Rustam Minnikhanov, President of Tatarstan, a successful politician and an exemplary family man who enjoys "popular" popularity and arouses interest in his personality.
Rustam Nurgalievich Minnikhanov was born in the small village of Novy Arysh, Rybno-Slobodsky district of the Republic of Tatarstan (then still the Tatar ASSR) on March 1, 1957. In addition to Rustam Nurgalievich, the family already had the eldest son, Rifkat, and later the youngest son, Rais, was born.
In the early 60s, the Minnikhanovs moved closer to Kazan to the Sabinsky district. Here the dad of the future president of Tatarstan, Nurgali Midkhadovich, took over as head of the local forestry industry and worked in this position for almost 30 years. Mom, Vasiga Mubarakovna, worked as a teacher in a kindergarten.
Rustam Minnikhanov graduated from the first eight classes at the forestry enterprise, and to receive secondary education he transferred to the Sabinsk secondary school, 15 kilometers from his home. On weekdays, the boy lived in a boarding school and only spent weekends with his parents. Despite the fact that Rustam Nurgalievich studied well, he did not display his knowledge, but if it was necessary to answer the teacher, he was always ready. After graduating from school, the young man went to Kazan and without any particular difficulties entered the Kazan Agricultural Institute, graduating from which in 1978, he received a diploma in mechanical engineering. As a young certified specialist, Rustam Minnikhanov returns to his native place, where he first holds the position of diagnostic engineer, then senior, and then chief power engineer of the Sabinsky timber industry enterprise.
The beginning of the political career of the future president of Tatarstan can be considered 1983, when he became deputy head of the board of the Sabinsky region. Two years later, he was offered the post of head of the local self-government body of the Arsk district, then the chairman of the district executive committee of the same district, and in 1996 Rustam Nurgalievich became the head of the administration of the Vysokogorsk district.
Minnikhanov’s political career began to take off very soon. From 1996 to 1998, he headed the Ministry of Finance of Tatarstan. In 1998 he became the prime minister of the republic, and in 1999, in parallel with the position already held, he was elected chairman of the board of directors of the joint-stock company TATNEFT.
On January 22, 2010, after many years of service as Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan and the self-rejection of Mintimer Shaimiev, Rustam Nurgalievich was recommended by Dmitry Medvedev to the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan to empower him with the powers of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan. On March 25, 2010, he took the oath and officially took office as President of the Republic of Tatarstan.
Achieving professional success, Rustam Nurgalievich did not forget about the need to improve the educational level. In 1986, he graduated from the Kazan branch of the Moscow Institute of Soviet Trade, receiving a merchandising diploma. Years later, namely in 2003, he received his doctorate in economics.
The thoroughness with which Rustam Minnikhanov built his professional career was reflected in his attitude to his personal life. For more than thirty years he has been legally married to Gulsina Akhatovna. The wife of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan is a very successful businesswoman. She runs an elite beauty salon. The couple had two sons: Irek and Iskander. But the plane crash of 2013, which befell the Moscow-Kazan flight, claimed the life of Irek's eldest son. He is survived by a pregnant wife, who gave birth to a daughter, Andriana, a few months after the tragedy. Despite the fact that neither Rustam Nurgalievich himself, nor his wife expose his personal life to the public, it is known that he treats his family with trepidation and love, is an opponent of divorce. Now the Minnikhanov family, having grieved over the loss of their eldest son, directs their parental care to the upbringing of their youngest son and a wonderful granddaughter.
