Vladimir Yakunin Vladimir Ivanovich Yakunin ( ; born June 30 , 1948 in Melenki , Vladimir Oblast ) is a Russian official , president of the state - run Russian Railways company . Early life . Yakunin was born in Zakharovo in Gus - Khrustalny District of Vladimir Oblast . Аccording to another source , in Melenki , Vladimir Oblast He mentioned that he ’ s been to the village of his birth only twice : when he was born and once more when he visited his grandparents . Until the age of 14 he was living in Pärnu , Estonia . His father was a pilot of the USSR Border Troops . His mother was an accountant . In 1964 his father demobilized and the family moved to Leningrad , which Vladimir Ivanovich refers to as his home town . Career . In 1972 Yakunin graduated from the Leningrad Mechanical Institute where he studied aircraft construction . He graduated as master mechanic specializing in engineering and maintenance of long - range ballistic missiles . His career began in the State Institute for Applied Chemistry in Leningrad , where he worked from 1972 to 1975 . In 1975 he joined the USSR Army . After demobilizing in 1977 he worked as a senior engineer in the State Committee for International Trade of the Sovmin until 1982 . In 1982 - 1985 he was one of the heads of the Foreign Relations Department in the Ioffe Physico - Technical Institute . Between 1985 and 1991 , Yakunin was part of the Soviet diplomatic mission to the United Nations , since 1988 , as the Mission ' s First Secretary . Early in 1991 left government service to become a businessman . He was chairman of the board in the International Business Cooperation Center . In December 1991 he became a member of the board of directors and minor shareholder of the Russia bank . Since the early 90s , Yakunin owns a dacha in Solovyovka , Priozersky district of the Leningrad region , which is located on the eastern shore of the Komsomol ' skoye lake on the Karelian Isthmus near St . Petersburg . His neighbours there are Vladimir Putin , Andrei Fursenko , Sergey Fursenko , Yuriy Kovalchuk , Viktor Myachin , Vladimir Smirnov and Nikolay Shamalov . On November 10 , 1996 , together they instituted the co - operative society Ozero ( the Lake ) which united their properties . In 1997 he once again became a government official , working as head of the North - West Regional Inspection of Government Accountability Office . From December 7 , 2000 to February 2002 , Yakunin was deputy of Russia ' s Transport Minister Sergey Frank , supervising merchant fleet development and seaport business functions . . On February 8 , 2002 he was appointed First deputy of the new Transport Minister Gennady Fadeev where he worked until October 22 , 2003 . On October 24 , 2003 Yakunin became Deputy Head of the Russian Railways headed by Gennady Fadeev , created out of the Ministry . On June 15 , 2005 , he was appointed Head of the Russian Railways ( Government decree 786 - r , June 14 , 2005 ) . He was later reappointed to the same office twice ( Government decree 843 - r , June 12 , 2008 and Government decree 987 - r June 10 , 2011 ) . December 12 , 2012 in Paris the International Union of Railways General assembly appointed Yakunin chairman of the Union . Yakunin is also President of the " World Public Forum - Dialogue of Civilizations " , an International NGO , registered in Vienna , Austria , which he co - founded with C . Kapur of India and N . Papanikolao from Greece / USA . World Public Forum - Dialogue of Civilizations is an initiative to link people of different civilizations , traditions and religions . It organizes the annual Rhodes Conference on Dialogue of Civilizations . Honours and awards . In October 2007 , for his contribution to the implementation of measures to reform the railway transport development strategy of the Russian railways , providing constructive social policy , effective communication with the public authorities of the Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation , as well as with foreign railway administrations and international organizations awarded " Honourable railwayman JSC " Russian Railways .