Deputy Andrei Skoch: “I am happy for the people who received help”

Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch is a politician and one of Russia’s most famous philanthropists. 25 years ago, he founded the “Pokolenie” (“Generation”) Foundation, which has helped thousands of Russians: gifted youth, families with many children, veterans, and seriously ill children. This article will detail Skoch’s biography and career.

Biography: service and study

On January 30, 1966, the Skoch family had a son, and named him Andrei. The father of the family, Vladimir Nikitovich, was a simple worker at the Moscow plant “Salute”. The family lived near Moscow, in the village of Nikolskoye.

In 1984, Skoch Jr. graduated from the local school and was drafted into the army. He served in an airborne reconnaissance company.

After demobilization he returned home. He received a higher education in psychology at the Moscow State Open Pedagogical University named after M.A. Sholokhov. Later, he finished his postgraduate study and became a candidate of pedagogical sciences. His thesis focused on philanthropy and its role in the social protection of childhood.

Career began with entrepreneurship

Since his youth, Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch had a dream – to start his own business. At the end of the 80’s, he managed to make it come true. He took his army friend Lev Kvetnoi as a business partner, and together they opened a baking cooperative.

The comrades were constantly looking for new directions for business development, and in the early 1990s, they started selling computer components.

A few years later, Andrei Vladimirovich managed to move into a completely different sphere – the oil industry. He opened an enterprise for refining petroleum products and then selling them through his own network of gas stations.

Within several years, the entrepreneur accumulated enough funds to invest in a new project. In 1995, he became a co-owner of Alisher Usmanov’s company “Interfin”, which specialized in securities.

The organization grew rapidly and acquired more and more assets. By the end of the 1990s, “Interfin” bought out stakes in several metallurgical enterprises. Among them was the Lebedinsky mining and processing enterprise, one of the largest in the industry. 

The enterprise was located in the Belgorod region. Andrei became its co-owner and took the position of deputy general director. During his several years of work in that position, he got to know the region well: the economic situation, its potential and its problems.

In 1999, he finally decided to change his field of activity and to take up social and political work and charity. In order to do that, he ran for a seat in the State Duma. He ran as a candidate from the Belgorod region and, already being a well-known and respected person in the region, won the elections, receiving 54% of the votes.

After becoming a deputy, he transferred his assets and business management to his father, Vladimir Nikitovich. “Interfin” continued its successful development and was transformed first into Metalloinvest and then into USM Holding. It currently includes telecommunications companies, metallurgical and mining companies.

The State Duma and lawmaking

Andrei Skoch has been a member of the State Duma for six consecutive terms and with his 22 years of service, he is considered one of the most experienced members of the lower house of the Russian Parliament.

During this period, in cooperation with other deputies, he participated in the development of more than 160 federal bills. Some of the most notable are:

• On the extension of “dacha amnesty” – a simplified procedure for registering country houses;
• Changes in the system of public procurement for summer recreation for children: the amendments increased the requirements for suppliers of goods and services;
• Amendments to the Tax Code aimed at the implementation of investment projects of environmental importance in the land area of the Arctic (within the borders of Russia).

In 2021, after being elected to the State Duma of the eighth convocation, the deputy became a member of the control committee. Prior to that, in different convocations, he headed the Expert Council on Metallurgy and Mining and the Duma Committee on the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Goodness and help – for all generations

Andrei has always wanted to be involved in socially-important projects. In 1996, even before he became a deputy, he established an international charitable foundation “Pokolenie” (“Generation”). The Skoches – father and son – from the very beginning and to this day, make donations to the fund and support charitable initiatives.

In a quarter-century, Pokolenie has grown from an organization that mainly helped seriously ill children into a major humanitarian foundation with dozens of different programs. Some of these projects are dedicated to the education and support of talented youth. For example, for 16 years, until 2016, the Pokolenie Foundation held a nationwide prize titled “Debut” for young writers.

Another youth program – “The Best Student of the Year” became a long-term project; its participants receive monetary prizes. Since 2002, the Foundation has allocated more than 80 million rubles for encouraging talented students, with over three thousand people receiving support.

The main goal of the Pokolenie Foundation is support of Russia’s healthcare system. The Fund has financed the construction of 29 obstetrical stations and several specialized medical centers in Belgorod and Stary Oskol. Ambulances were also purchased for rural areas.

At the initiative of the deputy, since 2020, the  Pokolenie Foundation has been financing measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic: it helps medics and volunteers and provides them with protective equipment. 60 million rubles were allocated for this purpose. At the beginning of the epidemic, the Foundation supplied tens of thousands of masks, tons of antiseptic and special materials for protective clothing to medical institutions.

Every year, the organization sends money for the repair and construction of social institutions in the region. For example, last year, more than two billion rubles were sent to 12 municipalities of Belgorod in this direction.

The foundation has many other programs: support for large families, the older generation and veterans of the Great Patriotic War, as well as various patriotic projects.

Personal life and hobbies

Andrei Vladimirovich likes to spend his free time with his family. He has ten children and a grandson.

He writes poetry, and not long ago became interested in writing children’s stories.

Titles and awards

The deputy has received many letters of thanks, certificates of honor and awards. He was awarded the medal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland” I and II degrees, and has received awards from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. He also received the title of “Honorary Metallurgist”.

He is an honorary citizen of the Krasnogvardeysky District of the Belgorod Region.

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