In 1985, after release from compulsory
military service, he began work as an assistant manager, and later manager, at a furniture shop of Lenmebeltorg – a Leningrad furniture manufacturer and retailer. In 1991, he was promoted to Deputy Commercial Director of Lenmebeltorg. He was promoted to General Director when Lenmebeltorg transformed into JSC (Saint-Petersburg Industrial Company). From 1993 to 2000 he worked at Mebel-Market company, Saint Petersburg, first as Deputy Director, then as Marketing Director, and finally from 1995-2000 as CEO. Serdyukov's already successful career further developed in tandem with his
father-in-law's,
Viktor Zubkov, and after the election of
Vladimir Putin as Russian President in 2000. From 2000 to 2001, Serdyukov, working under his father-in-law
Viktor Zubkov, served as Deputy Chief of the Saint Petersburg Directorate of the Tax Ministry of Russia (now
Federal Taxation Service of Russia). From 2001 to 2004, he led the directorate, succeeding
Viktor Zubkov. On 2 March 2004, he was appointed Deputy Tax Minister of Russia.
Minister of Taxes (2004–2007) From 2004 to 2007, he led the Tax Ministry (in July 2004 reorganized into the
Federal Tax Service of Russia). During this period, the key officials of the service were replaced mainly by Serdyukov's colleagues from
Saint Petersburg. He also often resorted to personnel rotation and appointment of former federal tax officials to the regional tax service departments in the
federal subjects of Russia. During his tenure, court decisions in favour of the federal tax service became much more common. While the service was formally subordinate to the Finance Ministry under
Alexey Kudrin, in fact Serdyukov very much leaned towards Presidential aide
Viktor Ivanov.
Minister of Defense (2007–2012) On 15 February 2007, President Vladimir Putin appointed Serdyukov as
Minister of Defence, with the main task of fighting corruption and inefficiency in the Russian Armed Forces. This started a conflict that would last through Serdyukov's time as Defense Minister with the
General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as the General Staff considered the appointment of a civilian, primarily a former furniture dealer and with no remarkable military background, as an insult. To heighten the conflict, the
Chief of the General Staff at the time,
Yuri Baluyevsky, demanded that the new Defence Minister would have to spend 1 month in the General Staff as "preparatory training" to have an idea of the "job at hand". On 14 September 2007, Serdyukov offered his resignation to the president over family relations with
Viktor Zubkov, but this resignation was not accepted. However, before Putin responded, Baluyevsky did publicly support the resignation of Serdyukov and stated sarcastically that "the next Defence Minister could be a woman". After Putin rejected the resignation of Serdyukov, Serdyukov retaliated by organising an audit and inspection how the senior members of General Staff managed with the mandatory physical requirements test for Armed Forces members. Most of them failed and hence created a storm in the Russian media.
Activities at Ministry of Defense (MoD) In office, Serdyukov chose not to get involved in the daily administration of troops and operational-strategic planning, leaving these matters to the professionals. Instead, he focused on organizational and budgetary issues, in which he, according to
Moscow Defense Brief, "insisted upon an unprecedented (at least for the MoD) level of precision and fastidiousness." According to
Moscow Defense Brief, Serdyukov’s first year in office was marked by convulsions, "the likes of which have not been seen on the Arbat in decades." The magazine pointed out, that "Serdyukov brought apparently unlimited energy to a thorough purge of the department." He fired almost a third of the top officers of the Central Military Administration and initiated a sea of change in the Ministry of Defense. The main rationale behind his reforms was the transformation from a mass mobilization army to a small force of contract soldiers. Serdyukov also launched plans to reduce personnel in the central administration by 30%, which would lead to the liquidation of a significant number of positions filled by generals and colonels. Because of the pressure, the deadline for implementing the cuts was put back from 2012 to 2016. Later, this was proved by following Baluyevsky's resignation.
Dismissal from Ministry of Defense (2012–2014) In 2001, Serdyukov, his wife Julia Zubkova, and Yevgeniya Vasilyeva all were classmates and graduated from Law School at Saint Petersburg State University (Russia). In 2010, Yevgeniya Vasilyeva began working at the Ministry of Defense, with Serdyukov as her boss. At some point in time, Serdyukov and Yevgeniya Vasilyeva began an illicit adulterous love affair while Serdyukov was still married to
Viktor Zubkov's daughter. In 2012, Yevgeniya Vasilyeva came under investigation for corruption as head of the Ministry of Defense, Department of Property Relations. On 25 October 2012, Vasilyeva's apartment was searched in connection with the case. Discovered and seized from the apartment were more than three million rubles, nearly $747,000 worth of diamonds, several dozen paintings, pearls, and other jewelry, amongst other things. Also discovered at her apartment was the married Minister of Defense, Anatoly Serdyukov. Serdyukov's father-in-law, Viktor Zubkov, still powerful as the chairman of
Gazprom and still a close ally of Vladimir Putin, was reportedly very angry when Serdyukov's adulterous affair was discovered. On 6 November 2012 - twelve days after Serdyukov was discovered in Yevgeniya Vasilyeva's apartment - he was dismissed (fired) by Putin and was replaced by
Sergei Shoigu. In November 2013, Serdyukov was charged by Russian investigators with "negligence" for ordering the army to build a road from a village to a private country residence in Russia's south. He was amnestied in 2014 by a presidential decree.
Rostec (2015–present) In October 2015, he was appointed as an Industrial Director of
Rostec State Corporation. His duties include supervising of all the company's aviation-related activities from
helicopter-building to airplane engines. ==Personal life==