Vladimir Putin is Deputy Chief of the Presidential Property Management Department

In 1996, Anatoly Sobchak lost the Saint Petersburg mayoral election to Vladimir Yakovlev.

Putin was called to Moscow and in June 1996 became a Deputy Chief of the Presidential Property Management Department headed by Pavel Borodin. He occupied this position until March 1997. During his tenure Putin was responsible for the foreign property of the state and organized transfer of the former assets of the Soviet Union and Communist Party to the Russian Federation.