Andrei Skoch: biography, work in Parliament, and philanthropic activities Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch began his career as a businessman, founded a charitable foundation in 1996, and three years later became a State Duma deputy.
Andrei Skoch is a member of the State Duma of five convocations, the father of ten children, and was previously actively engaged in entrepreneurship. Andrei Skoch’s charitable foundation, “Generation” (“Pokolenie”), has sent more than 15 billion rubles to help the needy over its 25 years of its existence.
Biography
Andrei Skoch was born on January 30, 1966. His place of birth is the village of Nikolskoye, Moscow region.
He grew up in an ordinary working family. His father, Andrei Skoch, worked for almost 40 years at the machine-building plant “Salyut.”
After graduating from school, Andrei Skoch went to serve in the army. After demobilization, he studied at the Moscow State University for Humanities, named after M. A. Sholokhov (formerly the Moscow State Open Pedagogical University, MSOPU). In 1988, he finished his education as a teacher-psychologist. However, he did not pursue work in his specialty and went into business instead.
Career
Together with his comrade Lev Kvetnoy, he developed several businesses: first, the two opened a bakery, then they were engaged in the sale of components for computer equipment, and later they traded fuel and oil products, even launching their own network of gas stations.
In the mid-1990s, the entrepreneurs invested in Alisher Usmanov’s company “Interfin,” specializing in investments, and Andrei Skoch was appointed Deputy General Director. Later, the company began to buy metallurgical enterprises, including large industrial plants located in Belgorod. Andrei Skoch took a directorial position in one of them, the Lebedinsky GOK.
Work in Parliament
In 1999, Andrei Skoch decided to leave his career as a businessman and became deputy of the State Duma of the third convocation. After making this career change, he gave up his business assets to his father.
In 2000, the parliamentarian took the post of the Chairman of the Expert Council on Metallurgy and the Mining Industry. The same year, he defended his thesis and received a Candidate of Sciences degree.
Over the course of his political career, he was also elected deputy of the State Duma of the IV, V, VI, and VII convocations.
Andrei Skoch is the author and co-author of more than a hundred legislative initiatives. They concern areas such as higher education, environmental protection, support for orphans, access passes for ambulances, the construction and commissioning of children’s sanatoriums, increasing the minimum wage, and more.
For his work in the lower house of parliament, the deputy was awarded a certificate of honor and commendations from the head of state and the chairman of the State Duma.
Deputy-Philanthropist
In 1996, Andrei Skoch established the “Healthy Generation” humanitarian foundation, which initially focused on providing assistance to children with heart disease. Later, the activity of the organization expanded, and it was renamed “Generation” (“Pokolenie”).
The foundation conducts work in several areas at once, with particular attention paid to its programs of support for the restoration of monuments to national soldiers. Through this initiative, almost 250 objects in the territory of the Belgorod region have been repaired, as well as an obelisk in China and three Russian war graves in Europe. More than a billion rubles were allocated for this purpose.
Andrei Skoch received state awards for his work in perpetuating the memory of the fallen soldiers, including the Medal of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Order of Honor.
Contribution to Healthcare
The politician also directs large sums of money through his foundation to support medicine. Throughout its existence, the charitable organization has bought and donated to various medical centers in the Belgorod region:
- medicines, prosthetics, mobility aids for the disabled;
- nonstationary fluorographs;
- x-ray equipment;
- equipment for the oncology department;
- medical equipment and chairs for the dialysis department;
- complex for the treatment of posture and vision disorders;
- medical ventilator and much more.
The deputy’s foundation built modern medical centers from the ground up in Belgorod and Stary Oskol and new obstetric stations in the region. At the end of 2020, “Generation” allocated almost 10 million rubles to encourage doctors who took an active part in the fight against coronavirus. Sixteen million rubles were allocated to the program to help solve the problems with autism.
In total, by 2020, the Foundation purchased and donated more than 2,300 vehicles to organizations and families in the Belgorod region.
More than 565 million rubles were invested in the construction, restoration, and improvement of Orthodox religious sites. The parliamentarian was awarded three Orders from the Russian Orthodox Church for promoting the preservation and development of Christian values.
Andrei Skoch was recognized by the state awards “For the Merit to the Fatherland” of the I and II degrees and a medal “For Services to the Land of Belgorod” of the I degree, which was given to him for the humanitarian fund activities and his contribution to the comprehensive development of the region. In 2009, Andrei Skoch was awarded the president’s commendation for his legislative and charitable activities.