Serdyukov Anatoly

Minister of Defense of Russia (2007 - 2012)

SERDYUKOV, Anatoly Eduardovich (b. 1962) graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Soviet Trade in 1984. Between 1985 and 1991, he was a sales manager at a furniture store in Leningrad. Up until 2000, he had been involved in the furniture business. In 2000, he became deputy head of the St. Petersburg inspection of Russia's Ministry of Taxes and Duties. In 2003-2004, he served as the Minister of Taxes and Duties, then headed the Federal Tax Service. In 2007, he was appointed Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, was also included on the Board of directors of Volgograd Khimprom, elected chairman of the Board of directors of Khimprom, and joined the Russian Security Council. In 2009-2011, he was Chairman of the Board of Oboronservis.

In 2012, he was a witness in the Oboronservis case, instituted by the Supreme Internal Affairs Directorate of the Russian Federation after the discovery of major financial fraud in the sale of non-core military assets. The President of the Russian Federation dismissed him from the post of Minister of Defense. In 2013, the Supreme Internal Affairs Directorate of the Russian Federation initiated a criminal case against Serdyukov for the abuse of power (Article 285 of the Criminal Code). In the same year, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation instituted criminal proceedings against Serdyukov. He was charged with negligence, which entailed the infliction of serious damage (part 1 of article 293 of the Criminal Code).

In February 2014, the main military investigative department of the Investigative Committee of Russia decided to terminate the investigation against Serdyukov, as he was amnestied for the 20th anniversary of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, having been recognized as the “defender of the fatherland.” Since 2013, he has held various senior positions at Rostec Corporation. On May 8, 2019, he was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of the United Aircraft Corporation.

Violating human rights and freedoms, promoting the establishment of a dictatorship, widespread corruption, including cross-border one, ties to organized crime, shadow lobbying, obstructing the administration of justice and conducting a preliminary investigation.

In 2012, A. Serdyukov became a central figure in the corruption scandal when the investigating authorities discovered the facts of multibillion-dollar embezzlement in the Ministry of Defense and the Oboronservis commercial organization affiliated with it. It turned out that the Oboronservis enterprise, created during the reform of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in 2008 to dispose of non-core assets and then redirect the proceeds to the needs of the army, served as a personal enrichment tool for the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation and his close associates and business partners.

While serving as the head of the ministry, Serdyukov, together with his subordinate Evgenia Vasilieva (who at that time was the head of a department of the Ministry of Defense), deliberately carried out the illegal sale of state property (real estate, land, and other assets) at low cost to members of their families and close associates. According to experts, the damage caused to the Russian Federation amounted to 16.5 billion rubles.

The fact of his direct personal interest was established during the investigation due to the testimony of the employees of the Ministry of Defense. According to the testimony of Dmitry Mityaev, the former head of the legal service of MIRA LLC, Serdyukov personally issued a directive and instructed the members of the Board of Oboronservis on how to vote on the sale of specific military property. Ekaterina Smetanova, the former head of the Expert Legal Support Center, also gave valuable evidence against the head of the Ministry of Defense. She selected buyers for the property of the Ministry of Defense sold at low prices.

According to experts, as well as former employees of Yukos, Anatoly Serdyukov played a decisive role in the reprisal against Yukos. According to the Vedomosti publication, in 2004, the Yukos case was the first project of Serdyukov as Minister of Taxes and Dues. During this period, tax authorities filed claims against the company for $27.5 billion. At the same time, witnesses indicated that Serdyukov, through his participation in the Yukos trial, sought to demonstrate his loyalty to Vladimir Putin.

The media also published information that Serdyukov, occupying top government posts, personally engaged in shadow lobbying of the business interests of his associates. So, on November 6, 2012, Moskovsky Komsomolets published an article that revealed that the state-owned enterprise Oboronenergosbyt was privatized. To provide the Oboronenergosbyt enterprise with the status of the only electricity supplier for the needs of the defense complex, Anatoly Serdyukov personally lobbied for a special government decree that officially established this status.

Despite extensive evidence of the crimes committed by Anatoly Serdyukov against the state and individuals, the former defense minister never appeared before the court. The Investigative Committee changed tough criminal articles to softer ones. Anyway, Serdykov was amnestied in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, having been recognized as the “defender of the fatherland.” Independent experts associate this fact with his vast connections in Putin’s inner circle. It is noteworthy that, according to one version put forward by experts, the reason for the criminal prosecution of Anatoly Serdyukov was his relations with Evgenia Vasilyeva (according to some reports, the sister of the wife of Dmitry Medvedev), which could infringe on the interests of the Kremlin clans and lead to a redistribution of spheres of influence.