Biography

I am endlessly thankful to my parents for giving me the great gift of life, for raising me and teaching me not to shy any work, to be able to do a lot of things with my own hands, to respect people. I will be ever grateful to them for giving their all, all their lives to us, their children.

Alexander Volkov

Alexander Volkov was born on December 25, 1951 in Bryansk. His father Alexander Semenovich, raised in a worker's family, worked at the Bryansk Machine-Building Factory (he spent 44 years of his life working there as team leader and foreman). His mother came from the village of Vysokoe, Bryanskaya Oblast.

The family lived in a house built with their own hands. Each of the seven children had household tasks to perform, like digging the garden, weeding, stacking hay, etc.

In 1970, upon graduation from the Bryansk Technical School of Construction, Alexander Volkov was assigned to the Construction Directorate, Chepetsky Mekhanichesky Zavod plant in the city of Glazov, Udmurt Republic.

Working as foreman in charge of several teams he participated in the construction of the world's largest facility designed for the production of zirconium products for nuclear power plants.

Alexander Volkov obtained a degree in construction at the Perm Polytechnical Institute, and at the age of 26 was appointed chief engineer of a large construction department; at 34 he went on to head it.

In 1972 Alexander Volkov was elected Chairman of the Glazov City Executive Committee. Over the years that he worked in this position so many construction projects were implemented in the city that it would be difficult to enumerate all: kindergartens, hospitals, schools, public housing, including the first ever in Udmurtia cottage community built for the workers of a local animal feed factory and construction workers.

In 1989 Alexander Volkov assumed the position of the First Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

In 1990 he became Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the UASSR simultaneously chairing the State Committee for Architecture and Construction.

In June 1993 Alexander Volkov was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Udmurt Republic. It was then that he decided to go into politics. He ran for the position of the UdmurtRepublic representative in the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, won the election and then represented the UdmurtRepublic in the Federation Council for over seven years.

While serving in this position he grew into a highly respected political figure, and in 1995, in a situation characterized by rather complicated relations between the legislative and executive branches, Alexander Volkov became the highest official in the UdmurtRepublic, the Chairman of the State Council.

In 1996 Alexander Volkov graduated from the Moscow International Business Institute.

In 1998 he defended a thesis and earned the Candidate of Economics degree.

In 1999, appreciating Alexander Volkov’s efforts and achievements in tackling most urgent economic and social problems in the Udmurt Republic, the deputies of the State Council re-elected him their chairman.

In 2000 citizens of Udmurtia elected Alevander Volkov the first President of the Udmurt Republic.

On 15 March, 2004 Alexander Volkov was re-elected President of the Udmurt Republic.

On February 20, 2009, on the proposal of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, the State Council of the Udmurt Republic vested Alexander Volkov with the powers of the President of the Udmurt Republic.

State awards: Order of Service to the Fatherland, 2nd Class; Order of Service to the Fatherland, 4th Class; Order of Friendship; Certificate of Honor, Government of the Russian Federation; Honored Builder of the Russian Federation title; medals: 850th Anniversary of Moscow, 300th Anniversary of Saint Petersburg, Medal for Merit in the All-Russia Census.

Russian Orthodox Church awards: Order of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, 1st degree; Order of Saint Prince Daniel of Moscow, 2nd degree.