Background
Vladimir Gruzdev was born in 1967 in Bolshevo, Moscow oblast, to a military officer and a teacher.
politician member of the State Duma
Vladimir Gruzdev was born in 1967 in Bolshevo, Moscow oblast, to a military officer and a teacher.
He initially studied as a cadet of military institute, then served in the Russian foreign intelligence service as a translator.
In 1993 he abandoned his military career and founded The Seventh Continent hypermarkets Netto. In 2000 Gruzdev was elected to the Moscow City Duma, and in 2003 was elected as a deputy of State Duma. Since his appointment as governor of Tula Oblast, an industrial area south of Moscow, Gruzdev has held a series of townhall meetings at which he has listened to citizen complaints, which are many, and has attempted to respond to them, sometimes firing local administrators on the spot.
On 2 February 2016 Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted Gruzdev"s request for a volunteer retirement.
Gruzdev was replaced by Lieutenant General Alexey Dyumin. Gruzdev is also known for his extreme tourism and exploration.
He has not, however, visited space as of 2011. Vladimir Gruzdev is married and has three children.
He is a member of the United Russia political party. He took part in the Russian expedition Arktika 2007 to the North Pole and on January 10, 2008 was awarded the Order of Merit Before the Fatherland, 3rd Class "for courage showed in extremal conditions during High-Latitude Arctic Deep-Water Expedition." He was expected to become the first Russian space tourist in 2009, launching on board a Soyuz-Turnaround Management Association spacecraft.
In 2003 Gruzdev defended a Doctor of Philosophy thesis which was found to be the almost perfect copy of a previous work by P. Vostrikov.