Former Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov: dossier. Anatoly Serdyukov: biography, personal life, family, photo Where former minister Serdyukov works now

Anatoly Eduardovich Serdyukov is a Russian statesman, former Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Biography

Born on January 8, 1962 in the village. Kholmsky, Abinsky district, Krasnodar region, Russia.

Education

1984 - graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Soviet Trade.

2001 - graduated from the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg State University.

2007 - graduated from the Courses of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Military service

1984 - 1985 - served in the Armed Forces of the USSR, later completed officer training and was discharged as a reserve officer.

Science degree

Doctor of Economic Sciences.

2004 - defended his dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Economic Sciences on the topic “The concept and systemic organization of the process of forming consumer-oriented business structures.”

2006 – defended his dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Economic Sciences on the topic “Formation and implementation of tax policy in modern Russia.”

Career

1985 - 1991 - Deputy section manager, section manager of store No. 3 Lenmebeltorg (Leningrad).

1991 - 1993 - Deputy Director for Commercial Work at Lenmebeltorg.

1993 - 2000 - worked at Mebel-Market JSC (St. Petersburg) - deputy general director, marketing director, general director.

2000 - 2001 - was deputy head of the Interdistrict Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service of Russia No. 1 for St. Petersburg (specialized in working with the largest taxpayers of St. Petersburg).

May 2001 - appointed deputy head of the Department of the Ministry of Taxes and Taxes of Russia for St. Petersburg.

November 2001 - Head of the Department of the Ministry of Taxes of Russia for St. Petersburg.

Since February 2004 - Head of the Department of the Ministry of Taxes and Taxes of Russia for Moscow.

March 16, 2004 - Acting Minister of the Russian Federation for Taxes and Duties.

July 27, 2004 - By Order of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 999, he was appointed head of the Federal Tax Service of Russia.

September 18, 2007 - submitted his resignation due to family ties with the appointed Chairman of the Russian Government Viktor Zubkov. However, Putin did not accept the resignation. On September 24, the new composition of the Government became known, in which Serdyukov retained the portfolio of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

The decisive factor in this decision was the scandalous corruption story with Oboronservis, where Serdyukov was chairman of the board of directors for several years. Some documents on illegal transactions related to the sale of lands of the Ministry of Defense, capital buildings and shares bear his signature. That is why the Investigative Committee intends to summon Serdyukov for questioning to establish the degree of his guilt. It cannot be ruled out that he may turn from a witness into a suspect or even an accused. The figure of the minister, who found himself at the center of a powerful information noise around large-scale corruption in one of the structures of the Ministry of Defense, forced the President - Supreme Commander-in-Chief to take such a radical step.

In addition, materials were transferred to the investigative authorities regarding the attempted sale in Moscow at a discount of 350 million rubles. the value of the stake and real estate property of OJSC "43 Central Experimental Production Plant", which is part of the structure of OJSC "Oboronservice".

Later it became known that operatives detained one of the managers of the company responsible for the sale of property of a company controlled by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Oboronservis" For 3 million rubles acting. The general director of the company proposed a significant reduction in the price of objects, “accelerating” the sales process and issuing a request for proposals on the official electronic platform.

Relatives of Minister Serdyukov himself were also involved in the scandal. According to operational data, the husband of Serdyukov’s sister Galina, Valery Puzikov, is building a cottage with a total area of ​​800 square meters. meters on the territory that the Ministry of Defense received ownership for the construction of a radar station and other facilities on the Black Sea coast near Anapa.

In addition, Serdyukov has recently entered into a dangerous confrontation with control and law enforcement agencies, as well as with a number of “heavyweight” figures in the government. The leadership of the military department sometimes refused to provide reporting documents to the Accounts Chamber, the FSB and the Investigative Committee on the activities of Oboronservis and did not respond to the offenses they identified. Serdyukov’s relationship with the leadership of the Military-Industrial Commission and the Russian Technologies Corporation began to “sparkle.” Which often interfered with normal work.

In addition, the Kremlin began to understand that a number of Serdyukov’s decisions regarding army reform, purchases of foreign weapons, mobilization readiness, military medicine, military education and others undermine the combat readiness of the troops.

And finally, Serdyukov was unable to fulfill his main mission - to curb corruption in the army. The civilians he brought into the Ministry of Defense to solve this problem began to steal money from the military treasury even more than their predecessors. Corruption in the Ministry of Defense, according to Chief Military Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky, has reached “cosmic proportions. They started stealing so much that they didn’t have time to spend it.”

It should be noted that Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov did not write a report on his resignation, and this decision was made by the president.

He is the chairman of the supervisory board of the state corporation Russian Technologies.

The government nominated former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov as a candidate for the board of directors of the United Aircraft Corporation. Previously, Kommersant reported in February 2017 that Serdyukov would replace Sergei Chemezov on the UAC board of directors. Also nominated as state representatives to the UAC board of directors are the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, Deputy Minister of Transport Valery Okulov, as well as Deputy Minister of Defense Yuri Borisov.

In 2017, Anatoly Serdyukov - Industrial Director of the aviation cluster of the Rostec State Corporation

Achievements in work

The launch of a radical reform of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, giving them a “new look” is associated with the name of Serdyukov. The catalyst that accelerated the decision to reform was the military conflict with Georgia in August 2008.

One of Serdyukov’s initiatives was the development of a new military uniform that meets modern requirements. 100 million rubles were allocated from the budget for the creation of a new uniform; it was planned to completely switch to new uniforms in 2011 with total transition costs of no more than 5.5 billion rubles.

Features of the new uniform are the replacement of boots and foot wraps with boots and the use of new materials and “Digital” coloring, which reduce the visibility of a serviceman on the battlefield in the visible and thermal ranges. At the same time, critics note that after the form was launched into mass production, its quality deteriorated significantly.

During his time as Minister of Defense, Serdyukov carried out large-scale personnel changes in the top military leadership. Almost all deputy ministers of defense, commanders-in-chief of branches of the Armed Forces, commanders of military branches, as well as military districts and fleets have been replaced.

Experts note two characteristic features of Serdyukov’s personnel policy: the desire to rejuvenate the senior command staff and the emphasis on civilian specialists.

As for specific results, analysts agree that Serdyukov’s reform can be considered successful in the main areas: the transition from military districts to operational-strategic commands, the reduction of command bodies, the transition to a brigade basis, the reorganization of military education, the introduction of outsourcing.

Among the failures are the failure of the transition to mainly recruiting military personnel under contract, as well as problems in the field of state defense procurement, where the Ministry of Defense took up the task of reducing arms prices, conflicting with the management of defense industry enterprises.

In general, opponents blame Serdyukov for his purely managerial approach to issues of security and defense of the country, as well as attempts to commercialize the armed forces and disrespectful attitude towards the officer corps. Supporters emphasize that he became the first defense minister in post-Soviet Russia who managed to launch a large-scale reform of the army, which had lost its combat capability.

Dmitry Medvedev and Anatoly Serdyukov about departmental kindergartens

Awards and titles

April 2, 2008 - Certificate of Honor of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation - for active assistance and significant assistance in organizing and conducting elections of the President of the Russian Federation.

2009 - Order of the Holy Blessed Prince Daniel of Moscow, III degree.

2009 - Order of Friendship of Peoples (Belarus).

Acting State Advisor of the Russian Federation, 1st class.

2006 - earned 1.25 million rubles, taking last place in terms of income among members of the Government of the Russian Federation.

2009 - initiated the creation of an Internet portal for legal assistance to military personnel - Forum of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Hobbies

He skis and enjoys fishing and hunting.

Family status

Married for the second time to the daughter of Viktor Zubkov, he has two natural children and one adopted daughter.

Anatoly Eduardovich Serdyukov, in light of the latest scandalous events, has become one of the most publicized personalities in the media. People are interested in literally everything connected with the former Minister of Defense, from his childhood to his life today. At the same time, quite a lot of stories with a pronounced fantastic overtone appear in the yellow press, which further fuel interest in such a controversial person as Anatoly Eduardovich. In order to create a full portrait of this person, you need to find out about his true biography.

Early years of life: childhood, adolescence and adolescence

Anatoly Serdyukov's birthday is January 8, 1962. At this time, his family lived in a small village called Kholmsky, which is located in the Abinsky district of the Krasnodar Territory. Anatoly's father, Eduard Serdyukov, whose biography is not particularly known, worked as a lumberjack in the local forestry. Raisa Serdyukova, the mother of the future minister, worked on a collective farm most of her life. He was the eldest child in the family; his younger sister’s name is Galina.

After finishing 8th grade, in 1977 he was forced to transfer to evening school in order to earn a living, since he and his sister were left alone. During this period of his life, Anatoly worked as a mechanic in a garage. But Serdyukov, whose biography was not very successful, still managed to enter the Leningrad Institute of Soviet Trade in 1980 and even graduate from it. After graduating from the university, he served in the army, took officer courses and retired to the reserve with the rank of junior lieutenant.

Who was Anatoly Serdyukov before his appointment to the ministerial post?

The biography of this man is very interesting because he could find himself in any field of activity. So from 1985 to 1991, Anatoly Eduardovich was the head of a furniture store. Under his leadership, the nondescript store No. 3 turned into a real Dresden furniture salon, which sold the best furniture from the GDR.

Since 1991, the former store manager has become deputy director. Then, on the basis of the furniture store, the joint-stock company “Furniture-Market” was organized, in which Serdyukov first took the post of deputy general director, and in 1993 became marketing director. After another 2 years, he eventually becomes the CEO of this company.

Civil service

Minister of Defense Serdyukov, whose biography is connected with the armed forces of the Russian Federation only through conscription in the army, began his career in public service with the Ministry of Taxes and Duties. In this structure, until 2004, he held the position of head of the department, and his responsibilities included working with large taxpayers in St. Petersburg. In 2004, it was announced that Anatoly Serdyukov would become the head of the Federal Tax Service.

His biography acquired a militaristic overtones only in the winter of 2007, when by order of the President Anatoly Eduardovich was appointed Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. Thus, he became only the third civilian to hold this post after Sergei Ivanov.

If you pay attention to the family line through the wife of the Minister of Defense, you cannot but be surprised by such a coincidence as the appointment of Viktor Zubkov in the same 2007 as Prime Minister of Russia, whose son-in-law is Serdyukov. The biography of these two people has a lot in common, and the patronage of Viktor Alekseevich in the first stages of Serdyukov’s public service can be seen very clearly.

Anatoly Eduardovich Serdyukov, a famous Russian statesman and economist, was born in 1962, on January 8, in the village of Kholmskaya, Abinsk district, in the Krasnodar region. Zodiac sign - Sagittarius. From 2007 to November 6, 2012 he served as Minister of Defense of Russia.

State Corporation "Russian Technologies", position of Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Education of Anatoly Serdyukov

1984 - Institute of Soviet Trade in Leningrad
2001 - St. Petersburg State University, Faculty of Law
2004 - received the title of Candidate of Economic Sciences
2006 - received the title of Doctor of Economic Sciences
2007 - Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, courses at the academy

Biography of Anatoly Serdyukov

I started working after finishing 8th grade. He worked as a driver and completed his education at night school. 1984 was the year of graduation from the Leningrad Institute of Soviet Trade. Served in the ranks of the USSR Armed Forces in 1984-1965. During his service, he completed officer courses and was transferred to the reserve.

1985 - 1991 - deputy head of section; head Section No. 3 of Lenmebeltorg. 1991-1993 - deputy. Commercial Directors at work.

JSC Mebel-Market: 1993 - Deputy General Director; 1993-1995 - Marketing Director; 1995-2000 - General Director.

2000 took off in his career - marriage to Yulia Pokhlebenina (second wife), daughter of Viktor Zubkov, who was then the head of the department of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Taxes and Duties in St. Petersburg. Serdyukov becomes a civil servant.

Service in the Ministry of Taxes and Taxes of Anatoly Serdyukov

2000-2001 - served as deputy of the Interdistrict Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service of Russia No. 1 for St. Petersburg. May 2001 - deputy Head of the Department of the Ministry of Taxes and Taxes of Russia for St. Petersburg, November 2001 - head of the Department.

February 2004 - became the head of the department of the Ministry of Taxes and Taxes of the Russian Federation for Moscow

March 2004 Deputy Minister of the Russian Federation for Taxes and Duties, March 16, 204 - acting. Minister of the Russian Federation for Taxes and Duties

06/27/2004 - became the head of the Federal Tax Service of Russia.

2006 - last place in terms of profitability among members of the Government of the Russian Federation (earnings 1.25 million rubles)

Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov

He was appointed to this position due to the need to have a person with an economic education in this position. He launched a radical reform of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to give them a new look. The start of the reform was announced on October 14, 2008. The reform affected all the main elements of the RF Armed Forces.

On Serdyukov’s initiative, a new military uniform was developed that meets all modern requirements.

2007 brought the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of Khimprom OJSC (March 26) and permanent membership of the Security Council of the Russian Federation (from April 9).

In 2007, he declassified documents of the Red Army and the Red Army, which related to 1941-1945

While working as the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, he carried out a large-scale personnel reshuffle of the top military leadership. Replaced almost all deputy ministers. The commanders-in-chief of the armed forces, the commanders of the military branches, the heads of the General Staff, etc. were replaced.

2007 On September 18, Serdyukov submitted his resignation. The reason is family ties with the Chairman of the Government Zubkov. The request was rejected, and he retained the post of Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

2009 July 23 to 2011 June 30 - position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC Oboronservice

The end of October 2012 brought a scandal around Oboronservis OJSC. On November 6, 2012, Serdyukov was removed from the post of Minister of Defense. According to the president's explanation: for failure to manage the property of the Ministry of Defense.

Corporation "Russian Technologies"

Rumors about the appointment of Serdyukov as an adviser to the general director of the Russian Technologies Corporation, on November 14, 2012, were not confirmed.

Criticism of Anatoly Serdyukov

After his resignation from the post of Minister of Defense, Serdyukov was called an effective Minister of Defense, but errors in leadership were pointed out. However, experts expressed many complaints about Serdyukov, based on the transformations being carried out in the RF Armed Forces.

His reduction of the army, the liquidation of the corps of warrant officers and midshipmen, the delay in placing the state defense order, etc. were criticized.

Some members of the public council under the Ministry of Defense believe that Serdyukov’s actions are correct, aimed at confronting the “rogue generals” who are holding on to their positions. Serdyukov was the first to begin real reform of the Armed Forces.

Critical articles addressed to Serdyukov give him the nicknames “furniture maker”, “feldmebel”, etc., which remind us that he worked as the director of a furniture factory.

Personal life of Anatoly Serdyukov

He was the eldest in his family. He has a sister, Galina Eduardovna Puzikova, a businessman, specializing in vegetable growing. My sister's husband is Valery Nikolaevich Puzikov, a businessman.

Was married twice. Serdyukova's first wife is Tatyana Anatolyevna, a businessman. Son Sergei (born 1986) lived with his mother in St. Petersburg.

Second wife - Yulia Viktorovna Pokhlebenina (Zubkova), developer. In 2010, her income was 5 times more than Serdyukov’s income. From his second marriage - adopted daughter Anastasia (born 1993), lawyer, student of the law department of the university in St. Petersburg since 2011.

The daughter from her second marriage, Natalya, is in primary school.

Hobbies of Anatoly Serdyukov
Serdyukov enjoys skiing, fishing and hunting. In 2009, he created an Internet site providing legal assistance to military personnel

Awards of Anatoly Serdyukov

2006 - Medal "For Merit"
2008 - Certificate of honor from the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation for active participation and assistance in holding presidential elections
2009 - Order of the Holy Blessed Prince Daniel of Moscow, III degree
2009 - Order of Friendship of Peoples.

Anatoly Serdyukov is one of the most notorious ministers of modern Russia. From 2007 to 2012 he headed the Ministry of Defense. He became involved in a corruption scandal, as a result of which he was dismissed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the same time, Serdyukov himself was not brought to criminal liability; since mid-2017, he has been heading the board of directors of the Rostvertol company.

Childhood and youth

Anatoly Serdyukov was born in 1962 in the village of Kholmsky in the Krasnodar Territory. The parents of the hero of our article were simple peasants.

When he was ten years old, he was left an orphan. After that, his grandmother raised him and his sister Galina. The reasons why Anatoly Serdyukov was left without parents are not known for certain; he himself does not like to dwell on this topic and always avoids direct questions dedicated to his family affairs. The family lived quite poorly, so from the eighth grade he had to combine work with study in order to provide for his family.

Education

Anatoly Serdyukov received his secondary education at evening school in Leningrad. Afterwards he entered the Institute of Soviet Trade, from which he successfully graduated in 1984.

For two years he served in the army as a driver in a communications battalion attached to a motorized rifle division. After completing the officer's course, he retired to the reserve with the rank of lieutenant.

In 1985, his official career began. Serdyukov got a job as a section manager at the Lenmebeltorg joint-stock company. He proved himself successful in his new place, and his rapid career growth began. Soon the hero of our article began to manage a section of a furniture store, and then turned into a deputy, supervising the commercial activities of the enterprise. Anatoly Eduardovich Serdyukov left Lenmebeltorg in 1991.

Until 2000, he worked at the Mebel-Market trading holding. He started as a deputy director. Over time, he became one of the founders of the company, and then the general director. At the same time, he continued to improve his education. In 2001, he received a graduate degree from the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University, three years later he defended his PhD thesis, and in 2006 he became a Doctor of Economic Sciences.

In public service

In 2000, significant changes occurred in the biography of Anatoly Serdyukov. He begins to rapidly move up the career ladder in the civil service.

Anatoly Eduardovich Serdyukov begins his ascent to the heights of the apparatus from the modest post of deputy head of one of the tax inspectorates in St. Petersburg. Already in 2001, he was appointed deputy tax department for the Northern capital.

In 2004, the hero of our article was transferred to Moscow. Here he heads the capital's tax office. In the spring of the same year he received the post of Deputy Minister for Taxes and Duties of the Russian Federation. A few months later he heads the Federal Tax Service, into which the Ministry of Taxes was transformed.

Analysts note that Serdyukov played one of the decisive roles in the so-called YUKOS case. It was the work of the Federal Tax Service that provided the evidence base for the investigation against the head of the company, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

In the Yukos case, the Federal Tax Service acted as the main creditor, accusing the oil company of shortfalls in royalties amounting to approximately $27 billion. Ultimately, this played a decisive role in the bankruptcy of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s empire and the sale of his assets.

Experts noted that under Serdyukov it was possible to significantly increase the collection of taxes and fees. For example, already in the first half of 2005, the service reported exceeding the collection plan by $10 billion. In the same year, the planned value for collections was abolished as unnecessary. It is worth emphasizing that the growth of tax deductions was facilitated both by an improvement in the work of the tax service itself and by a change in the overall concept of state policy in this area.

Ministry of Defence

The next stage in the biography of Anatoly Eduardovich Serdyukov is associated with the Ministry of Defense. In 2007, unexpectedly for many, he was appointed head of this department. What was surprising was that he took up his duties as a senior lieutenant in the reserves, which caused a wave of indignation among high-ranking officers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, explaining his decision to appoint Serdyukov as Minister of Defense, emphasized that this was necessary, given the peculiarities of the current moment.

It is worth noting that Anatoly Serdyukov became Minister of Defense during a difficult period for the Russian army. It needed radical reform; it was necessary to absorb significant amounts of budget funds, and this required competent and highly professional specialists. First of all, Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, as an experienced economist, was entrusted with this task.

It is noteworthy that in September of the same year, after the appointment of Viktor Zubkov as chairman of the Russian government, Serdyukov resigned from his ministerial post. The reason was his family ties with the new prime minister. However, Putin did not accept the resignation.

Personal life

Among the relatives of Anatoly Serdyukov there are quite a lot of influential Russian officials of the highest rank. His former father-in-law was prime minister. The hero of our article was married twice.

His first chosen one was entrepreneur Tatyana Anatolyevna. In the early 90s, she and her husband were shareholders of the Mebel-Market company.

In 2002, Serdyukov married Yulia Pokhlebenina, daughter of Viktor Zubkov. She's a developer. This marriage also turned out to be her second. Previously, Yulia was married to the son of Soviet party worker Gennady Pokhlebenin, Nikolai. With her first husband, she founded the closed joint-stock company "Sever". At the time of her wedding with the future minister, she owned the Parus fitness club. She filed for divorce in the spring of 2012.

From his first marriage, Serdyukov has a son, Sergei, who was born in 1986. Until recently, he lived in St. Petersburg with his mother; it is known that he is the owner of about 5.5% of the shares of the St. Petersburg Bank.

In his second marriage, Anatoly Eduardovich Serdyukov had an adopted daughter, Anastasia Nikolaevna Pokhlebenina, born in 1993. Now she is a student at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University. It is known about her that the girl is actively interested in horse riding and loves to travel.

Married to Yulia, they had a daughter, Natalya, who is now studying at school.

It is known that Serdyukov grew up in the family with his younger sister Galina. Now her last name is Puzikova, she is an entrepreneur, according to the All-Russian register, and is engaged in vegetable growing.

At the end of 2012, she found herself at the center of a scandal when the prosecutor's office began an investigation into her acquisition of luxury real estate in the capital. As investigators found out, she owned three apartments worth a total of about 700 million rubles. However, her official income for the year was only 240 thousand rubles.

Galina's husband, Valery Nikolaevich Puzikov, in a short time turned into a businessman from a tractor driver. Both spouses own about one hundred real estate properties in St. Petersburg. It is worth noting that due to the corruption scandal in which Serdyukov himself was involved, the business of his sister and son-in-law did not suffer in any way.

In the summer of 2018, it became known that Serdyukov officially entered into a third marriage. His chosen one was Evgenia Vasilyeva, one of the main defendants in the case of embezzlement in the Ministry of Defense.

Activities in the Ministry of Defense

Having started working in a new post, Serdyukov began to initiate a global reform of the Russian armed forces. The actual reason for this was the failures during the military conflict with Georgia in August 2008. In particular, it was then that serious shortcomings in the management structure were identified. There has long been an urgent need to modernize outdated weapons, uniforms and communication systems.

The main directions of Serdyukov’s reforms were several aspects:

1. Personnel reorganization. It consisted of a significant reduction in the number of armed forces in the country, mainly due to the command staff. The existing governing bodies were also transformed.
2. Administrative reform. The previously existing six military districts were now reorganized into four operational-strategic commands.
3. Rearmament. The purchase of foreign-made military equipment has begun actively.
4. Military education reform. Some military educational institutions were reduced, others were enlarged.
5. The service sector of the armed forces was transferred to civilian enterprises and organizations.
6. The term of military service in the army was reduced to one year.
7. A new military uniform has been introduced, the models for which were developed by Valentin Yudashkin.

After the scandalous resignation of Serdyukov, almost all of his initiatives were curtailed. Many of the changes were criticized by senior military officials in the media, and some were eventually reversed.

Corruption in the Ministry

The criminal case opened on corruption in the Ministry of Defense is related to the commercial organization Oboronservis, in which Serdyukov headed the board of directors from 2009 to 2011. It was directly subordinate to the Ministry of Defense.

In October 2012, it became known that Oboronservis employees were accused of fraud in the sale of military property that was written off the balance sheet of the Ministry of Defense.

The investigation concluded that the most valuable real estate assets, including shares and land plots, were sold at reduced prices to fly-by-night companies that were associated with Oboronservis. According to law enforcement agencies, illegal profits in the amount of three billion rubles were made from the sale of only eight objects.

The role of Evgenia Vasilyeva

The main defendant in the criminal case was Evgenia Vasilyeva, who held the post of head of the property relations department in Serdyukov’s ministry.

The scandal erupted when, during a search in her apartment early in the morning of October 25, Anatoly Serdyukov himself was discovered. Evgenia Vasilyeva turned out to be his neighbor in the most expensive house in Moscow, located at 6 Molochny Lane. The media, citing informed sources, reported that they had a “close relationship.”

Also during this search, three million rubles in cash, valuable works of art, antiques, and expensive jewelry were discovered.

Resign

Already in November, Vladimir Putin dismissed Serdyukov, noting that this was being done to ensure the integrity of the investigation.

Vasilyeva was placed under house arrest. In December, she filed an official petition to the court, in which she asked to be allowed to live together with former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov during the investigation. The petition was rejected because they were not related. However, Vasilyeva was granted personal meetings with Serdyukov, who was involved in this criminal case as a witness.

In November, Vasilyeva was hospitalized and operated on. According to her lawyer, she lost her child due to nervous shock.

Only at the end of 2013 was a case brought against Serdyukov due to negligence, which resulted in causing major material damage to the country. Serdyukov refused to plead guilty and give evidence. In 2014, the Ministry of Internal Affairs held an amnesty, on the basis of which the investigation was stopped.

Where is Serdyukov now?

Despite the scandalous resignation, former minister Anatoly Serdyukov did not leave the ranks of influential officials. Already in November 2013, he was appointed general director of the mechanical engineering research center, which is officially subordinate to the federal government.

Former Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov got a new position. He became industrial director for the aviation cluster of the Rostec state corporation. Now Serdyukov will oversee the development of the country’s entire aviation industry. As it turned out, previous corruption scandals had little effect on the demand for the former minister in the highest echelon of the elite.

It is unlikely that anyone in our country has not heard about the activities of Anatoly Serdyukov. After a long career in the furniture business, he suddenly headed the defense department. The reform of the Armed Forces he initiated caused many complaints from officers. There were even mass protest rallies organized by military veterans' organizations. Then it became known that the army’s supply system was riddled with corruption. This is how the Oboronservis case appeared.

The criminal case was gaining momentum, new facts of violation of the law were revealed, searches and arrests were carried out. November 6, 2012 President Vladimir Putin Serdyukov resigned. As the head of state himself explained, Serdyukov was unable to manage property in the department under his control and could even interfere with an objective investigation.

But in the end, all suspicions were cleared from Serdyukov. But the story of the investigation itself was extremely interesting, especially regarding Serdyukov’s subordinate Evgenia Vasilyeva. She was serving house arrest in a huge apartment, and during the investigation it was discovered that she simultaneously had the gift of an artist, poet and musician. The tabloids discussed the personal relationship between Serdyukov and Vasilyeva, and she herself dedicated her works of art to her former boss. Vasilyeva was nevertheless found guilty of causing damage to the state and sentenced to five years in prison. True, she only served four months and was released on parole.

Serdyukov and Vasilyeva in the public consciousness became symbols of corruption in the highest echelons of power. And, despite the legal assessment of the investigation and the trial, the majority of citizens have a negative attitude towards the former Minister of Defense.

However, three years after his high-profile resignation from the post of minister, Serdyukov received a new responsible appointment. Why did this become possible and how might this affect the image of the government?

Deputy Director of the Center for Political Technologies Alexey Makarkin believes that the reason for Serdyukov’s “unsinkability” lies in the characteristics of our elite:

— As I understand it, Serdyukov has never been involved in aviation. As Minister of Defense, he, of course, knew about these issues, but had nothing to do with the aircraft industry. However, even when he was engaged in business, his interest lay in the field of furniture trading. In principle, I am not opposed to a person with serious commercial experience holding a responsible position in the aircraft industry. There have been cases in world practice when the industry needs an outsider who can objectively analyze the situation and make extraordinary and correct decisions.

But along with professional qualities, a person must have a good business reputation, but Serdyukov has serious problems with this. Therefore, it is difficult to talk about Serdyukov as an indispensable specialist who must reorganize the domestic aircraft industry. The reputation factor plays a clearly negative role.

“SP”: - Nevertheless, he was appointed.

- This is a very interesting question, why Serdyukov is so “unsinkable”. In my opinion, several factors played a role.

Firstly, Serdyukov is a member of the nomenklatura. The current one is different from the Soviet one. In Soviet times, a person could fall out of the nomenklatura if there was serious suspicion of a criminal offense. Then the person was sent somewhere to the province as the director of a state farm. Formally, he did not fall out of the nomenclature, but was not noticeable and did not bear much responsibility. Now it feels like some restrictions, even formal ones, have become history. And a person from the nomenklatura, despite a bad reputation, can continue his activities.

Secondly, Serdyukov was apparently forgiven. His main problems arose not even because he was unpopular in the army or became involved in a criminal case. The point is that he bet too big on Medvedev when he was president. Through him, Serdyukov sought to increase spending on the army. He was one of those who put Medvedev in office for a second term. But now all this is history.

From the point of view of bureaucratic ethics, Serdyukov behaved exemplary. When the scandal surrounding the abuses broke out, he did not turn to human rights activists or present himself to the public as a victim, but simply humbly awaited his fate. Accordingly, he was forgiven. Everyone thought that he had already been punished by his shameful resignation from the post of Minister of Defense, and now there was no point in spoiling his career.

A similar situation occurred with Evgenia Vasilyeva, who was released on parole, and before that worked as a cleaner in a non-working school.

"SP": - But a signal is sent to society that representatives of the nomenklatura are inviolable.

- Probably, such a signal is being sent. But this is not the first signal. Initially, Serdyukov received the position of adviser to the general director of Rostec. I don’t know what kind of position, but ordinary employees of the state corporation could only dream of such a position. The second signal is Vasilyeva’s release. Now this is the third signal, it is no longer perceived as a sensation.

In my opinion, these signals are due to the fact that the Russian authorities do not see anything particularly serious in them. Like, they’ll talk and calm down. People generally began to talk more about problems that affect them personally. There is disappointment in society, but it does not transform into some kind of protest against the authorities. The main outbreak was in the case of Vasilyeva - parliamentary factions discussed the situation, deputies demanded to sort it out. But then other topics appeared. Dissatisfaction remains, perhaps, only among the military and law enforcement officers, but the specifics of their work are such that they will not publicly express their protest. And if the story with Vasilyeva did not bring people out into the streets, then we can now try and bring Serdyukov back. After all, why not reward a person for exemplary behavior after resigning from the post of minister.

Another thing is that public discontent tends to accumulate. Let's say during times Brezhnev people discussed history with Churbanov. But there were no consequences. Outwardly, it seemed that people were calm about corruption and did not join dissidents—and that was good. But then too many such stories accumulated. The “Uzbek case” appeared. As a result, the topic of corruption became very serious and caused great damage to the Soviet leadership.

The topic of corruption was decisive recently, in 2011−12. People took to the streets under the slogan “Against swindlers and thieves.” But then this topic began to go away. To leave, but not to disappear, she seemed to “go inside.” The most relevant topics were Crimea. And people were disappointed in the rallies: they went and exposed them, but there was no result. There is an idea that people are stealing at the top, but few people are interested in how exactly. And the authorities decided that Vasilyeva could be released and Serdyukov could be appointed to a responsible position.

Only tension in society will grow. Especially against the backdrop of an unfavorable socio-economic situation and the lack of new successes. And, as we see, it is not easy to achieve success even in Syria; the military and political situation there is difficult.

There is a feeling that the Kremlin is dealing with short-term threats. In the short term, the authorities are not afraid of irritation with Serdyukov. It may spill out in the parliamentary elections, but all our parties have reached the “Crimean consensus”, and nothing will happen from the increase in votes for A Just Russia. They don’t think much about long-term prospects.

“SP”: — It turns out that for the elite it is more important to preserve the established rules of the game than to take into account reputational risks?

— The elites live by maintaining the current state of affairs. They have broken through to power, money, resources and are not interested in change. We have low social mobility, there is no change of power, that is, there are no incentives for the elite to change.

Even the arrests of the governor of the Sakhalin region and the head of the Komi Republic do not change the mood of the elite. The first few days the elite were in shock, but no one wanted to change. Everyone was just trying to understand what had happened, was it a “new 37” or some kind of accident. But time passed, and everyone came to the conclusion that the Sakhalin governor and the head of Komi were simply unlucky, that they did not have serious support at the top and they made operational mistakes.

They think exactly the same about Serdyukov. Like, if he had not bet on Medvedev, then everything would have been fine, and he would have left the post of Minister of Defense for another position without scandals. That is, any anti-corruption actions of the authorities are perceived by the elite as an accident and hardware miscalculations.

Elites are concerned that restrictions are now being introduced. For example, officials are prohibited from having accounts abroad or doing business, but previously this was considered normal. A minority of civil servants simply go into the commercial sphere so that there are no unnecessary worries. But all the same, these people remain in the elite, just in a different form.

“Protection mechanisms work in our elite,” says Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Professor, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation Alexander Turchinov.— In general, our elite is partly marginal. Usually, if a person has a tarnished reputation, then such a person becomes unshakable, he goes into the shadows so as not to discredit those with whom he communicates. In our country, the reputation of a candidate for office, unfortunately, does not become a significant factor in decision-making. Hence all the collisions that occur.

“SP”: — Are the elites really not afraid of creating unfavorable public opinion?

“Our elite has no sense of self-preservation. A legal assessment of Serdyukov’s actions has been given, many express regret about it. But Serdyukov’s reputation is definitely ruined. But this does not play a role for those who determine personnel policy.

The fact is that our elite is segmented, and according to certain corporate interests. If we really had an institution of elite, that is, there would be a community of people from whom we could take an example, then we could talk about something. But when the elite is segmented, and reputational losses are not taken into account at all, then things like the appointment of Serdyukov happen.

Segmentation of the elite occurs based on the principle of belonging to a certain group. There is a creative elite, there is a business elite, there is an elite of managers. And there is also an illegitimate elite, that is, the criminal world, which, nevertheless, plays some role. And the peculiarity of the formation of our elite is that people from the criminal elite come with their specific subculture into the public field and impose their own rules and principles of life.

We do not yet have a division of the elite according to views. Everyone is divided according to their interests. Therefore, it is appropriate to talk about a quasi-elite or a marginal elite. Take examples from the past year. First one governor is brought in in handcuffs, then another. How many are on the way is unknown. But they also represent the state. This means that we simply do not have an elite.

Of course, there are still old Soviet cadres, honest people. A younger generation is gradually forming, but it cannot yet influence decision-making. The elite is assessed by society, first of all, by its moral authority. But, unfortunately, we don’t have this.