His main role as deputy prime minister was cooperation with other CIS countries and later overseeing industry.
Born on 17 December 1939 in the Pskov Oblast, he graduated from the M. A. Bonch-Bruevich Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute with the specialty of electrical-radio engineer.
In 1991, around the time of the Soviet Union's collapse, he became the head of economic development committee for Saint Petersburg.
[1] In November 1994, Bolshakov was appointed Deputy Chairman of Government of the Russian Federation for cooperation with CIS countries.
In August 1996 President Boris Yeltsin appointed him as one of the First Deputy Prime Ministers, Bolshakov being responsible for managing industry and communications.