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ZHUKOV, Alexander Dmitryevich
President of the Russian Olympic Committee and Deputy Speaker of the State Duma
05/20/2010
Alexander Zhukov (Александр Дмитриевич Жуков) was born June 1, 1956 in Moscow. A former deputy prime minister, he was named president of the Russian Olympic Committee in May 2010 and deputy speaker of the State Duma in December 2011.
In 1978 Zhukov graduated from Moscow State University, majoring in economics and mathematics. He also graduated from Harvard Business School in 1991.
In the late 1970s Zhukov worked at the Soviet Union’s Academy of Sciences before moving to the Ministry of Finance in 1980. Upon leaving the ministry in 1991, he became vice president of Avtotraktorexport. He went on to join the board of directors of East-West Bank.
Zhukov became a State Duma deputy in 1994 and sat on a number of financial committees in the late 1990s. In May 1999, acting prime minister Sergei Stepashin offered Zhukov the post of first deputy prime minister, but the appointment was rejected by President Yeltsin.
In December 2003, Zhukov joined the United Russia faction and was appointed first deputy prime minister under Mikhail Fradkov in March 2004. During his time in government, Zhukov coordinated the work of federal organs on National Priority Projects (excluding agriculture) and state policy in the areas of education, health services and social security, accommodation, culture and art. He has also managed state regulation regarding youth policy, uniform state demographic and migratory policy and social partnerships in the sphere of social-labor relations.
Zhukov has also played an active role in preparations for the XXII Winter Olympic Games to be held in Sochi in 2014. In May 2010 Zhukov was named the new president of the Russian Olympic Committee. He took over from Leonid Tyagachev, who resigned following Russia’s poor performance at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
After elections in December 2011, Zhukov was made a deputy speaker of the State Duma, serving alongside Communist Party deputy Ivan Melnikov under Sergei Naryshkin.
Zhukov is fluent in English and is married with one son.
Related links:
Russian Olympic Committee website
