Vadim Popov

Vadim Aleksandrovich Popov (born 5 July 1940) is a Belarusian-Russian politician. He served two terms as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2000-2004 and from 2007-2008, and was also briefly Minister of Agriculture and Food in 2000. He was considered an ally to President Alexander Lukashenko, aligning with many of his policies.

Born in Demidov in the Russian SFSR, Popov was initially a mechanic at state farms in Smolensk, but moved to the Byelorussian SSR sometime in the late 1960s. In Belarus he became highly active in politics, instructing the Mogilev committee of the Komsomol, and was First Secretary in the Krasnapollye district and later Asipovichy. His most notable position during the Soviet Union-era was becoming the Chairman of the Mogilev Regional Committee in 1990, right before the nation's collapse. He returned to politics after a brief stint in the private sector, becoming Minister of Agriculture and Food for a few months in 2000.

After being elected to the House of Representatives for Asipovichy in October 2000, he suddenly won the seat of chairman in November, a fact that was considered a heavy surprise. His first term saw him closely align himself with Alexander Lukashenko's policies and squashing talks of the Belarusian opposition, notably refusing to negotiate with a hunger strike from three members of the house who accused Lukashenko of not listening to the opposition's proposals. He was dismissed in November 2004, but returned to the post in October 2007, this time representing Klichev. His second term saw him not to do many actions except refuse to accredite the newspaper Narodnaja Volya. He was again dismissed in October 2008, and since then he has been a member of the Council of the Republic.