Early years
Skoch Vladimir Nikitovich was born in the village. The mare of the Ukrainian SSR in 1933. He graduated from ZhU No. 2 in Zaporozhye and there he studied the profession of an assistant driver. His labor activity began in the 1950s: he initially got a job as a fireman, but a year later he began to work in his specialty.
Later Vladimir Skoch served in the Armed Forces of the USSR for several years. He went to civilian life with the rank of lieutenant and soon decided to move to Moscow. There he mastered a new profession – Skoch worked at the Salut enterprise. It specialized in the manufacture of engines for military and civil aircraft. Subsequently, he also headed the plant’s union.
Vladimir Nikitovich Skoch made a career at MMPP Salyut for more than four decades. For his labor services and approach to work, he was repeatedly noted with honorary awards, including the medals “Veteran of Labor” and “In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow”, as well as the “Badge of Honor”. In addition, he was awarded the title of “Labor Veteran of the MMPP” Salyut “” 1st degree.
Business activities
In the mid-1990s, the son of Vladimir Skoch acquired a stake in the Interfin company founded by Alisher Usmanov and later also expanded his portfolio of assets with stakes in metallurgical enterprises owned by the organization. By the end of the decade, he changed his profession and became a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, as a result of which he transferred the business to his father. So the share in the asset was at the disposal of yesterday’s head of the trade union, Vladimir Skoch.
In the second half of the 2000s, Skoch became one of the co-owners of the Metalloinvest Group of Companies, created on the basis of Interfin and its metallurgical enterprises:
- Lebedinsky GOK;
- Mikhailovsky GOK;
- Ural Steel;
- OEMK.
Since 2007, Vladimir Nikitovich Skoch has been an advisor to the CEO of Metalloinvest. Subsequently, on the basis of the Metalloinvest holding, YueSem Holding Company LLC was formed. Its co-owners were Vladimir Skoch, Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri – the name of the organization was formed from the first letters of their names. Skoch retained 30% of the shares.
The mobile operator Megafon also joined USM. The contribution of the co-founders and top management to the development of MegaFon was manifested in a significant increase in the number of subscribers (in 2018 there were 75.2 million) and a significant increase in financial performance. According to experts, the company is distinguished from competitors by the affordability of prices with excellent quality of communication and services.
Vladimir Skoch later also bought out a block of shares in Vnukovo airport using the funds he received from owning shares in various enterprises.
Support for the projects of the Generation Foundation
In addition to entrepreneurial activity, Vladimir Nikitovich Skoch is also engaged in social work and support for charitable projects. In 1996, his son Andrei Skoch, now a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, created a humanitarian fund, which is now known as Generation. Vladimir Skoch allocates significant sums to help those in need and helps the foundation to implement social programs.
The organization’s budget is distributed in different areas, which helps to cover several areas of social assistance at once. One of the main goals of the fund is to help vulnerable groups of the population, including pensioners, large families, veterans and the disabled. The collected funds are also used to support and develop Russian medicine, to create sports and educational initiatives. In addition, Skoch Jr.’s organization provided invaluable assistance in the construction of several large medical centers in the Belgorod region.
For more than 20 years of its existence, the Generation humanitarian foundation has helped thousands of people. The support of Vladimir Nikitovich Skoch played an important role in this. So, in 2017, he allocated almost 155 million rubles for the development of charitable projects of the organization.