In 2003, he served as head of the Moscow Inter-district Tax Office No. 4 for major taxpayers at the Russian Ministry for Taxes and Levies. From 2003 - 2004, he was head of the Major Taxpayers Administration at the Russian Ministry for Taxes and Levies. In 2009 he moved to RusHydro.
Rakhimov, an Ufa-educated chemical engineer became Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Bashkortostan in 1990 and was elected first president of Bashkortostan in 1993 and re-elected in 1998 and 2003.
Medvedev accepted the resignation of 76-year old Rakhimov on 15th July at the presidential residence in Sochi.
In a transcript of the meeting with Rakhimov published on the Kremlin web site, Medvedev and Rakhimov addressed each other by their first names. Medvedev is reported to have said,"Murtaza, I would like to say a few words: Under your leadership, Bashkortostan has developed for a long time. Now it is well developed, generally with high level of life of the Republic - including the villages and towns. I would therefore like you, on behalf of the Russian state to express gratitude for the tremendous work you have done in guiding Bashkortostan.
Medvedev noted that under the 20 years leadership of Rakhimov, Bashkortostan survived very difficult years. "Now everything is normal, even despite the crisis. But in the 90's it was very difficult, and the fact that the republic developed, that the most difficult scenarios were prevented, all this, of course, is to your credit."
"I wish you, on behalf of the Russian state to express gratitude for the tremendous work you have done in guiding Bashkortostan.I hope you'll continue to serve the republic, will serve the Russian Federation."
Medvedev praised Rakhimov on Russian television before awarding him the country's highest award, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.
Observers say Rakhimov's administration resisted the worst excesses of the Yeltsin era, opting against privatizations and continuing all state social programmes in the republic.
Reports of Rakhimov's possible resignation appeared a few weeks ago amid the publication of several critical reports in the state media about Rakhimov and his son, Ural, who were accused of corruption and persecuting the opposition.
Russian state television has also shown documentary programs in recent days that were very critical of Rakhimov and the situation in Bashkortostan.
On July 12, Rakhimov met privately in Moscow with Medvedev's chief of staff, Sergei Naryshkin, to discuss possible successors for the presidential post in Bashkortostan.
On Sunday, as acting president, Khamitov met with the heads of the federal and Republican mass-media in the Republic House in Ufa. The Plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation in Volga federal district Gregory Rapota and the chief federal inspector in Republic of Bashkortostan Peter Kapishnikov were on the platform with Khamitov.
Khamitov underscored that Bashkortostan was always his home, and for many years he worked there on various posts. Later he worked in Moscow for some time and now he has returned home and it was very pleasant for him to stay here. Answering the questions of the mass-media representatives whether the experience of the first President of Bashkortostan, Murtaza Rakhimov would face sanctions, Rustem Khamitov answered unambiguously “Murtaza Gubaidullovith doesn’t leave the Republic, he will stay here and his invaluable experience as a wise politician and the leader of great scale will be inevitably demanded. We know each other for 20 years and we do not have any antagonistic contradictions".
Rustem Khamitov
RusHydro