Gruzdev Vladimir Sergeevich - 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 beginning of the way
Vladimir Gruzdev was born on February 6, 1967 near Moscow - in a village called Bolshevo. The boy's mother taught biology and chemistry to high school students, and his father was a military man.
After school, Vladimir decided to follow in his father's footsteps and entered the Suvorov Military School, which he graduated in 1984. Then he became a student at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages, and in 1991 received a red diploma. Studying here as a young man was very interesting. As a translator, he traveled more than once as part of Soviet delegations to African countries, for which he even has a medal.
Being already a certified specialist, Gruzdev joined the foreign intelligence service, but lasted only 2 years on it - from the 91st to the 93rd. And then he began a completely different life. In the footsteps of his father failed to go.
Business activities
Saying goodbye to military service, Vladimir Gruzdev plunged headlong into the world of business. His first post in the new field was in 1993 the chair of deputy director of the company "OLBI-diplomat." But the punchy young man did not want to work for someone else’s uncle, but wanted to work for himself, and in the same year 93, together with his comrades, he created his own company called The Seventh Petal, taking on credit half a million dollars. This company became the first retail grocery chain in Moscow, which largely explains the success. Gruzdev and Co. had practically no competitors, and products at all times were popular products. In addition, the Seventh Petal outlets worked around the clock, were distinguished by good service and a wide range of goods.
In 1994, Vladimir Gruzdev became the general director of the company, in the ninety-seventh year he headed the board of directors, and in 2001 became the head of the "Seventh Continent-R" and "Capital Deli".
In 2002, Gruzdev began cooperation with the former head of Sobinbank, Alexander Zanadvorov, who was the main shareholder of OJSC Manezhnaya Square. It was to this person that Vladimir Sergeyevich sold his brainchild in 2007, when he seriously engaged in politics.
What is the state of Vladimir Gruzdev out of business? His photo appeared in 2006 in the Russian version of Forbes magazine, which included the entrepreneur in the Golden Hundred of rich Russian people. In this rating, Gruzdev took sixty-sixth place, having a fortune of $ 750 million.
Political activity
Gruzdev tried to enter big politics back in 1995, but lost the elections to the State Duma. After 6 years, he managed to get into the Moscow City Duma, and then 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 polls, 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 the life of Gruzdev
A lot of interesting stories are connected with the name of the famous businessman and deputy. So, for example, in 2007, Gruzdev Vladimir Sergeyevich participated in an expedition to the North Pole, during which the deputy even dived to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, where the titanium Russian flag was set by the crew of the Mir-1 bathyscaphe. They entrusted to shoot the procedure on camera by a politician who, according to some sources, was the sponsor of the expedition.
Another interesting fact from the life of Gruzdev - 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 was never implemented.
But the story associated with the thesis of Vladimir Sergeyevich, 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", graduating from the law faculty of Moscow State University. And in 2003, he received a Ph.D. Later, journalists found in his dissertation a “flagrant resemblance” to the work of a certain P. Vostrikov, defended in 1998, and declared Grudzev a plagiarist. Whether the statements of the media were true or not, remains “behind the scenes” for now.
Charity businessman
Vladimir Gruzdev, whose biography began in a fairly simple family, managed to become a billionaire and more than once made noble gestures, participating in charity.
There is information that, saying goodbye to his brainchild, he planned to give out $ 20 million to the employees of the "Seventh Continent" as a reward for their diligent long-term work. Whether this initiative was implemented is not exactly known.
But help to the Assumption Cathedral (which is on the territory of the Tula Kremlin) is a confirmed fact. Being the governor at that time, Gruzdev donated as much as six million for the repair of the temple. In addition, residents of the region are grateful to him for hundreds of sites set up for personal money.
