PHILANTHROPIST AND POLITICIAN ANDREI SKOCH
Andrei Skoch is a deputy of the State Duma of Russia. In the 1990s, he built a successful career in business, but later decided to devote his life to lawmaking.
Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch was born in 1966 in Nikolskoye village. After finishing school, he served in the army in a reconnaissance company. He received his higher education at the Moscow Pedagogical University, where he studied psychology. In 2000, he defended his dissertation and became a candidate of pedagogical sciences.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch started doing his business in the early 1990s. At first, together with his friends, he opened a bakery cooperative. Later, together with his business partner Lev Kvetnoi, A.V. Skoch sold computers and their components, and then plunged into the oil products trade. In 1992, their business faced significant difficulties, which led to the entrepreneurs meeting Alisher Usmanov– the future founder of the Interfin company. In 1995, they invested in his organization, which invested money in stock trading and buying shares in promising companies.
Later, after Andrei Skoch’s departure into politics, Interfin was transformed into the Metalloinvest Group of companies, which today is a part of the USM holding. The latter manages assets not only in the field of metallurgy and mining, but also in such areas as technology, the Internet, telecommunications and many others. The USM holding, among others, owns the cellular company Megafon and a share in the Mail.ru Group.
DEPUTY ANDREI VLADIMIROVICH SKOCH
By the end of the 1990s, Andrei Skoch decided to end his entrepreneurial career. By that time, his assets had begun to play the role of a bank deposit. He passed these assets on to his father Vladimir Skoch, who had extensive experience in the industrial sector and was a successful trade union leader. A.V. Skoch decided to devote his life to political activity. During the elections for deputies of the State Duma of Russia in 1999, he put forward his candidacy from Belgorod region. As a result, he gained almost 55% of the votes and thus took a legislative position.
Andrei Skoch has been a deputy for five convocations. During all this time, he has co-authored more than 160 legislative initiatives, including:
- the project of extending the “dacha amnesty”, which provides the possibility of registration of ownership of their land plots, baths, garages and other real estate in a simplified manner;
- amendments to the article 20 of the Federal Law “On the Basics of Protecting the Health of Citizens in the Russian Federation” – the draft clarifies the rules that the medical institutions must follow in order to obtain informed consent from the patients or their legal representatives to carry out medical procedures or operations;
- a draft, which establishes the right of the citizens with disabilities to receive secondary vocational or higher education free of charge if they can no longer work in their former place of employment;
- amendments to article 47 of the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation”, which established the necessity to pay additional compensation to the teachers who prepare their students for the state exams.
In addition, in 2000, Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch was appointed head of the Expert Council on Metallurgy and Mining, and in 2012 he became a member of the State Duma Committee on CIS affairs and relations with Countrymen.
ANDREI SKOCH’S CHARITY FOUNDATION
Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch is also actively engaged in charitable activities. In 1996, he founded his own fund entitled Generation (Pokolenie), which today provides assistance to Russian citizens in a wide range of areas. The organization was originally called the Healthy Generation (Zdorovoye Pokolenie) and primarily supported children with severe heart diseases.
Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch’s Foundation still regularly allocates significant funds to support medicine in the country. Thus, he financed the construction of the medical and the neuro-orthopedic centers in Belgorod. In addition, an ophthalmological center was opened in Stary Oskol thanks to the foundation. These medical institutions were equipped with the latest technology, equivalent to the best clinics in the world.
The Generation Foundation also purchased equipment for the other medical centers. Among other things, it purchased X-ray machines, tomographs, anesthesia machines, fluorographs, blood transfusion stations, dental equipment, artificial kidney devices, ultrasound scanners and many other devices. In total, it provided hospitals with over 500 units of medical equipment for a total amount of over 385 million rubles.
Andrey Skoch’s charitable organization also develops projects in the cultural sphere. For instance, young writers received support from the fund, being granted the “Debut” award for the best works written in Russian language. From 2000 to 2016, hundreds of thousands of manuscripts were reviewed for this project. The winners in each of the six nominations received a cash reward of 1 million rubles.
From 2011 to 2016, on the initiative of the foundation, a competition “Parental Record” was held, established to support large families. The winners were determined in four categories: The father with the most children, the mother with the most children, the family with the most children and the “Open Heart” award. During the years the competition was held, 22 families were provided with a total of more than 72 million rubles.
The Generation Foundation also provides funds to restore military graves, memorials and monuments in order to perpetuate the memory of Soviet and Russian defenders of the Fatherland.
In addition, Andrei Vladimirovich sent 2.3 billion rubles to the budget of the Belgorod region in 2020. These funds will be used for major repairs, construction and restoration of various social facilities. Nurseries, schools, university dormitories and cultural centers will be renovated in 12 municipalities of the region, and new water supply networks and treatment facilities will also be installed.
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