Background
Kress was born into a peasant family with five brothers and a sister.
Kress was born into a peasant family with five brothers and a sister.
Kress graduated from Novosibirsk Agricultural Institute in 1971 as an agricultural economist and worked as an agronomist in Siberia eventually becoming head of the Rodina Sovkhoz near Tomsk.
He is best known for serving five terms as governor of Tomsk Oblast, Russia from 1991 to 2012. During his education he also worked on the farm at the village of Yashkino in Kemerovo Oblast. In 1987, he rose to the position of First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union committee of Pervomayskoye rayon, Tomsk Oblast.
In 1990, Kress was elected and served as speaker of the Tomsk Oblast Soviet.
In 1991, after the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, President Boris Yeltsin appointed him as governor of Tomsk Oblast. On March 17, 2012, Kress resigned as Governor.
On May 17, 2012, Kress" successor, Governor Sergei Zhvachkin, appointed him to the Federation Council as the representative of Tomsk Oblast. He serves as the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Science, Education, Culture and Information Policy.
Kress became a member of United Russia in 2004.