Nikolaj Rudkovsky

Nikolaj Nikolajewitsch Rudkovsky - Ukrainian politician, Minister of Transport of Ukraine (2006–2007), people's deputy of Ukraine in various legislatures, former member of the Party of Regions.

Date of birth: 18.12.1967

Place of birth. Education. He was born in the village of Staryi Bykiv in the Bobrovytsia district of Chernihiv Oblast. He graduated from school with a Gold Medal and completed his studies at the T. G. Shevchenko Chernihiv State Pedagogical Institute (Faculty of History). In 1990, he graduated from the business school at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Shortly thereafter, he passed the language exam and became a student at the Vienna University of Economics in the Department of Commerce. He speaks three foreign languages - English, German, Spanish.

Career. He worked for several years as a manager in Austrian companies and, after gaining relevant experience, founded his own company in Vienna. Since 1994, Rudkovsky was the chief advisor to the Administration of the President of Ukraine. From 1996, he was the director of Gossinvest Ukraine. From January 1998, he was the deputy chairman of the board of Naftogaz Ukraine. After the restructuring of this company into NJSC Naftogaz Ukraine, he became the deputy general director of the trading group of Naftogaz Ukraine.

Political Career

• In 2001, he became the chairman of the regional branch of the Communist Party of Ukraine in Chernihiv.
• In 2002 and 2006, he was a deputy of the Socialist Party.
• In 2006, he ran for the position of mayor of Chernihiv but resigned from this position a month after the vote.
• In August 2006, he was appointed Minister of Transport of Ukraine.

Scandals. Rudkovsky was involved in several scandalous situations. He was accused of falsifying biographical data and using fake educational documents. He also invited controversial representatives of the Turkmen opposition to Kyiv, which led to disagreements with the Ukrainian government. There were many accusations that he paid too little attention to traffic safety.

Criminal case in Russia. In September 2018, Rudkovsky was arrested by police in Moscow for the attack on the Russian embassy in Kyiv. On June 14, 2014, Rudkovsky entered the Russian Federation embassy in Kyiv, where a protest against the crash of the IL-76 aircraft took place. In December 2019, he was sentenced by a Moscow court to two years in prison for his involvement in the attack on the Russian embassy in Kyiv in 2014. In April 2020, he was released from the Russian prison.

Family. Rudkovsky is married and raises two daughters.

Hobbies. Cars.

In 2023, his net worth was reported by Forbes magazine to be 195 million US dollars.

Source: Ukrainska Prawda, Forbes.