Roustam Tariko (russian: Рустам Тарико; born March 17, 1962) is the founder of
Russian Standard Vodka
Russian Standard ( rus, Ру́сский Станда́рт, r=Rússkу Standárt, p=ˈrusːkʲɪj stɐnˈdart) is a major Russian company producing the vodka brand of the same name. The brand was founded by Roustam Tariko in 1998.
History
The ...
. He also founded
Russian Standard Bank
Russian Standard Bank (russian: АО «Банк Русский Стандарт») is one of the largest Russian banks[Menzelinsk
Menzelinsk (russian: Мензели́нск; tt-Cyrl, Минзәлә, ''Minzälä'') is a town and the administrative center of Menzelinsky District in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the Menzelya River near its confluence with th ...]
in
Tatarstan
The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...
on March 17, 1962, Tariko moved to Moscow to study at the age of 17. He graduated in 1989 from the Economics faculty of
Moscow Institute for Railway Engineering and got an MBA from
Institut européen d'administration des affaires in France in 2000.
[Roustam Tariko's Biography]
/ref>
Entrance to the business world
The economic reforms of the 1980s created new business opportunities, which Tariko recognized and took advantage of. Unlike many other Russian businessmen who created their empires through the privatization
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
of state enterprises in the early 1990s, Tariko built his company from scratch.
While studying, Tariko had a part-time job as a street cleaner
A street sweeper or street cleaner may refer to a person's occupation or to a machine that cleans streets.
Street sweepers have been employed in cities as "sanitation workers" since sanitation and waste removal became a priority. A stre ...
. According to Tariko, he had to get up early to start his shift and clear the snow, even when the temperatures fell at −20 °C. Already at this point, Tariko had an eye for making money, as his first business venture was a small cleaning company which he had established with two friends.[Banking on a vodka empire. Interview:Roustam Tariko]
The Sunday Times
Hotel Renovation
Starting working part time as an independent guide while still operating a cleaning service Tariko made an arrangement with a large government hotel. Clients of the guide service had been complaining about the condition of the hotel rooms. Tariko's arrangement was that in exchange for a portion of room rents he would renovate some of the rooms. This service to clients and hotels became an expanding portion of his enterprises eclipsing cleaning.
Expansion
In the late 1980s, Tariko began importing Kinder Surprise
Kinder Surprise (Italian: ''Kinder Sorpresa'' or ''Ovetto Kinder''), also known as Kinder Egg or Kinder Surprise Egg, is a milk chocolate consisting of a chocolate egg surrounding a yellow plastic capsule with a small toy inside. Manufactured by t ...
and Ferrero Rocher
Ferrero Rocher () is a chocolate and hazelnut confectionery, introduced in 1982 and produced by the Italian company Ferrero. Michele Ferrero is credited as the product's creator.
Each Ferrero Rocher ball is covered in foil and placed into a pa ...
chocolates to the Soviet Union and selling them for rubles. Previously, such goods were only available in hard currency stores closed to average Russians. Tariko parlayed his success in selling Italian chocolates into an exclusive contract to import the Martini brand. Record sales of Martini enabled him to grow his company Roust Inc. into the leading importer of premium spirits in Russia.[
Building on his success, Tariko wanted to build a Russian consumer brand which would "embody the vibrant spirit of Russia." Tariko reportedly wondered why Russia, the biggest vodka market in the world did not possess a domestically produced premium vodka brand. In 1998, Tariko, through his ]Russian Standard Company
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
, brought to market Russian Standard Vodka
Russian Standard ( rus, Ру́сский Станда́рт, r=Rússkу Standárt, p=ˈrusːkʲɪj stɐnˈdart) is a major Russian company producing the vodka brand of the same name. The brand was founded by Roustam Tariko in 1998.
History
The ...
Original, the first genuinely Russian premium vodka. It became an almost instant success, and quickly established itself as the number one brand of its kind in the country.
In 1999, Tariko expanded his empire into the banking business by founding Russian Standard Bank
Russian Standard Bank (russian: АО «Банк Русский Стандарт») is one of the largest Russian banks[Russian intelligence
The Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation ( rus, Служба внешней разведки Российской Федерации, r=Sluzhba vneshney razvedki Rossiyskoy Federatsii , p=ˈsluʐbə ˈvnʲɛʂnʲɪj rɐˈzvʲɛ ...]
specialist in radio fuses involved with "Delta-1" (russian: «Дельта-1»), worked at Russian Standard Bank in the early 2000s and on 17 April 2021 was expelled as ''persona non grata
In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution.
Diplomacy
Under Article 9 of the ...
'' from the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
following the 2014 explosions at a Czech ammunition depot by GRU
The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́вное управле́ние Генера́льного шта́ба Вооружённых сил Росси́йской Федера́ци ...
in Vrbětice
Vrbětice is a village and administrative part of Vlachovice (Zlín District), Vlachovice in Zlín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It is located in the valley of the river Vlára.
History
The first written mention of Vrbětic ...
. Today, the bank is the market leader in consumer finance and the country's largest consumer lending bank.
In total, the companies belonging to Tariko's holding company Russian Standard Corporation Russian Standard Corporation (russian: Корпорация «Русский Стандарт») is a holding company owned by the businessman Roustam Tariko.
It holds the stock of the following companies:
* Russian Standard Company, the producer ...
now employ over 25,000 people.[
]
Net worth
In Forbes magazine's "World's Richest People" ranking of 2009, Tariko was listed at number 647 with an estimated wealth of $1.1 billion.
Personal life
Roustam Tariko is unmarried
Civil status, or marital status, are the distinct options that describe a person's relationship with a significant other. ''Married'', '' single'', '' divorced'', and ''widowed'' are examples of civil status.
''Civil status'' and ''marital stat ...
and has five children. The mother of Tariko’s twin daughters, Eva and Anna, is Tatiana Osipova. Aliona Gavrilova is the mother of Tariko’s third child, a boy, named Roustam Junior.[Brett Forrest]
A NEW BRAND OF RUSSIAN MOGUL
// Vanity Fair Two more children, Leo (b.2020) and Rosa (b.2021) were born to him & Yulia Polyachikhina
Yulia Sergeyevna Polyachikhina (russian: Юлия Сергеевна Полячихина; born 6 February 2000) is a Russian model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Russia 2018. She represented Russia at the Miss Universe 2018 ...
.
Notes
References
External links
List of Russian billionaires
(in rubles
The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union.
, currencies named ''rub ...
)
Biography at Forbes World's Richest People
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tariko, Rustam
1962 births
Living people
Russian food industry businesspeople
Russian billionaires
People from Ufa Governorate
Drink distillers
INSEAD alumni