national projects programme.

He contributed to the development of more than thirty legislative and regulatory instruments in the areas of emissions quota systems, waste management, and the reform of extended producer responsibility frameworks.

As Deputy Director of the Unified Scientific Centre of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation (VNII Ecology), he oversees scientific and methodological guidance for the Ministry’s activities under more than twenty international conventions and mechanisms for international environmental cooperation. Since 2022, he has been a member of the Russian delegation to UNESCO, a member of the Intersessional Financial Advisory Group (IFAG) of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO), and a member of the IOC-UNESCO Special Intersessional Working Group on Oceanographic Observations in Areas under National Jurisdiction.

In 2024, he was elected State Secretary of the National Committee for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. In 2025, he presented the Arctic Dossier, a national report highlighting Russia’s contribution to the restoration of Arctic ecosystems. The report was presented at the Russia National Centre in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Alexander Kozlov, Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and the Arctic Alexey Chekunkov, and representatives of the United Nations.

Expert and Public Service Activities

Petrov is a full member of the International Bar Association (IBA) Committee on Environment, Health and Safety Law, a member of the Council of the World Association for Political Economy (WAPE), and an expert involved in analytical and expert review activities of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation. He is also a member of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER).

He maintains the Telegram channel Petrov's Rescript, which is registered with the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor).

In the field of cultural diplomacy and public engagement, Petrov has been involved in the organisation of the Richter Meetings Festival and the Emil Gilels Moscow Piano Music Festival. Both initiatives were held under the patronage and with official greetings from the President of the Russian Federation.

Awards and Honours

• Medal for Contribution of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation.
• Medal for Distinguished Service and Exemplary Work of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
• Ministerial Award of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation.
• Commendations from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Roshydromet, the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Moscow City Duma, and the Association of Supporters of the United Russia Party.

Selected Scientific Publications

Petrov is the author of more than 40 scholarly articles and nearly ten academic monographs. His principal publications include:

• International Law, edited by A. N. Vylegzhanin (Moscow, 2009);
• Management of Land and Other Natural Resources, edited by V. N. Khlystun (Moscow, 2020);
• Comprehensive Proposals for Improving the Extended Producer and Importer Responsibility Framework for Goods and Packaging in Russia: The Perspective of Academia, Civil Society and Business (Moscow, 2021);
• Remediation of Accumulated Environmental Damage in the Russian Federation: Contemporary Regulatory Approaches (Moscow, 2025);
• Scientific and Methodological Foundations of Integrated Atmospheric Air Pollution Assessment (Moscow, 2025);
• Ecology Inside Out: How International Environmental Communities Operate in Russia and Abroad (Moscow, 2023);
• Alexey Bogolyubov: Sailor, Artist and Philanthropist, co-authored with V. E. Koptev-Dvornikov (Moscow: Russian PEN Centre, 2025. ISBN 978-5-6053720-5-9).

Among his best-known articles are International ESG Ratings and Characteristics of Domestic ESG Rating Systems, published in Budget, the journal of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, as well as The History of the Environmental Movement in Russia: Past and Present and Spatial Development of the Russian Federation: A Foundation for the Country’s Geostrategy and Geopolitics.