Vladimir Gruzdev
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Vladimir Sergeyevich Gruzdev (; born 6 February 1967) is a Russian entrepreneur and a politician. He was a deputy of the
State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...
(2003-2011) and governor of the
Tula Oblast Tula Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an Oblasts of Russia, oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in European Russia and is administratively part of the Central Federal District, covering an area of . It has a ...
(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 Bolshevo () is the area of the city of Korolyov (an industrial city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, well known as the cradle of Soviet and Russian space exploration), the historical part of it. It was founded as an independent town in 1573. It is bes ...
,
Moscow region Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...
. In 1984 he graduated from the Moscow Suvorov Military School and entered the . While studying at the Military Red Banner Institute, Vladimir Gruzdev was sent to work as a military
Interpreter Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...
in
Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
and
Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
. In 1989, for the courage shown in fulfilling his military duty, he was awarded the
Medal "For Battle Merit" The Medal "For Battle Merit" () was a Soviet military medal awarded for "combat action resulting in a military success", "courageous defense of the state borders", or "successful military and political training and preparation". It was created on ...
, the diploma of the Presidium of the
Supreme Soviet of the USSR The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the S ...
"Warrior-Internationalist". In 1991 he graduated with honors from the Military Red Banner Institute as an interpreter-referent in Portuguese and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
. In addition to these two languages, he speaks
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
. From 1991 to 1993 he served in the Foreign Intelligence Service. Later, in 2000, he graduated from the
Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...
of
Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...
, 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 Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entrepreneu ...
. As Deputy General Director, he gained experience working with retail chain stores in the "OLBI-Diplomat" company. This year Vladimir also has attracted
investments Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...
. 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 ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
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 The Moscow City Duma (, commonly abbreviated to ) is the Regional parliaments of Russia, regional parliament (city duma) of Moscow, a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject and the capital city of Russia. As Moscow is one of Federal cities ...
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 Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. 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 The Government of Moscow (, ) is the highest executive body of state authority of Moscow. The Government of Moscow is headed by the highest official of the city of Moscow, i.e. the Mayor of Moscow. The members of the Government of Moscow are the ...
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 The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...
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 The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...
" 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 The State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the 5th convocation (Russian: Государственная Дума Федерального Собрания Российской Федерации V созыва) is a forme ...
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 Boris Vyacheslavovich Gryzlov (, ; born 15 December 1950) is a Russian politician and diplomat currently serving as the Russian Ambassador to Belarus. Previously, he served as the chairman of the State Duma from 2003 to 2011 and as interior m ...
) into the list of candidates from "United Russia" in the Tula region. On December 4, 2011, elections to the
6th State Duma The State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the 6th convocation (Russian: Государственная Дума Федерального Собрания Российской Федерации VI созыва) is a fo ...
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 Tula Oblast () is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in European Russia and is administratively part of the Central Federal District, covering an area of . It has a population of Tula is the largest city and t ...
, replacing
Vyacheslav Dudka Vyacheslav Dmitriyevich Dudka (; born 23 April 1960) is a Russian politician who served as the governor of Tula Oblast 2005–2011. Vyacheslav Dudka was born in 1960 in Tula, Russia. In 1982 he graduated from the Tula high school of artillery eng ...
. On August 11, 2011, Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...
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 Aleksey Gennadyevich Dyumin (; born 28 August 1972) is a Russian politician serving as Secretary of the State Council (Russia), State Council since 2024. Previously, he served as the chief security guard and assistant of Russian president Vladim ...
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 Artur Nikolaevich Chilingarov (; 25 September 1939 – 1 June 2024) was an Armenian-Russian polar explorer, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1986 and the title of ...
, 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 The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an 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 The Tula Kremlin () is a fortress in Tula, Russia, Tula, Russia, which was constructed in the early 16th century. There are two cathedrals within the Kremlin: *Assumption Cathedral (1762-1766) *Epiphany Cathedral (1855-1863) History In 1507 V ...
, 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.


The Association of Lawyers of Russia

On December 3, 2016, the congress of the Association of Lawyers of Russia unanimously elected Vladimir Gruzdev to be the chairman of the board. In March and April 2017, Gruzdev held meetings with the Minister of Culture
Vladimir Medinsky Vladimir Rostislavovich Medinsky (; born 18 July 1970) is a Russian politician, political scientist and historian who currently serves as an Aide to President Vladimir Putin. Previously, he has served as the Minister of Culture from May 2012 t ...
(cooperation between the Association and the Russian Military Historical Society was discussed) and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. On April 21, 2017, Vladimir Gruzdev joined the government commission on legislative drafting activities. Under the leadership of V. Gruzdev, the Association of Lawyers of Russia monitors the current legislation. While interviewed by
Rossiyskaya Gazeta ' () is a Russian newspaper published by the Government of Russia. History ''Rossiyskaya Gazeta'' was founded in 1990 by the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR during the ''glasnost'' reforms in Soviet Union, shortl ...
, Vladimir Gruzdev says that the ALRF is preparing large proposals on introducing criteria for calculating compensation for moral harm. Later, the Commission on Determining Amounts of Compensation for Moral Harm has been established under the ALRF. During his speech at the II Stolypin Forum, V. Gruzdev suggested creating a working group on preparing new drafts of Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. In order to improve the legal culture and literacy of the Russian population, the ALRF jointly with its partners has held the All-Russian Legal Dictation since 2017. About 55 thousand people took part in the first Dictation. In 2018, the second Dictation was joined by 165 thousand participants. And in 2021, there were already more than 975 thousand participants at the fifth Dictation - Russians and compatriots from 175 countries. “URA.RU” media in its interview dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Russian
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
, named V. Gruzdev as the main lawyer of the country. Since 2017 Mr. Gruzdev is Co-Chairman of the Centre for Public Procedures “Business Against Corruption”, founded particularly by the non-governmental organisation “Delovaya Rossia” under the Government Order of the Russian Federation. In 2017, the Association of Lawyers of Russia held the IV BRICS Legal Forum in Moscow, where Mr. Gruzdev initiated the discussion on developing new arbitration institutions of the BRICS countries, legal regulation of the digital economy and others. In 2018-2019, Mr. Gruzdev moderated sessions on the competitiveness of the national jurisdiction in the framework of the Saint-Petersburg Economic Forum and Eastern Economic Forum.   Vladimir Gruzdev is also co-author of a number of publications on factors affecting the quality of the Russian legal system, as well as initiator of a public discussion of amendments to the legislation.


Scientific activity

In 2003, Gruzdev defended his thesis on "Legal status of civil servants of the Russian Federation and organizational and legal bases for the functioning of the system of training, retraining and advanced training" at the Department of Administrative Law of the Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 2013, the
Dissernet Dissernet () is a volunteer community network working to clean Russian science of plagiarism. The core activity of the community is conducting examinations of doctoral and habilitation (higher doctorate) theses defended in Russian scientific and ...
community found that the whole content of the work was plagiarism: 168 of 182 pages were entirely copied from the original work of Pavel Vostrikov "Organizational and legal problems of training, retraining and upgrading of civil servants", defended in 1998. Despite this, the academic degree of Vladimir Gruzdev was confirmed, as more than three years had passed since the defense of the thesis before the discovery of plagiarism. In 2021, he defended his doctoral dissertation at the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the topic "Realism in Jurisprudence: theoretical, methodological and historical aspects", he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Law.


Estimates of fortune

Gruzdev has been regularly included in the rating of the magazine Forbes since 2005, with the exception of 2008. For the whole period of being in the top positions were varied: the highest position was in 2009 – 36th place, and the lowest – 149 place in 2019. The largest fortune was achieved in 2014 – $ 1.3 billion, which allowed the businessman to take 79th place in the ranking of the richest businessmen in Russia at that time. The following year, 2015, the businessman rose to 69th place in the ranking, although his fortune decreased by $ 100 million. In 2012, he took the first place in the ranking of the richest Russian officials with an income of 3.89 billion rubles. From the declaration which Gruzdev submitted in 2011 as an official, it is known that he had deposits in banks amounting to 9.4 billion rubles. He also owned shares in OJSC Bank Saint Petersburg, OJSC
VTB Bank VTB Bank (; formerly known as ''Vneshtorgbank'', , lit. 'International Trade Bank') is a Russian majority state-owned bank headquartered in various federal districts of Russia; its legal address is registered as St. Petersburg. As of 2022, ...
and
Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...
. In November 2016, a villa in
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
estimated at 25 million euros was purchased in the name of Gruzdev's wife. In 2012 and 2013, Vladimir Gruzdev took 1,153 and 1,342 places, respectively, in the world ranking of the richest people according to Forbes magazine.


Awards, promotions

*
Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree 442. Until the re-establishment of the Order of St. Andrew in 1998, it was the highest order of ...
III degree (January 9, 2008) - ''for courage shown in extreme conditions during the High-latitude Arctic deep-sea expedition'' * Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" IV degree (February 2, 2013) - ''for many years of conscientious work and great charity activities'' *
Order of Alexander Nevsky The Order of Alexander Nevsky () is an Order (distinction), order of merit of the Russia, Russian Federation named in honour of saint Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263) and bestowed to civil servants for twenty years or more of highly meritorious ser ...
(January 30? 2017)Председатель правления Ассоциации юристов России отметил свое 50-летие
/ref>Владимир Путин наградил Владимира Груздева орденом Александра Невского
/ref> *
Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" () is a Russian medal. It was established on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree No.442. Its award criteria were modified on 6 January 1999 by Presidential Decree 19 and again on 7 September 201 ...
, II Degree (March 21, 2007) - ''for merits in strengthening the rule of law, protecting the rights and legitimate interests of citizens, long-term conscientious work'' *
Medal "For Battle Merit" The Medal "For Battle Merit" () was a Soviet military medal awarded for "combat action resulting in a military success", "courageous defense of the state borders", or "successful military and political training and preparation". It was created on ...
(1989) * Honorary title "Warrior-Internationalist" * Medal of Merit ( FSSP) (October 22, 2013) Commendations from the President and Government of the Russian Federation *
Russian Federation Presidential Certificate of Honour The Russian Federation Presidential Certificate of Honour () is an honorary award bestowed by the President of the Russian Federation to deserving citizens. It was established by Presidential Decree No.487 of 11 April 2008. The statute and regula ...
(July 30, 2010) - ''for his services in lawmaking and long-term conscientious work'' * Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (May 6, 2008) - ''for the great contribution to the work of the Public Reception Office of the candidate for the post of President of the Russian Federation'' * Honorary Diploma of the Government of the Russian Federation (July 6, 2011) - ''for his services in lawmaking and long-term conscientious work'' * Acknowledgment of the Government of the Russian Federation (July 22, 2009) - ''for his services in lawmaking and long-term conscientious work'' * Acknowledgment of the Government of the Russian Federation (June 9, 2015) - ''for the effective organization of work to prepare citizens of the Russian Federation for military service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation'' * Medal of P.A. Stolypin, II degree (August 31, 2013) - ''for merits in solving strategic tasks of the country's socio-economic development and long-term conscientious work'' * The Honorary Badge of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation "For Merits in the Development of Parliamentarism" (June 3, 2009) * Honorary Badge of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation "For Merits in the Development of Parliamentarism" (November 26, 2013) * Pennant of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation (June 30, 2015) - ''for his assistance in solving the tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the first place taken by the Tula Region in the contest among the regions of the Russian Federation for the best training of Russian citizens for military service, Organization and conduct of the conscription of citizens for military service in 2014'' * Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (May, 2019) – for active participation of the ALRF in preparing and holding events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Velikiy Novgorod from Nazi occupants during the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945.


Family

Father, Sergei Gruzdev, is a professional military officer, mother, Nelly Gruzdev is a teacher of chemistry and biology in high school. Wife - Olga Gruzdeva. Four children: daughters Arina and Maria, sons Grigory and Leonid.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruzdev, Vladimir 1967 births Living people People from Korolyov, Moscow Oblast United Russia politicians Governors of Tula Oblast Russian businesspeople in retailing Spaceflight participants Members of the Moscow City Duma Fourth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Fifth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Honoured Lawyers of the Russian Federation