Gayduk Vitaliy

Date of Birth: 19.07.1957

Birthplace. Education. Born in the village of Khlebodarivka in the Volnovakha district of Donetsk region. In 1980, he graduated as an economic engineer from the Donetsk Polytechnic Institute.

Career. From 1981 to 1987, Gayduk worked as a senior economist, head of the economic department, and deputy director for economics at the AutoVAZ service center in Donetsk region. In 1987, he was elected as the general director of the Zueva Energy-Mechanical Plant on a competitive basis. From 1994 to 1997, he held leadership positions in the Donetsk regional council (deputy chairman) and in the Donetsk regional administration (first deputy governor). In both cases, it was about Vladimir Scherban, who fled Ukraine after the 'Orange Revolution' and was arrested in the USA.

Big politics and big business. Gayduk was once a member of the Party of Regions and was part of the party's Politburo. He has extensive experience in government. From 2000 to 2002, he was the first deputy minister and minister of fuel and energy. From November 2002 to December 2003, he served as deputy prime minister responsible for industry and energy sector issues.

After leaving the government, Gayduk fully immersed himself in business. As known, he is directly linked to the Industrial Union of Donbass. Its portfolio includes a number of companies of various profiles in Ukraine and abroad, focusing on steel production, rolled steel, steel pipes, coke, equipment for ferrous metallurgy, and the coking industry. Gayduk, along with his partner Sergey Taruta, was one of the founders of the conglomerate (founded in 1995) and was instrumental in its development. They are considered co-owners of this structure, although according to some information, Gayduk's wife represents the side that owns 49% of the ISD shares. As of October 2006, Gayduk was the president of the Industrial Group consortium, which managed the assets of ISD, and chairman of the supervisory board of the OJSC Dneprovsky Metallurgical Combine named after Dzerzhinsky.

In 2006, the magazine Korrespondent ranked Gayduk 7th among the richest people in Ukraine with a net worth of $1.7 billion (Taruta ranked 6th with the same asset). In 2007, experts from the magazine Focus estimated the assets of each of the partners at $2.3 billion. A year later, the ranking creators estimated Gayduk's net worth at $2.37 billion and $2.77 billion, respectively. The financial crisis significantly reduced Gayduk's fortune: in 2009 it fell to $704.3 million and a year later to $600.7 million. However, in 2011, Focus ranked the billionaire 10th with a net worth of $2.073 billion. In 2013, his fortune was estimated by Forbes at $526 million (18th place in the ranking of '100 richest Ukrainian businessmen'). In 2014, according to Forbes, Gayduk's fortune decreased to $465 million.

In 2013, Gayduk sold his stake in the ISD Corporation to Sergey Taruta and Oleg Mkrtchan. In the same year, he became an investor in the All.Biz project.

Gayduk supported the EKO+25 party in the 2006 parliamentary elections, although he himself says that he is not attracted to work in parliament. In an interview days before the election, he said he felt very comfortable in business and saw no need to change his field of activity. This 'indifference' to politics may have been caused by the unsuccessful attempt to return to government offices in December 2005. At that time, amid the Russian-Ukrainian 'gas' conflict, some media reported that a presidential decree by Viktor Yushchenko regarding Gayduk's appointment as deputy prime minister for energy sector issues was prepared, but the document never came into force. According to the then-party leader of the Veche party, Inna Bogoslovskaya, the appointment was blocked by the protest of the head of the Ministry of Coal and Energy, Ivan Plachkov, and the chairman of the NJSC Naftogaz Ukraine, Oleksiy Ivchenko.

But nevertheless, a return to politics took place. On October 10, Yushchenko appointed Gayduk, who had been cautious in evaluating the government and avoided sharp critical remarks, as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. Gayduk immediately assured journalists that no 'private' tasks were set for him in this position, and the possible algorithm of actions was specifically defined by law.

Following his appointment, analysts immediately speculated that Yushchenko needed Gayduk in this new position to represent his ideas and positions to voters in the southeastern regions of the country, as well as for communication 'on the same wavelength' with the 'Donbass wing' of the ruling coalition, which began shortly after its formation, to take away Yushchenko's presidential powers one by one. For a while, it seemed that Gayduk managed this role quite well. However, on May 12, 2007, the president surprisingly signed a decree for his dismissal 'at his own request' and on the same day appointed Yvan Plyusha as secretary of the NSDC. This occurred at the height of the ongoing conflict between the president and the coalition, when both sides were prepared to demonstrate loyalty to each other in the power structures they controlled. What exactly the reason for Gayduk's dismissal was - his unwillingness to participate in further political disputes, the threat to his business empire, the displeasure of the presidential team with the lack of firmness of the security council, or something else - is not known.

With Yulia Tymoshenko's second appointment as prime minister, observers believed that Gayduk was a candidate for the position of deputy prime minister for fuel and energy sector issues. However, in the situation of a splitting parliamentary coalition, this personnel decision remained unused. At the same time, Tymoshenko appointed Gayduk on February 6 to officially utilize the management skills of the candidate for the government position as the head of her group of permanent advisors.

Views. Gayduk positions himself as an opponent of shadow economy schemes and advocates for 'rules of the game.' He is a shark of private business - he is convinced that state enterprises should be profitable. It only requires effective supervisory boards to be created that delegate a certain number of officials (from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy, Tax Authority, etc.), and the supervisory boards should then select effective top managers. He believes that, so far, 'it is not interesting for someone.'

Family and hobbies. He has a son and a daughter. He loves music and is interested in church history. He donates significant sums of money to various social, cultural, and sports projects (he says this is part of the general corporate culture of ISD).

18.07.2022