Anatoliy Serdyukov

Anatoliy Eduardovich Serdyukov (Russian: Анатолий Эдуардович Сердюкóв) (born January 8, 1962, Krasnodar Krai, Soviet Union) is a Russian politician and businessman. He has been the Defense Minister of Russia since February 15, 2007. He is known for launching major reforms in the Russian military.

Serdyukov graduated from Leningrad Institute of Soviet Trade in 1984 with a degree in economics. From 1984 to 1985 he served in the Soviet Army. Since 1985 he had worked in a furniture shop and from 1995 to 2000 was the director general of Furniture Market, a furniture company in Saint Petersburg. Serdyukov's career started to develop very successfully after the election of Vladimir Putin as Russian President in 2000. In 2001 Serdyukov graduated from the Law Department of Saint Petersburg State University. From 2000 to 2001 he served as a Deputy Chief of the Saint Petersburg Directorate of the Tax Ministry of Russia, from 2001 to 2004 he led the Directorate, succeeding Viktor Zubkov, his father-in-law. On March 2nd 2004, he was appointed Deputy Tax Minister of Russia.