Vladimir Gruzdev: life and biography

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

Gruzdev Vladimir Sergeevich is a well-known businessman and politician of the Russian Federation. He is a dollar millionaire. For five years, he headed the Tula region as governor.

The start of the journey

Vladimir Gruzdev was born on February 6, 1967, not far from Moscow, in a village called Bolshevo. The boy's mother taught biology and chemistry to high school students, and his father was in the military.

After school, Vladimir decided to follow in his father's footsteps and entered the Suvorov Military School, graduating in 1984. Then he became a student at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages, and in 1991 he received a red diploma. It was very interesting for the young man to study here. As a translator, he repeatedly traveled as part of Soviet delegations to African countries, for which he even has a medal.

Being already a certified specialist, Gruzdev entered the service of foreign intelligence, but lasted only 2 years - from 91st to 93rd. And then he began a completely different life. It was not possible to follow in the footsteps of his father.

Business activity

Having said goodbye to military service, Vladimir Gruzdev plunged headlong into the world of business. His first position in a new fieldbecame in 1993 the chair of the deputy director of the firm "OLBI-diplomat". But the punchy young man did not want to work for a "someone else's uncle", but wanted to work for himself, and in the same 93rd, together with his comrades, he created his own company called Seventh Petal, borrowing half a million dollars. This firm became the first grocery retail chain in Moscow, which largely explains its success. Gruzdev and Co. had practically no competitors, and products at any time are a hot commodity. In addition, Seventh Petal outlets worked around the clock, distinguished by good service and a wide range of goods.

In 1994, Vladimir Gruzdev became CEO of the company, in 1997 he headed its board of directors, and in 2001 he became the head of Seventh Continent-R and Capital Grocery Stores.

In 2002, Gruzdev began cooperation with the ex-head of Sobinbank Alexander Zanadvorov, who was the main shareholder of Manezhnaya Ploshchad OJSC. It was to this man that Vladimir Sergeevich sold his offspring in 2007, when he became seriously involved in politics.

With what fortune did Vladimir Gruzdev leave the business? His photo appeared in 2006 in the Russian version of Forbes magazine, which included the entrepreneur in the Golden Hundred of domestic rich people. In this rating, Gruzdev ranked sixty-sixth, having a fortune of $750 million.

Political activities

Gruzdev tried to enter big politics back in 1995, butlost the elections to the State Duma. After 6 years, he managed to get into the Moscow City Duma, and at the same time a second attempt was made to become a member of parliament. And again failure! Due to the insufficient number of voters who came to the polling stations, the elections were not recognized as valid.

The dream came true only in 2003. Vladimir Gruzdev received the mandate of a State Duma deputy from United Russia.

The second deputy term began for Gruzdev in 2007. And in the summer of 2011, Gruzdev was appointed governor of the Tula region. In 2016, he left this post of his own free will.

Interesting facts from Gruzdev's life

There are many interesting stories connected with the name of the famous businessman and deputy. So, for example, in 2007, Vladimir Sergeevich Gruzdev participated in an expedition to the North Pole, during which the deputy even dived to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, where the crew of the Mir-1 bathyscaphe installed a titanium Russian flag. Filming the procedure on camera was entrusted to the politician, who, according to some sources, was the sponsor of the expedition.

Another interesting fact from Gruzdev's life is that he was the first candidate from the Russian side to fly into space as a tourist. The event was supposed to take place in the fall of 2008, but for some reason it was never implemented.

But the story related to Vladimir Sergeevich's dissertation, to put it mildly, is much less pleasant than the previous ones. The fact is that back in 2000, the businessman received a second “tower”, having graduated from the law faculty of Moscow State University. And in 2003 he received a degreecandidate of sciences. Later, journalists found in his dissertation a “blatant resemblance” to the work of a certain P. Vostrikov, defended in 1998, and declared Grudzev a plagiarist. Whether the media claims were true or not remains "behind the scenes" for now.

Charity activities of a businessman

Vladimir Gruzdev, whose biography began in a fairly simple family, managed to become a billionaire and made noble gestures more than once by participating in charity.

There is information that, saying goodbye to his offspring, he planned to distribute 20 million dollars to the employees of the "Seventh Continent" as a reward for their diligent many years of work. Whether this initiative was implemented is not known for sure.

But help to the Assumption Cathedral (which is on the territory of the Tula Kremlin) is a confirmed fact. Being at that time the governor, Gruzdev donated as much as six million to repair the temple. In addition, the residents of the region are grateful to him for hundreds of sites installed with his own money.

Gruzdev Vladimir: businessman's family

The businessman and politician managed to achieve success in his personal life. He has a strong, friendly family. With his wife Olga, they raised three children: two sons and a daughter.

Grudzev's wife, like his mother, is also involved in big business, being a co-owner of the largest companies. Probably, the children of the billionaire - Maria, Grigory and Leonid - will also not remain in this world in the backyard.