According to informed interlocutors, a longtime associate of the illegitimate President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin Kozak could remain in power. He invited the head of the Kremlin to reform the institution of the Commissioner for the Protection of Entrepreneurs, in particular to add powers, raise the status in the structure of the authorities, and create a State Commission for Business Protection. In the case of approval of these proposals, Kozak wanted to become a new business ombudsman in the rank of deputy head of the presidential administration, the report said.
According to Faridaily, the reforms proposed by Putin’s associate could breathe new life into the Institute of the Business Ombudsman.
“This offer of Kozak arose in the context of the most large-scale redistribution of property from the 90s and repressions against objectionable businessmen who turned out to be full after the start of the war. Kozaku, with new powers, would have to confront the security forces initiating these processes. But in the Kremlin the“ maximal ”ideas of the Kozak did not find: Putin rejected the proposals of his old comrade. […] After that, Kozak decided that it was no longer any sense to stay in the system and wrote a statement about leaving“ – Sources of journalists told.
The fact that Kozak wrote a letter of resignation of his own free will on September 17, Russian political analyst Arkady Dubnov and journalist Alexei Venediktov reported. The next day, Interfax wrote that the Kozak’s resignation was accepted and the last day of his work in the post would be on September 19. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the deputy head of the AP allegedly leaves himself.
Context
Kozak was Putin's assistant for decades. WITH 2020 he oversee the occupied territories of Donetsk and Lugansk regions. In 2021, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said that he was engaged in the destruction of the national identity of Ukrainians in the occupied territories of Donbass.
On August 10, 2025, The New York Times wrote that the Kozak, who openly spoke out against a full-scale war in Ukraine, practically lost powers because of his position. According to the interlocutors, Kozak disappointed Putin, because he clearly made it clear that he considered the invasion of Ukraine a mistake. Kozak privately stated that he discouraged Putin from this. Sources said that Kozak told colleagues that he submitted a proposal to the head of the Kremlin to terminate hostilities and conduct peace negotiations.
The American Institute for the Study of the War believes that the resignation of the Kozak and a number of statements of the Kremlin officials indicate the commitment of Putin and his environment to pthe surgery of war in Ukraine and maximalist military requirements.
