A civil servant who held various positions in the Leningrad Oblast under the Soviet regime, he later served as advisor to Cabinet Ministers.

Zubkov was a financial crime investigator until he was nominated on 12 September 2007 by President Vladimir Putin to replace Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, who had resigned earlier that day.

From January 1992 to November 1993, he was a deputy Chairman of the External Relations Committee of the Saint Petersburg Mayor Office led by Vladimir Putin.

Some Kremlinologists viewed Zubkov as one more technical prime minister, interpreting the move as a way to renew a competition between possible successors.

[8] Another theory suggested that Putin chose a man of unquestioning loyalty to help him control powerful factions jostling for position inside the Kremlin.

Another clue to his usefulness lies in Zubkov's experience under Putin as the man leading the fight against financial crime.

[9] However, in December 2007, Putin officially gave his support to Dmitry Medvedev for the 2008 presidential election, effectively dashing Zubkov's hopes for the presidency.