A biography
Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch was born in 1966 in Nikolskoye, a village that falls within the urbanized Odintsovo district of the Moscow Region. He grew up in his native village and went to school there.
In 1984 he began serving as a paratrooper in the reconnaissance division, where he got to know his future business partner and comrade in arms, Lev Kvetnoy.
After his demobilization, Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch took up studies at the humanitarian faculty of Sholokhov State Open Pedagogical University in Moscow, where he read Social Pedagogics and Applied Psychology. In the early 2000s, after completing the postgraduate program, Andrey Vladimirovich successfully defended his dissertation and was awarded a PhD degree in Pedagogics.
In addition, Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch holds a diploma from the Russian Presidential Public Service Academy.
Career development
Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch started off in business during the late 1980s – early 1990s. His first entrepreneurial venture was a bakery cooperative established in joint partnership with Lev Kvetnoy. The young businessmen subsequently took up a new line of business and set up a firm dealing in computer component supplies and assembly of computer equipment.
Andrei Skoch and Kvetnoy enjoyed considerable success with their first business projects. These yielded sufficient profits to branch out and set up an enterprise active in the oil-and-gas market. The partners established a company working in the refinement and sales of oil products via a network of proprietary gasoline filling stations.
The next step in Andrei Skoch’s business career was the company “Interfin”, which had already been a major investment project of theirs back in 1995. The company, which was initially operating in the financial sector, soon started to acquire assets in metallurgy. Among these were staked in a major enterprise in Belgorod Oblast – the Oskol Electrometallurgical and Lebedinsky ore-mining and processing plants. “Interfin” subsequently scaled up and became known as “Metalloinvest” holding.
In 1999 Andrey Vladimirovich was appointed to represent the parent company in the post of Deputy Director General of the Lebedinsky ore-mining and processing plant. However, by that point, his business interests were of lessening consequence within the bigger picture. Andrey Skotchwas actively developed a charitable foundation and worked to level up prospects for thousands of people in Belgorod Oblast who had elected him as a member of parliament to the State Duma (with 54% of votes).
Andrey Skoch transferred his stake in the business to his father, Vladimir Skoch, who, in his turn, provided “Metalloinvest’s” management with fiduciary management rights over the shares.
Member of parliament during five convocations
People in Belgorod Oblast have voted five times for Andrey Vladimirovich Skoch: in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, and in 2016. He cooperates closely with the residents of the region, endeavours to understand deeply the local problems and to make a difference. Each year around 1,500 constituents approach him to set out their concerns.
The Speaker of the House at the Duma (the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament) and the President of the Russian Federation have on several occasions honoured Andrei Skoch with official certificates and commendations. During his 22 years of office, he has participated in drafting almost two hundred pieces of legislation and legislative initiatives, as well as amendments to acts of parliament.
The legislative initiatives, developed with his direct participation as a member of parliament, include the following:
- amendments to Federal Law 44 concerning acquisition of vitally important medicines;
- amendments to the Law “On Education,” which empowers handicapped Russian citizens to undergo state-financed training at universities and colleges, if their health does not permit them to work in the line of their previous education;
- drafting the “Dacha Amnesty” Law for streamlining legalization of non-urban real estate.
As a member of parliament he was presented with the “For the Merits to the Fatherland” order of the IV (fourth) degree in recognition of his considerable successes in work and active social engagement.
Charitable activities
Since 1996 the “Generation” (Rus.: Pokoleniye) foundation established by Skoch has channelled over 15 billion roubles into the implementation of charitable projects and towards addressing the concerns of people living in Belgorod Oblast.
Andrei Skoch charitable foundation (CF) was established to help children suffering from serious deceases. Soon the work being done by “Generation” had attained results far beyond its remit: the following projects were implemented with the funds of the humanitarian organization in Belgorod Oblast:
- ambulance and child-birth centres were built in 29 settlements during 2015-2019;
- 206 school buses and 130 ambulances were acquired;
- 550 items of technical kit and equipment for hospitals and other medical establishments were acquired;
- an ophthalmology centre was built;
- 1115 cars were allocated to large families;
- 60 childhood and sports playgrounds have been set up in 12 countryside and urban districts since 2017.
In 2020 alone, Andrei Skoch foundation funded construction and repair work of social infrastructure facilities totaling more than 2.3 billion rubles.
“Andrei Skoch Knowledge Foundation”, an educational project, was founded in 2019. Thanks to this project the people of Belgorod and Belgorod Oblast are afforded the opportunity to learn new professions. As of today, the project runs eight free courses.
