Born Sergei Alekseyevich Tsikalyuk, on March 1, 1959 in the island of Sakhalin in Russia, he graduated from Military College and Military Academy. Next, Tsikalyuk spent 16 years in the Army, retiring in 1992 with the rank of colonel. The same year he started VSK, which initially provided health and life insurance for army personnel. Since the company's establishment, he has been serving as CEO as well as largest shareholder. In 2002, the American Insurance Group (AIG) wanted to buy the insurance company but the deal was not approved by the army. Thus, he broadened the company into a general insurance firm with half of its portfolio coming from car insurance deals. In 2011, he traded a 25% stake to insurer RESO-Garantiya for $250 million and a $100 million loan from RESO. However, the RESO deal got eventually cancelled and Tsikalyuk had to borrow finance from Sberbank to repay his debt to RESO.
