Vladimir Sergeyevich Gruzdev (Russian: Владимир Серге́евич Груздев; born 6 February 1967) is a Russian entrepreneur and a politician. He was a deputy of the State Duma (2003-2011) and governor of the Tula Oblast (2011-2016). Since December 2016 - Chairman of the Board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia. Since 2005, he has been included in the rating of the richest businessmen in Russia according to the Russian magazine Forbes. As of 2021, he was ranked 133rd in the ranking with a fortune of 0.9 billion dollars.
Biography
Education and military service Vladimir Gruzdev was born on February 6, 1967, in the village of Bolshevo, Moscow region. In 1984 he graduated from the Moscow Suvorov Military School and entered the Military Red Banner Institute. While studying at the Military Red Banner Institute, Vladimir Gruzdev was sent to work as a military Interpreter in Angola and Mozambique. In 1989, for the courage shown in fulfilling his military duty, he was awarded the Medal "For Battle Merit", the diploma of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "Warrior-Internationalist". In 1991 he graduated with honors from the Military Red Banner Institute as an interpreter-referent in Portuguese and English. In addition to these two languages, he speaks Spanish. From 1991 to 1993 he served in the Foreign Intelligence Service. Later, in 2000, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University, majoring in Legal studies.
Entrepreneurship In 1993, after making the decision to resign from the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, he decided to engage in entrepreneurship. As Deputy General Director, he gained experience working with retail chain stores in the "OLBI-Diplomat" company. This year Vladimir also has attracted investments. Together with his partners he established the trading company "The Seventh Continent", where he worked at executive positions from 1994 to 2001. In 1994-1996, Gruzdev was Chairman of the Board of Directors, in 1996-1997 — First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, and in 1997 — Chairman. In 2007, Gruzdev sold his stake in "The Seventh Continent" to partner Alexander Zanadvorov for about $1 billion, explaining that political career was the priority for him. In 2005 he entered the Russian rating of Forbes magazine with net worth of 0.34 billion dollars (89th place) for the first time. In 2014, his fortune reached a peak of $1.3 billion, which allowed Gruzdev to take 79th place in the ranking. As of 2021, he occupied the 133rd place in the Russian rating of Forbes magazine with a fortune of 0.9 billion dollars.
Political activity
Moscow City Duma In 2001, Vladimir Gruzdev won the election to the Moscow City Duma in the 27th district, gaining 53.17% of the vote. During the period of work in the city parliament, he managed the working group on the personnel policy of the courts of Moscow. He was a member of several commissions of the Duma: budget and financial, legislative and security, entrepreneurship, education, as well as a joint commission of the Moscow City Duma and the Moscow Government on the regulatory basis of land and property relations.
The State Duma In December 2003, Vladimir Gruzdev was elected a deputy of the State Duma of the IV convocation for the Chertanovo single-mandate constituency, having received at the elections 149,069 (53.3%) votes. Gruzdev was a member of the Presidium of the Moscow city regional branch of the party "United Russia" and a member of the bureau of the Supreme Council of the party till 2016. In December 2007 he was elected to the 5th State Duma from Moscow. He was the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Civil, Criminal, Arbitration and Procedural Legislation. In September 2011, Vladimir Gruzdev was included number two (after Boris Gryzlov) into the list of candidates from "United Russia" in the Tula region. On December 4, 2011, elections to the 6th State Duma took place, as a result "United Russia" received 61% of the vote in the Tula region. Gruzdev refused the deputy's mandate.
Governor of the Tula region
On July 29, 2011, he was appointed as interim acting governor of the Tula region, replacing Vyacheslav Dudka. On August 11, 2011, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev submitted Vladimir Gruzdev's candidacy for the governor's position to the Tula Regional Duma. On August 18, 2011, the official ceremony of Vladimir Gruzdev's inauguration was held in the Tula Kremlin. On February 2, 2016, after working for almost 5 years, he resigned at his own request due to family circumstances. Alexey Dyumin was appointed interim acting governor of the region, who was subsequently elected governor.
Social activity In summer of 2007, Vladimir Gruzdev participated in the expedition of the scientific vessel " Academician Fedorov" to the North Pole. During the expedition, Gruzdev, together with Anatoly Sagalevich and Artur Chilingarov, dived to the North Pole on the Mir-1 bathyscaphe and installed on the seabed the titanium flag of Russia and a capsule with a "message to future generations" at a depth of 4261 meters. It was the first dive to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean in world history. In 2007, Vladimir Gruzdev was elected Chairman of the Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Russia. During his service as a governor, from 2011 till 2016, Gruzdev donated money for the restoration of one of the bells for the bell tower of the Assumption Cathedral of the Tula Kremlin, he also personally spent 250 million rubles on charity annually in the Tula region, and transferred his entire salary to Yasnaya Polyana children's home. Since December 2012 the governor's salary in the amount of 48,115 rubles was transferred to the fund of the Tula Kremlin and for the organization of disabled people. The press department of the governor announced the transfer of his entire salary to charity throughout 2013.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
