Place of birth, education. Born in the village of Chaikino, Chernihiv region. Father - Danila Prokopevich, died at the front in 1944. Mother - Paraska Trofimovna, collective farmer.
In 1960, Kuchma graduated from the Dnepropetrovsk State University (Department of Physics and Technology with a degree in mechanical engineer in the field of rocket technology). Professor, candidate of technical sciences, author of inventions and scientific and technical works, honorary doctor of several foreign universities, full member of a number of academies of sciences.
Career and social activities. 1960-1982 - Engineer, Senior Engineer, Lead Designer, Assistant Chief Designer, Technical Supervisor of tests of rocket and space complexes at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
1975-1981 - Secretary of the Party Committee of the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau.
1981-1982 - Secretary of the Party Committee of the production association "Southern Machine-Building Plant" (Dnepropetrovsk).
1982-1986 - First Deputy General Designer of Yuzhnoye Design Bureau.
1986-1992 - General Director of the Production Association "Southern Machine-Building Plant" (this is one of the world's largest factories for the production of military and rocket-space equipment, as well as civilian products).
1990-1992 - Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the 1st convocation, member of the commission on defense and state security.
1992-1993 - Prime Minister of Ukraine, member of the National Security Council. In September 1993, he resigned.
1993-1994 - President of the Ukrainian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
March-August 1994 - People's Deputy of Ukraine II convocation, member of the inter-regional deputy group.
In July 1994 he was elected President of Ukraine. He replaced Leonid Kravchuk at the highest state post.
1994-1996 - Co-Chairman of the Constitutional Commission.
In November 1999, Kuchma was re-elected to the post of President of Ukraine. After the 2004 elections, Viktor Yushchenko became the next head of state.
After leaving big politics, he heads the charitable organization Leonid Kuchma's Presidential Fund "Ukraine".
February 2 2015 the president Petro Poroshenko appointed Kuchma the official representative of Ukraine in the tripartite group to resolve the conflict in Donbass.
On October 2, 2018 in Minsk, Kuchma announced the completion of his work in the Trilateral Contact Group.
June 3, 2019 President Vladimir Zelensky brought back the second president Leonid Kuchma to the negotiating group in Minsk.
July 28, 2024 Leonid Kuchma withdrew from the negotiation process in Minsk on Donbass.
Views and assessments. Kuchma, like most politicians, cannot boast of an impeccable reputation. As well as an impressive number of supporters, nostalgic for the days of his reign. But who could remember that period with special gratitude is the so-called oligarchic clans of Ukraine, most of which were born and strengthened precisely during the two presidential terms of Leonid Danilovich.
Kuchma has been the subject of high-profile political scandals several times. Political opponents and outright enemies accused the President of persecuting opposition leaders, involvement in the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze, illegal arms trade, anti-state personnel policy, corrupt ties with oligarchs and other sins. Thus, "anti-Kuchma rhetoric" in 2004 was an integral part of Yushchenko's election campaign. And which, by the way, after the inauguration of the winner for the resigned Kuchma did not entail any legal consequences.
A lot of criticism of the former "red director" was also voiced by public figures who were more balanced than political competitors: about the oppression of civil liberties, problems with freedom of speech and other essential elements of democracy, rampant bureaucratic arbitrariness, etc.
Some experts call the years of Kuchma's presidency a time of missed opportunities for Ukraine on various key issues - integration into leading international structures, radical reform of the economy and the main state institutions of power, improving the welfare of ordinary citizens and building a civil society. However, for the sake of objectivity, it should be noted that Ukraine did not make a qualitative breakthrough in these areas under the other "owners of Bankova".
Awards. Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1976). Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1981). Laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology (1993). The highest state award of the Republic of Moldova "Order of the Republic" (2003). Badge of Honor of the Commonwealth of Independent States (2004). Russian "Order for Merit to the Fatherland" 1st class. and etc.
"Pen tests". Kuchma is the author of the books "I believe in the Ukrainian people" (2000), "About the main thing" (2001), "Ukraine is not Russia" (2003), "In my own way. Reflections on economic reforms in Ukraine" (2004), "After the Maidan "(2007), "Steps in the formation of the national economy - 1994-2004" (2008).
Family. The second president of Ukraine is married. Spouse Lyudmila Nikolaevna, being the first lady of the country, was the honorary president of the National Fund for the Social Protection of Mothers and Children "Ukraine for Children".
Daughter Elena Pinchuk is an economist by education, head of the AntiAIDS charity foundation. Her current husband Viktor Pinchuk is one of the richest people in Ukraine, the owner of the Interpipe corporation, and a well-known philanthropist. Grandchildren - Roman and Ekaterina.
07/30/2021