Vladimir Putin’s daughter has been parachuted in to aid Russia in dodging the impact of Western sanctions.
Katerina Tikhonova, 35, is the new co-chairman of a high-powered group supervising import substitution.
She has been long tipped for a major political role amid reports of Putin’s ailing health and this could be the first sign of new prominence for the former dancer.
Her appointment is with the powerful Kremlin-loyal Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) which represents major state and private businesses.
Many Russian companies have been badly hit by sanctions in response to the invasion of Ukraine and Tikhonova's new role comes as Putin legalises sanctions-busting “parallel imports”.
This is to secure a flow of restricted Western goods into Russia via third countries and unlicensed means.
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The union failed to mention she is Putin’s daughter when announcing she will co-chair the Coordinating Council on Import Substitution and Technological Independence, which aims to speedily reduce Russian reliance on Western products and expertise, so mitigating the impact of sanctions.
She is currently the director-general of the low-key National Intellectual Development Foundation.
Tikhonova is Putin’s second daughter by former First Lady Lyudmila, his ex-wife.
There has also been speculation she could be drafted into parliament, taking a prominent role with the main pro-Putin political party, United Russia.
It was revealed in May that Tikonova made regular trips to Munich to be with her new partner Igor Zelensky, 52, who until recently headed the Bavarian State Ballet.
The Russian ballet icon was ousted after refusing to denounce Putin’s savage war in Ukraine.
Previously she was married to Russia’s youngest billionaire Kirill Shamalov, 40, whose father is a close Putin crony.
Born when her father was a KGB spy in Germany, Tikhonova has been deputy director of the Institute for Mathematical Research of Complex Systems at Moscow State University.
Before her identity as Putin’s daughter was known, she took part in international ‘rock’n’roll’ dancing contests.
Her elder sister is Dr Maria Vorontsova, a leading researcher at the National Medical Research Centre for Endocrinology of the Ministry of Health of Russia.
Her half-sister, Svetlana Krivonogikh, is now part-owner of a major Russian bank and is one of the country's wealthiest women with an estimated £74 million financial and property fortune.
Putin never identifies his daughters in public.
Speculation over a prominent future political role for Tikhonova has been highlighted by the Telegram channel General SVR, which claims Putin is suffering from serious illnesses.
Tikhonova’s new council will seek to speed the replacement of sanctioned imported equipment with Russian-made equivalents, it has been reported.
