Roustam Tariko (*)

Roustam Tariko is a Russian entrepreneur, born in 1962 in Menzelinsk, Tatarstan, best known as the founder of Russian Standard Vodka. He built his business empire from scratch starting with importing Western consumer goods into the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, later launching Russian Standard Company, which brought the first premium domestically produced Russian vodka to market in 1998. He also founded Russian Standard Bank, a credit card operation, and a life insurance business, with his holding company Russian Standard Corporation employing thousands of people.