Background and career
Vladimir Sergeyevich Gruzdev (Russian: Владимир Серге́евич Груздев; born 6 February 1967) is a Russian entrepreneur and a politician. He was a deputy of the State Duma (2003-2011) and governor of the Tula Oblast (2011-2016). Since December 2016 - Chairman of the Board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia. Since 2005, he has been included in the rating of the richest businessmen in Russia according to the Russian magazine Forbes. As of 2021, he was ranked 133rd in the ranking with a fortune of 0.9 billion dollars.
Vladimir Gruzdev was born on February 6, 1967, in the village of Bolshevo, Moscow region. In 1984 he graduated from the Moscow Suvorov Military School and entered the Military Red Banner Institute. While studying at the Military Red Banner Institute, Vladimir Gruzdev was sent to work as a military Interpreter in Angola and Mozambique. In 1989, for the courage shown in fulfilling his military duty, he was awarded the Medal "For Battle Merit", the diploma of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "Warrior-Internationalist". In 1991 he graduated with honors from the Military Red Banner Institute as an interpreter-referent in Portuguese and English. In addition to these two languages, he speaks Spanish. From 1991 to 1993 he served in the Foreign Intelligence Service. Later, in 2000, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University, majoring in Legal studies.
In 1993, after making the decision to resign from the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, he decided to engage in entrepreneurship. As Deputy General Director, he gained experience working with retail chain stores in the "OLBI-Diplomat" company. This year Vladimir also has attracted investments. Together with his partners he established the trading company "The Seventh Continent", where he worked at executive positions from 1994 to 2001. In 1994-1996, Gruzdev was Chairman of the Board of Directors, in 1996-1997 — First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, and in 1997 — Chairman. In 2007, Gruzdev sold his stake in "The Seventh Continent" to partner Alexander Zanadvorov for about $1 billion, explaining that political career was the priority for him. In 2005 he entered the Russian rating of Forbes magazine with net worth of 0.34 billion dollars (89th place) for the first time. In 2014, his fortune reached a peak of $1.3 billion, which allowed Gruzdev to take 79th place in the ranking. As of 2021, he occupied the 133rd place in the Russian rating of Forbes magazine with a fortune of 0.9 billion dollars.
In 2001, Vladimir Gruzdev won the election to the Moscow City Duma in the 27th district, gaining 53.17% of the vote. During the period of work in the city parliament, he managed the working group on the personnel policy of the courts of Moscow. He was a member of several commissions of the Duma: budget and financial, legislative and security, entrepreneurship, education, as well as a joint commission of the Moscow City Duma and the Moscow Government on the regulatory basis of land and property relations.
In December 2003, Vladimir Gruzdev was elected a deputy of the State Duma of the IV convocation for the Chertanovo single-mandate constituency, having received at the elections 149,069 (53.3%) votes. Gruzdev was a member of the Presidium of the Moscow city regional branch of the party "United Russia" and a member of the bureau of the Supreme Council of the party till 2016. In December 2007 he was elected to the 5th State Duma from Moscow. He was the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Civil, Criminal, Arbitration and Procedural Legislation. In September 2011, Vladimir Gruzdev was included number two (after Boris Gryzlov) into the list of candidates from "United Russia" in the Tula region. On December 4, 2011, elections to the 6th State Duma took place, as a result "United Russia" received 61% of the vote in the Tula region. Gruzdev refused the deputy's mandate.
On July 29, 2011, he was appointed as interim acting governor of the Tula region, replacing Vyacheslav Dudka. On August 11, 2011, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev submitted Vladimir Gruzdev's candidacy for the governor's position to the Tula Regional Duma. On August 18, 2011, the official ceremony of Vladimir Gruzdev's inauguration was held in the Tula Kremlin. On February 2, 2016, after working for almost 5 years, he resigned at his own request due to family circumstances. Alexey Dyumin was appointed interim acting governor of the region, who was subsequently elected governor.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
