Yury P. Sentyurin is the Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, GECF. Prior to joining the GECF, he was State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation. He also served as State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Education and Science; Deputy Head of Committee on Energy, Transport and Communications of the State Duma; First Deputy Governor of the Nizhegorodsky Region and Head, Department of the Ministry on Antimonopoly Policy and Business Support
Dr. Sentyurin was also Co-chair of several intergovernmental Commissions between the Russian Federation and Bolivia, Afghanistan and Congo respectively, and also Chief negotiator on cooperation in gas and oil, with India, Pakistan, Singapore, Brazil, Venezuela, Vietnam, Cuba, Syria, and South Africa.
A recipient of several Awards including the Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation, First Class Medal of the Order of Merit for the Motherlands, Dr. Sentyurin who speaks Russian, English, French and Farsi, has a Ph. D. in Political Science, Master’s degree in Law and another Master’s degree in Economics.