SERDYUKOV, Anatoly Eduardovich

Defense Minister of the Russian Federation 07/28/2008

Anatoly Serdyukov (Анатолий Эдуардович Сердюков) was born January 8, 1962 in the Kholm Abin region, Krasnodar Territory. Viktor Zubkov's son in law, he has served as defense minister since 2007.

In 1984 Serdyukov graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Soviet Trade with a degree in economics. He spent the next decade working in a furniture business in St Petersburg called LenMebelTorg. He moved to rival Furniture Market in 1993, where he worked his way up to general director, before leaving in 2000. The same year he joined the St. Petersburg branch of the Federal Taxation Service, and was promoted to lead the branch the following year. In 2001 he completed a second degree in law at St. Petersburg State University.

He entered mainstream politics in March 2004, when he was appointed deputy tax minister, and a few months later promoted to head the department. On February 2007 he was appointed defense minister.

In his business career, Serdyukov earned a reputation for ruthlessness, and bankrupted many companies and individuals who owed the tax service debts. He also played a key role in the claims of tax evasion levelled at Yukos before the head of the oil giant Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested and the company was carved up.

In September 2007 Serdyukov handed in his resignation after his father-in-law Viktor Zubkov had been appointed prime minister. Then-President Vladimir Putin did not accept it however. He was reappointed defense minister under Vladimir Putin's second cabinet.

Serdyukov is not a military man by background and has left the day-to-day running of the armed forces largely to his deputies, focusing more on the administration of the ministry. When appointed he fired a lot of staff and in 2010 launched a 15-year reform program for the armed forces worth 430 billion dollars.

Useful links:

The Ministry of Defense Web site

 

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