Hundreds of mourners turned out Friday for the funeral of former Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin at the New Maiden cemetery in Moscow.
President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the politician and founder of state-controlled gas giant Gazprom was a great statesman, according to state-run television, DPA reported.
Chernomyrdin led Russia from 1992 to 1998, during the chaotic years that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, and was a close confidante of former president Boris Yeltsin.
He died on Wednesday at the age of 72 after a severe illness.