Andrei Skoch

Early life

He was born on 30 January 1966, in the village of Nikolskoye, Moscow region. He served in the Soviet Army in 1984. He was educated at the Institute of Physical Culture and wrote his dissertation there. In 1998, he graduated from the Moscow State University for Humanities named after M. A. Sholokhov (former Moscow State Open Pedagogical University (MSOPU)), Faculty of Psychology.

The fortune

According to Bloomberg, Skoch has a net worth of $6.3 billion, as of February 2021. According to the Forbes World's Billionaires List 2021, he ranked 288th on the list of the world's richest people, with a family estimated wealth of $8.6 billion.

He also owns the £100 million yacht 'Madame Gu. He hired the British PR firm to go after the website that reported on his ownership of the yacht. He has reportedly donated over $117 million, a portion of which was earmarked for the restoration of war monuments in Russia.

Sanctions & controversy

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, because Skoch has, alongside his role as deputy of Duma, long maintained ties to organized crime and for a time was alleged to have headed a criminal group himself, he was added to the sanctions list by the U.S. in the wake of sanctions against Russia along with other Russian oligarchs - all of whom are close to the Kremlin and therefore must share the consequences of their government's political actions. In relation to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, on 23 February 2022, Skoch was added to the EU sanctions list, citing the following reason:

Member of the State Duma who voted in favour of the resolution No. 58243-8 "On the appeal of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation To the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin on the need to recognize the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic" and therefore supported and implemented actions and policies which undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, and further destabilised Ukraine. On 15 March 2022 Skoch was also added to the UK asset freeze and travel ban sanctions list "in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine".

Personal life

Skoch is the father of ten children, four of whom are quadruplets born in 1994. He also has a daughter named Varvara. As of February 2022, he has a grandchild. His father is Vladimir Nikitovich Skoch. He worked at the Salute engineering plant for several decades. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and the "Labour Veteran" medal. After being elected a deputy of the State Duma, Andrei Skoch transferred his share in "Interfin" to his father, Vladimir Nikitovich Skoch. According to Forbes, in addition to 30% in USM, Vladimir Skoch also owns a share in Vnukovo Airport.

Career

In the late 1980s, he went into business and opened a bakery with Lev Kvetnoi. After that, he sold computer components and owned fuel distribution companies. He held the post of Deputy General Director at "Kuznetsov and Partners LLC". In 1995, he joined the capital and became Deputy General Director of the investment company "Interfin". He worked for MontazhSpetsBank before joining fellow billionaire Alisher Usmanov in the metals business. Skoch met Usmanov in 1995, while he was working as an oil trader for the bank. Together with Lev Kvetnoi, and Skoch, Usmanov's first purchases were the Lebedinsky Mining and a steel production plant in Belgorod. In 1999, Skoch became Deputy General at JSC Lebedinsky GOK. Usmanov formed the Metalloinvest conglomerate in 2006 after the acquisition of Mikhailovsky GOK. The merge included Lebedinsky Mining, and Skoch continues to be a partner in the company. Skoch owns 30% of Metalloinvest, though the shares are reportedly held in his father Vladimir's name. In 2016, a list of members of parliament whose names appeared in the Panama Papers was published. Among them was also Skoch. In April 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on him and 23 other Russian nationals.

In 1999, Skoch became deputy of the State Duma of the third convocation from the Belgorod region. In 2000, he took the post of the Chairman of the Expert Council on Metallurgy and the Mining Industry. In the same year, he defended his thesis entitled "Charity in Russia as a means of social protection of childhood". In December 2003, he was elected a deputy of the State Duma of the IV convocation. In December 2007, he became a deputy of the State Duma of the V convocation in the list of candidates of United Russia. Since 2012, he has been a member of the inter-factional deputy group for the protection of Christian values. In December 2011, he was elected a deputy of the State Duma of the VI convocation. In September 2016, became a deputy of the State Duma of the VII convocation. From 1999 to 2019, during the term of office of the deputy of the State Duma of the III, IV, V, VI and VII convocations, he co-authored 163 legislative initiatives and amendments to draft federal laws. In 2021, he was elected as a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, VIII convocation, representing the United Russia party from the single-mandate electoral district No. 76 (Belgorod region). He received 63.9% of the votes. At the end of 2022, Andrey Skoch entered the top 130 most effective parliamentarians. The evaluation was based on a number of parameters, including public voting indices, activity in legislative work, and assessments of effectiveness by experts. In the 'Usefulness Coefficient' ranking, Skoch ranked 128th out of 450.