DEPUTY ANDREI VLADIMIROVICH SKOCH: HIS BIOGRAPHY, CAREER AND CHARITY PROJECTS
Andrei Skoch, a former successful entrepreneur, left his career as a businessman at the age of 33 and became a politician. Today, he is one of the most experienced deputies of the State Duma and the co-author of more than 160 legislative drafts. The name Andrei Vladimirovich is also closely connected with charitable activities.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Andrei Vladimirovich was born on January 30, 1966. His father, Vladimir Nikitovich, worked at the Moscow plant “Salyut”. The family lived nearby in Nikolskoye village. After graduating from a local high school, Andrei was drafted into the Soviet Army. According to some reports, his service took place in a reconnaissance and amphibious company.
Returning home, he focused on achieving his higher education and later graduated from the Moscow State Open Pedagogical University named after M.A. Sholokhov. Andrei Skoch also has an academic degree — he is a candidate of pedagogical sciences, having successfully defended his thesis in the 2000s.
BUSINESS ACUMEN
Andrei Vladimirovich dreamed about running his own business since he returned from the army. In the 1980s and 1990s, many Russians started opening their own businesses, but not everyone succeeded. Andrei Skoch, however, prospered and thrived.
He opened his first cooperative together with his business partner Lev Kvetnoi, a small bakery. Andrei Vladimirovich’s next business was selling computer equipment. He then moved up in the sale of oil where he found his greatest success.
In 1995, cooperation between Andrei Skoch and an entrepreneur Alisher Usmanov began. Andrei Skoch was offered the chance to invest money in Usmanov’s company operating in the securities market, making him a co-owner of Interfin. A few years later, the organization was transformed into the Metalloinvest group. Later, the USM holding was created on its basis.
ASSISTANCE TO THE PEOPLE
In 1996, Andrei Skoch founded the Healthy Generation (Zdorovoye Pokolenie) charity organization, which helped seriously ill children: it sponsored surgeries and purchased expensive drugs needed for treatment. A few years later, the organization was renamed Pokolenie (Generation), and it began to help not only children, but also other categories of the population.
Public activity began to occupy more and more space in Andrei Skoch’s life. He began to think about going into politics and in 1999, he took part in the elections to the State Duma, running from the Belgorod region. He was successful in his election campaign and became a deputy of the third convocation of the State Duma.
POLITICAL CAREER
Having joined the lower house of the federal parliament, Andrei Skoch transferred his business to his father.Currently, the assets of Andrei Skoch Sr. include shares in the USM holding and Vnukovo International Airport.
Meanwhile, his son devoted himself to politics and achieved significant success in this field. Andrei Skoch is rightfully considered one of the most experienced deputies, having been re-elected to the Duma five more times and over the course of 22 years. In 2005, the parliamentarian joined the United Russia ( Edinaya Rossiya) political party.
Andrei Skoch drafted nearly 160 legislative initiatives in collaboration with his colleagues. These include amendments to existing laws, as well as wholly new initiatives. Among them are the following:
- Extension of the simplified procedure for registration of ownership of land plots and country houses that citizens use for gardening and vegetable growing— so-called the “dacha amnesty”;
- Compensation payments to educators of military personnel who died while on duty;
- Restriction of access to information and materials about animal cruelty posted on the Internet;
- Amendments to clarify the levels of higher education required for obtaining the second and subsequent diplomas free of charge;
- Implementation of environmental investment projects in the territory of the Arctic within the borders of the Russian Federation.
THE POKOLENIE FOUNDATION CONTINUES ITS WORK
Since the creation of the charity organization, Andrei Skoch and his father have been actively funding and running the Foundation. They initiate educational and humanitarian programs, and finance socially significant projects. Today, the wards of the organization are not only seriously ill children, but also the older generation, veterans, big families, and young people.
Most of the foundation’s programs were created for residents of the Belgorod region, however, in its 25 years of work, Pokolenie has also implemented more than one all-Russian project, and even some that took place on an international scale. Andrei Vladimirovich initiated the “Parental Record” competition, in which families from all over the country took part annually. The winners are paid large cash bonuses to support their family.
The literary prize “Debut”, was also established by the Pokolenie Foundation, which had an international status. This project, aimed at finding and supporting young talented poets and writers, existed for 16 years. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of authors from Russia and abroad took part in the competition. The laureates were given the opportunity to publish their works for royalties and given a cash prize.
The work of the humanitarian organization acquired particular importance during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, the foundation was one of the first to come to the aid of the medical workers: it organized the purchase of protective equipment, antiseptics, and materials for sewing protective suits for the doctors. Doctors working in the “red” zone also received cash bonuses from the foundation.
Andrei Skoch organized assistance to the Belgorod sisterhood. During the epidemic, the nuns had to close their refectory where they usually offer free lunches to needy residents. In order to resume their work and make it safer, the Pokolenie foundation allocated over 10 thousand sets of disposable tableware to the religious association, allowing them to reopen the program.
The foundation and its trustees have engaged in hundreds of charitable programs: from the construction of hospitals to the transfer of two thousand new cars to veterans of the Great Patriotic War. The Pokolenie Foundation continues to work for the benefit of the people to the present day.