Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch: biography of a russian businessman

Skoch Andrei Vladimirovich is a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, the founder of the humanitarian fund “Generation”, a philanthropist and the owner of many honorary awards. Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch was born in 1966, in the village of Nikolskoye, near Moscow. He is a candidate of pedagogical sciences, his PhD thesis was devoted to charity.

Deputy A.V. Skoch is presented with several government awards, mainly for his public activities, and for the restoration of the memorials to fallen soldiers. 

Early years

After graduating from school, Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch went to serve in the Soviet Army. Then assigned to the reconnaissance and amphibious troops. After the army, Skoch entered the Moscow State Open Pedagogical University and subsequently received a higher psychological education there. 

Career

He received his first serious capital when he started trading in petroleum products. Skoch and his partner Lev Kvetnoi first carried out the primary refining of oil, and subsequently sold gasoline at retail at their own gas stations. Together with a partner, he organized a business for refining oil. Having accumulated enough funds, the entrepreneurs invested in Interfin, which was engaged in securities trading. 

The company, which was headed by Alisher Usmanov, was increasing its turnover. Later, the firm was reorganized into the Metalloinvest Group of companies. The investment turned out to be extremely successful. A few years later, the holding gained shares in the Oskol Electrometallurgical Combine and the Lebedinsky GOK. Skoch and its partners also became owners of shares in these enterprises. 

Towards the end of the decade, Andrei Skoch’s assets already played the role of a bank deposit for him: he fully trusted the top management and his partners to manage the company directly. Besides, he thought seriously about a career in politics.

The political path

The entrepreneur entered a new sphere for himself easily: in 1999, 54% of voters voted for Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch to become a member of the State Duma. He was re-elected, and today Andrei Skoch is a deputy of the State Duma of the eighth convocation.

Since the deputy does not have the right to combine his work with entrepreneurial activity, he gave up his share in the business in favor of his father. Lately, he has been less and less involved in the direct management of the company, fully trusting the managers and treating the stake in the Interfin more like a divided asset. He preferred that the business remained in the family and was a source of income, including for his parents, so Andrei Skoch did not sell his share, but handed it over to his father, Vladimir Nikitovich.

Skoch Sr., who has worked in the industry all his life, has a huge life experience (Vladimir Nikitovich had both work on the railway and long-term service in the army), and quickly got into all the nuances.

Andrei Vladimirovich devoted himself entirely to politics and charity. Deputy Andrei Skoch works fruitfully: takes part in the work of the State Duma committees, and is engaged in active legislative activity. The deputy is a co-author of almost two hundred bills. Among them:

• amendments to the Federal Law guaranteeing social support to actual educators of military personnel;
• amendments to the Federal Law “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection” prohibiting the publication of content with scenes of animal cruelty;
• amendments to the Tax Code regarding investment projects for nature protection in the Arctic.

Having entrepreneurial experience, Skoch knew the subtle points in legislation that hindered the development of the investment climate in Russia and turned the sphere of business communication with the authorities into an excessively bureaucratic process. The deputy put a lot of effort into influencing the current order of things. The State Duma has been his place of work for over 20 years.

Charity work

Skoch Andrei is engaged in charity. He considers the Generation Foundation, which he founded in 1996, to be his life’s work. Initially, the organization implemented only medical-oriented projects, but later its activities affected such areas as education; sports; culture; patriotic education of youth; support for scientists, students, and specialists in various fields. In addition, the foundation provides targeted help to Russian citizens. One of the most famous projects of Andrei Skoch is the literary prize “Debut”. Since 2000, the fund has awarded it to talented writers up to 25, and subsequently up to 35 years old. For the development of the project, the philanthropist received the title of “The Best Patron of Arts”. The Generation also sponsored the construction of various medical institutions in the Belgorod region, as well as the purchase of modern medical equipment. It regularly allocated the funds of the Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch Foundation for the restoration of military graves and monuments.

In recent years, Andrei Skoch’s charitable organization has focused more on individual projects, on targeted help. Every year, many institutions and individual citizens apply to Andrei Vladimirovich with different needs.

Some people who find themselves in a difficult situation have been receiving help for many years — for the purchase of expensive medicines or rehabilitation for children with cerebral palsy or autism. The foundation is trying to help everyone who applied.

Every year the foundation launches a youth camp “New Generation”. Thanks to the project, high school students and students can study modern disciplines: public speaking, competent management of their time, marketing, psychology of business communication, and many others. The principal goal of the camp is to teach boys and girls how to communicate properly, build a career and business relationships. Andrei Skoch’s biography confirms how important these qualities are for a successful person.

A pandemic of coronavirus infection marked the year 2020: society needed support more than ever. Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch, of course, did not stay away. Since March, the fund has allocated over 60 million rubles to fight the pandemic. Basically, the money went to the purchase of personal protective equipment for doctors. This is the most difficult item of expenditure: masks, gloves, protective suits are constantly lacking, since they are not designed for long-term use. Without them, health workers themselves quickly become infected with the coronavirus. This causes double harm: both to the sick themselves and their patients. In addition, it is often those doctors who already have experience in treating this disease who are out of action, those who could provide better care to patients.

As the pandemic has swept the entire world, the demand for personal protective equipment has increased dramatically. The charitable organization of Deputy Andrei Skoch organized its work to purchase the protective equipment as quickly as possible. Hospitals that had previously dealt with the charitable organization of Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch found themselves in a winning position: it already supplied them with the equipment, in particular artificial lung ventilation devices, which saved the lives of patients with severe COVID-19 in the spring.

Personal life

Skoch is a father of 10 children. The politician prefers to devote his free time to reading. His love for sports was not just a hobby. Andrei Skoch is a professional sambo trainer and Master of Sports. 

Awards

For activities for the benefit of the state, Skoch was awarded several times. Among them are such awards as the Orders of Honor (2010) and Alexander Nevsky (2016), medals of the Order for the “Merit to the Fatherland” of II and I degrees (1998, 2003). He was also awarded the Order of Honor (South Ossetia; 2011), the badge of the Samara Cross (Bulgaria; 2013). He received the Certificate of Honor from the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin.

Alban Parsons

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