Tragedy in the Moscow region: ex-Minister of Transport Roman Starovoit found dead

Former Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit was found dead next to his car in Odintsovo. According to Izvestia's sources, the main version of the incident is called suicide. Previously, Roman Starovoit also served as the governor of the Kursk region. For more information, see the Izvestia article.

How Roman Starovoit died

The fact that Roman Starovoit was found dead became known on the afternoon of July 7.

"Roman Starovoit's body was found in Malevich Park in Odintsovo city district," a source told Izvestia. According to preliminary information, he committed suicide.

The investigation confirmed the information about the death of Roman Starovoit, but has not yet named the official cause of death.

The official representative of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Svetlana Petrenko, said that investigative authorities were working at the scene to establish the circumstances of the incident.

Roman Starovoit's last posts

Roman Starovoit has served as Minister of Transport since May 2024. Andrey Nikitin, the former governor of the Novgorod Region, is currently the head of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.

Prior to his appointment as minister, Roman Starovoit was the governor of the Kursk region for six years (since October 2018 — with the prefix acting). In the 2019 elections, he received 81.07% of the vote with a turnout of 41.56%.

It should be noted that Roman Starovoit's former deputy, Alexei Smirnov, who replaced him as governor of the Kursk region, is now under investigation. He was detained along with another Kursk official, Alexei Dedov, on suspicion of fraud. Smirnov was accused of embezzling budget funds allocated for the construction of defensive structures in the region. Work on strengthening the region began when Roman Starovoit was still governor. The damage was estimated at 800 million rubles.

Alexey Smirnov is in jail.

Biography of Roman Starovoit

Roman Starovoit was born in the Course on January 20, 1972. His father worked at the Kursk nuclear power plant, but in 1974 the family moved to Leningrad, where the head of the family was transferred to the nuclear power plant in Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad region. It was there that Roman spent his childhood.

In 1995, Roman Starovoit graduated with a degree in Pulsed Heat Engines from the D. F. Ustinov Baltic State Technical University. At the same time, he took the position of executive director at the Regional Investment Agency, and then became CEO of Promyshlenniy, which managed the assets of a non-governmental pension fund.

From 2002 to 2005, he was the head of Stroyinvest.

Roman Starovoit began his career as a civil servant in the government of St. Petersburg in 2005, when he became the head of the Investor Relations Department of the Investment Projects Department. In 2007, he was transferred to the position of first deputy chairman of the Committee on Investments and Strategic Projects of the city government.

He has been working in the Government of the Russian Federation since 2010, when he became an assistant and deputy director of the Department of Industry and Infrastructure in the office of the Government of Russia. From 2012 to 2018, he headed Rosavtodor. Under Starovoit, in particular, the Platon truck charging system was launched.

In October 2018, he served as Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation for just 10 days: on the 10th day of his work in this status, President Vladimir Putin appointed him acting governor of the Kursk region.

In 2008, he also graduated from the Northwestern Presidential Academy of Civil Service (now one of the branches of the Presidential Academy) with a degree in Public and Municipal Administration, and in 2012 he received a PhD in pedagogical Sciences, having defended his thesis on "Innovative methods of training athletes in winter polyathlon" at the Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

The choice of the dissertation topic is obviously due to Roman Starovoit's sporting interests — he participated in four Moscow International marathons and was fond of triathlons. In 2018, he completed the Iron Man super Marathon — in 13 hours and 33 minutes he swam 3,800 m, rode 180 kilometers on a bicycle and ran 42 kilometers. He is also a candidate for Master of Sports in cross-country skiing and biathlon.

Personal life

It is known that Roman Starovoit raised two daughters with his wife Svetlana. However, in December 2022, he announced that they had divorced, remaining on good terms.

Roman Starovoit was 53 years old.