Sergey Buryak

Biography of Sergey Buryak

Date of Birth: 01.04.1966

Place of Birth. Education. Sergey Buryak was born in Donetsk. In 1989, he graduated from the Kiev Institute of National Economy (finance and credit). In 2002, he defended his doctoral dissertation in economic sciences.

Career. From 1989 to 1991, he was a postgraduate student and lecturer at the Department of Finance of the Kiev Institute of National Economy. In 1991-1992, he headed the board of the Arendkoopbank of Ukraine (Kyiv). After the transformation of this financial institution into AB Brokbusinessbank, Buryak became its chairman.

For six convocations, he was a people's deputy of Ukraine. During his time in the Rada, he changed political parties several times but was always loyal to the then-president Leonid Kuchma's politics. In 2005, he joined the faction of Yulia Tymoshenko's Bloc and is currently an independent deputy.

While working in the Verkhovna Rada, he dealt with issues of the fuel and energy complex, transport, communications, finance, and banking activities.

On December 24, 2007, shortly after the formation of Tymoshenko's coalition government, he was appointed head of the State Tax Administration of Ukraine. He resigned on March 17, 2010, after Viktor Yanukovych was elected president and a new Cabinet was formed under Mykola Azarov.

From 2012 to 2014, he was a people's deputy of the VII convocation from the Party of Regions.

Since July 1999, he has been a member of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine. Since 2003, he has been a member of the State Commission on Strategic Issues of Economic and Social Development.

On January 16, 2014, he voted for the 'dictatorial laws' - a package of anti-democratic laws that significantly restricted citizens' rights and freedom of speech.

Business. Sergey Buryak was one of the founders of Brokbusinessbank, of which he was also a co-founder. His younger brother, Alexander Buryak, was the bank's main partner. According to the bank, as of January 1, 2014, Sergey Buryak owned 9.3962% of the shares, while Alexander Buryak owned 9.3961%. In 2013, both brothers signed an agreement to sell 80% of the shares of Brokbusinessbank to the VETEK group of Sergey Kurchenko. The National Bank of Ukraine revoked Brokbusinessbank's banking license on June 10, 2014, and liquidated it.

The Buryak brothers are frequently mentioned in the rankings of the richest Ukrainians. According to the magazine 'Korrespondent', in 2006, their combined fortune, which placed them 21st, was estimated at 354 million dollars. In 2007, experts from the magazine 'Focus' estimated their fortune at 550 million dollars, and in February 2008, the same magazine assessed Sergey Buryak's fortune at 1.040 billion dollars. In 2014, the magazine 'Forbes' estimated Sergey Buryak's fortune at 42 million dollars.

In the agribusiness sector, Sergey Buryak is doing much better. Revenue for the 'Svarog West Group' corporation increased on average by 39%. Preliminary estimates suggest that 'Svarog's' revenue in 2012 exceeded 600 million hryvnias.

Views and Assessments. According to media reports, Sergey and Alexander Buryak were among the main sponsors of the BYuT. It is likely that this circumstance allowed them to go against the line of their own faction and its leader Tymoshenko several times. For example, at the end of 2006, they, along with deputies from the anti-crisis coalition, voted against Tymoshenko's will for the adoption of the 'anti-people' State Budget-2007 and the dismissal of 'orange' Yuriy Lutsenko from the post of Minister of Internal Affairs. However, despite predictions from some colleagues in the faction, the 'defector' brothers were not expelled from its ranks (unlike co-founder of Zaporizhstal Vasyl Khmelnitsky). However, later Sergey Buryak called his vote a mistake.

Shortly before the appointment of Buryak as head of the SFA, Tymoshenko motivated this questionable personnel decision as follows: the candidate is a wealthy person, so he does not need to steal money in a government position. In turn, some observers immediately pointed out the open conflict of interest when 'placing' one of the key state positions with a large shareholding in a commercial bank.

Regalia. Honored Economist of Ukraine (1998). Awarded the Orders of 'For Merit' of II and III degrees.

Family. Married, with a son and a daughter.

According to reports in Ukrainian media, Sergey Buryak is the godson of the third president of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko.

01.04.2022.