Defence Minister

NAME: ANATOLY EDUARDOVICH SERDYUKOV

BORN: 08 January, 1962 in Krasnodar

EDUCATION: *Mr Serdyukov graduated from Leningrad State Institute of Soviet Trade in 1984 with a degree in economics.  *He later received a PhD in Economics in 2000.  *In 2001, Mr Serdyukov completed a second degree in law from St Petersburg State University.

CAREER: *Mr Serdyukov worked as a furniture salesman for the firm “LenMebel’Torg” (Leningrad Furniture) in St Petersburg from 1984 to 1993.  *He was the deputy director, then director of marketing, then general director of the firm Furniture Market from 1993 to 2000.  *He held the position of deputy head of the inter-district Inspectorate of the Taxes Ministry from 2000 to 2001. *Mr Serdyukov served as the Deputy Head of Saint Petersburg Tax Authority from May 2001 to March 2004.  *He was Deputy Head of Federal Tax Ministry from 2 March 2004 to July 2004.  *Anatoly Serdyukov was Head of the Federal Tax Service from 27 June 2004 until 14 February 2007.  *Mr Serdyukov was appointed Minister of Defence on 15 February 2007.  *He was reappointed Defense Minister under Vladimir Putin’s Second Cabinet on 12 May, 2008.

MISCELLANEOUS: *Son-in-law of Viktor Zubkov (1^st Deputy PM of RF).  *Serdyukov has a reputation for toughness, often resorting to bankrupting individuals or companies in debt to the tax service. *He was behind the multi-million dollar tax claims that resulted in the dismantling of oil major Yukos. *Like Sergei Ivanov, Serdyukov is not a career military man. Ivanov’s civilian status caused some difficulties for him as defense minister and it remains to be seen whether Serdyukov will face the same challenges. *On 19 September 2007, being Viktor Zubkov‘s son-in-law, Serdyukov had to hand in his resignation to President Vladimir Putin. Zubkov was appointed Prime Minister on the 14th of September. However, Serdyukov’s resignation was not accepted.

SUBORDINATES: *The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Official website