Andrei Skoch: philanthropist and federal politician

Andrei Skoch: the biography of the philanthropist and federal politician

In the fall of 2021, Andrei Skoch was elected deputy to the State Duma for the sixth time. He has been in politics for almost 22 years, participating in the creation of hundreds of federal laws. He is also known as the founder of the charitable foundation Generation (Pokolenie). Let’s talk more about his life and career.

Early years, education

The future parliamentarian was born in the Moscow region on January 30, 1966. He spent his childhood in the same area, in a small village called Nikolskoye. His family was not wealthy, although his father, Vladimir Nikitovich, was an employee of a rather large (at the time) enterprise for the production of the aircraft engine manufacturer.

His father’s career path – from a worker to the head of the trade union – became an example for the young man. Even then, he learned the basic idea: to achieve something in life, you must have two essential qualities – diligence and hard work.

At the beginning of the 80-s, the graduate of the Soviet high school Andrei Skoch spent in service of the Fatherland. Army life in the surveillance and airborne troops ended with demobilization and subsequent enrollment at the Moscow State Open Pedagogical University named after M.A. Sholokhov.

In 1998, he received a higher education with a degree in social pedagogy – a practical psychologist. Two years later, he defended his dissertation on his follow-up activity: charity work. Today Andrei Skoch has the status of a candidate in pedagogical sciences.

Entrepreneurial activity

The immersion into entrepreneurship took place gradually with the active participation of a friend and business partner, Lev Kvetnoy. They launched their first business project at the end of the 1980s. It was a bakery cooperative. On the wave of Western IT companies coming to the Russian market in the early 1990s, business people started supplying and selling components for PCs. But the most successful enterprise was the production and sale of oil products. A network of own gas stations, established by that time, allowed the profitable and quick sale of fuel for cars. In 1992, Andrei Skoch and Kvetnoy got acquainted with Alisher Usmanov, with whom they would work on the investment project Interfin just three years later.

The organization specializes in securities and operations with them. Later, Interfin began integrating into the metallurgical industry, then renamed Metalloinvest. Today it is one of Russia’s leading mining and metallurgical corporations and the world’s largest producer of iron ore products.

Change of vector

In the late 1990s, Andrei Skoch’s career went in a different direction. Appointed deputy general director of the LGOK as a representative of the parent company, he devoted increasing amounts of time to solve the private problems of the Belgorod region residents who turned to him. He conducted personal meetings with citizens in Gubkin, where Lebedinsky GOK was located. As a result, he decides to run for deputy of the State Duma.

In the December 1999 elections, he obtained the voters’ support, gaining 54% of the votes. He became part of the newly-formed State Duma of the third convocation. Subsequently, he was re-elected to parliament in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2016, and 2021. In 2000, he headed the Expert Council on Metallurgy and Mining, where he was able to translate his experience into legislation.

Political career

Over the years of his political career, about two hundred legislative initiatives were adopted at the suggestion of the parliamentarian. One of the conditions for participation in the country’s political life, which deputy Andrei Skoch formulated for himself personally, was social orientation. This can explain, for example, the draft amendments to No. 44 of the Federal Law to regulate the public procurement process, which he developed. This amendment later became the first step in solving the problem of providing Russians with life-saving medications.

In 2018, deputy Andrei Skoch made a loud statement again: he submitted a proposal to his colleagues to amend the federal law “On Education”. The amendments were supposed to give people with disabilities the right to receive additional secondary or higher education for free.

Charity

The emergence of the Generation (Pokolenie) Foundation on the map of the Belgorod Region was an important milestone, not only for the region but for the country as a whole. Even today, when summarizing the preliminary results of the charitable organization’s work, it is possible to note its significant contribution to the general structure of humanization of different spheres – from medicine to education. The Foundation, founded by the politician, helped set up first-aid stations in rural settlements, purchase drugs and medical equipment for hospitals, and install sports grounds. Every year, a scholarship contest is held among college students in the Belgorod region under the patronage of the deputy. During the coronavirus pandemic, the medical staff involved in the fight against COVID-19 also received financial rewards.

Preservation of Historical Memory

One of the directions of the aid of Generation is the financial support of veterans of the Great Patriotic War. The fund has managed to close the queue of Belgorod veterans for cars, which no other subject of the Russian Federation can boast of. As part of the Foundation’s work on repairing and reconstructing monuments, memorials, and mass graves, the memory of the soldiers-defenders of the Fatherland is perpetuated. About 260 objects have been restored. The project has become an example for Hungary and China, where similar work has begun. According to the philanthropist’s opinion, any person in a difficult situation needs sympathy, but what he needs more is concrete help, even if it is small.