Former Prime Minister of Tatarstan Ildar Khalikov made his dizzying career in politics in many ways contrary to his own will, according to his words. He was a successful top manager at KamAZ, one of the largest giants of the domestic automobile industry, after which he was unexpectedly appointed mayor of a city undergoing difficult times. Then the ex-mayor of Naberezhnye Chelny soared even higher, replacing Rustam Minikhanov as prime minister of Tatarstan. Many are now interested: where is Ildar Khalikov? Now, the former head of government has returned to business, taking the post of CEO of a large energy company.
The beginning of the way
Ildar Shafkatovich Khalikov was born in 1967 in the city of Agryz, in the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. His parents worked all his life in the field of education. Mom was a teacher of mathematics at her son’s school, and received a special diploma from the President of Tatarstan.
After graduating from school, Ildar went to repay his homeland in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the USSR, where he served from 1985 to 1987. After demobilization, he immediately went to improve his educational level, enrolling in Kazan State University at the Faculty of Law. In 1992, a diligent student successfully defended a law degree, graduating from the walls of a reputable educational institution in adulthood.
Homeless workaholic
According to Ildar Khalikov himself, he had dreamed all his life of a career as a lawyer, but in the difficult nineties he didn’t have to choose much, and he got on the first place that turned up, becoming a specialist in the credit department of Chelny Bank.
In 1993, the entire cash composition of this respectable enterprise was located in a one-room apartment, which was rented by the owners of the enterprise. This suited Ildar Shafkatovich, who had no housing in the city. The rented apartment lacked a meager salary, so he spent the night right at the workplace, spreading a previously stocked mattress.
The young specialist worked diligently, earned the trust of management and quickly climbed the career ladder. Soon, he began to act as head of the department of lending, deposits and securities, becoming one of the significant persons in the management of the bank.
Top manager of KamAZ
In 1995, Ildar Khalikov received an offer to work at the city-forming enterprise of Naberezhnye Chelny - KAMAZ. Here he began his dizzying career right away with the post of deputy head of the legal department of the auto giant.
In this status, Ildar Khalikov even belonged to a special group of operational management of the enterprise. Her functions included issues related to the restructuring of the production and marketing sphere of the auto giant, and also some powers of the Director General were transferred to her.
In conjunction with the president
A year later, Ildar Khalikov came up with experience in the banking sector: he was appointed KamAZ financial director. In this difficult time for the enterprise, it was the young manager who was called upon to solve complex issues related to previous investments by the American KKR.
In the early nineties, an investment company from the USA entered into an agreement on huge financial influences at KamAZ. A multiple increase in the group's capitalization was planned, but everything went to dust. Even President Shaimiev, who worked closely with Ildar Khalikov, joined in the situation and remembered this guy for himself. As a result, a solution was found - a stake in KamAZ was transferred to KKR, on which everyone agreed.
Mayoral race
The summer of 2003 turned out to be hot in Tatarstan. This caused a heart attack by the mayor of Naberezhnye Chelny Rashit Khamadeev, who died during a tour of Mintemir Shaimiev in the cities of Zakamsky district of Tatarstan.
An urgent replacement was required for the outgoing mayor, various names of prominent politicians were called, among which was the future mayor of Bugulma - Nail Magdeev.
No one even knew about the existence of such a man as Ildar Khalikov, so the news of his appointment as mayor of a city of strategic importance to the republic produced the effect of an exploding bomb. The president of Tatarstan himself added fuel to the fire, who had the imprudence to call Ildar his countryman. Immediately there were rumors that the young mayor was a relative of the patriarch of Tatar politics.
In fact, Ildar Khalikov is not even a fellow countryman to Mintemir Shaimiev. His mother was born in Aktamyshsky district, and he was born and raised in Agryz. Apparently, the new mayor was noticed by the head of the republic when he was a top manager of KamAZ, when they jointly solved problems with foreign loans and investments.
Modern city manager
The post of mayor of Naberezhnye Chelny was not a sweet sinecure, but a difficult test. Residents still remembered the former head of Altynbaev, who did a great job of improving the city and was considered an unattainable ideal of the mayor. The problems of the city also flowed most directly from the problems of KamAZ, the city-forming enterprise of Chelny.
The number of people laid off due to production optimization was estimated at tens of thousands, the social situation was on the verge of an explosion. The situation was fueled by the performances of the nationalists, who rocked the fragile little vessel even more. It is not surprising that Ildar Khalikov’s father tried by all means to dissuade his son from a difficult post.
He had to work hard on his political image, to wean from the non-public image of a financial specialist, to establish work with the media, to delve into issues of urban economy, construction. However, the new mayor did quite well with his duties. The fact that the time of his reign fell on fruitful zeros, when the economy grew at a furious pace throughout the country, also played in favor of Halikov.
New bomb
In 2010, the eternal president of Tatarstan Mintemir Shaimiev decided to retire. His resignation caused real "tectonic shifts" in the bureaucratic pyramid of the republic. The former prime minister, Rustam Minikhanov, became the new president.
A number of authoritative politicians claimed for the vacated post of head of government, among them Minister of Agriculture Marat Akhmetov, head of the presidential administration Yuri Kamaltynov and other people known on the political Olympus.
However, everyone was again surprised by the appointment of Ildar Khalikov, who was not perceived by anyone as a politician of a republican scale. In his favor, he played the positive experience of crisis management of the city after the 2008 crisis, Mintemir Shaimiev continued to trust his nominee and recommended it was a native of Agryz.
Invisible Man
Having become Prime Minister, Ildar Khalikov again returned to the image of the inconspicuous "workhorse" and in every possible way avoided spotlights and television cameras. While publicity was important as the mayor of the city, this was fraught with troubles for the second person in the republic, since the young and ambitious Ildar Shafkatovich could be suspected of trying to sit the president.
Rustam Minikhanov duly appreciated the modesty of his successor as prime minister and worked with him in the most successful way. Gradually, he departed from the economic routine, which he continued to manage even after assuming the presidency, and completely entrusted all affairs to Prime Minister Ildar Khalikov.
As head of government, he was rarely noticeable, but was forced to appear in front of camera lenses several times. So, it was Khalikov who had to give an answer about the disaster with Bulgaria, which sank in the summer of 2011. Rustam Minikhanov was away, and the second man in the republic took all the fire on himself.
