Andriy Pavlovych Raykovych (Ukrainian: Андрій Павлович Райкович; born on 7 April 1956), is a Ukrainian politician who has been governor of
Kirovohrad Oblast
Kirovohrad Oblast ( uk, Кіровоградська область, translit=Kirovohradska oblast; also referred to as Kirovohradschyna — uk, Кіровоградщина) is an oblast (province) of Ukraine. The administrative center of the ...
since 7 March 2022.
He had served as the Mayor of
Kropyvnytskyi
Kropyvnytskyi ( uk, Кропивницький, Kropyvnytskyi ) is a city in central Ukraine on the Inhul river with a population of . It is an administrative center of the Kirovohrad Oblast.
Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its na ...
from 2015 to 2022.
Biography
Andriy Raykovych was born in on 7 April 1956 in
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
, at the time a city in the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
and the capital of the
Estonian SSR
The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an National delimitation in ...
. His paternal grandfather comes from the village of Berezovka, Dolynska Raion (now part of the
Kropyvnytskyi Raion
Kropyvnytskyi Raion is a raion (district) of Kirovohrad Oblast in central Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Kropyvnytskyi (until July 2016 Kirovohrad). Population: .
On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukrain ...
of
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
). He participated in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, until repressed in 1937. Andriy's father, Pavlo, is a participant in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, who remained after the end of the war to serve in Tallinn. In
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...
, he met his future wife, who was according to the
Soviet nationality law Soviet nationality and citizenship law controlled who was considered a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and by extension, each of the Republics of the Soviet Union, during that country's existence. The nationality laws were only ...
Russian by nationality. (All citizens of the USSR were also citizens of an SSR (
Soviet Socialist Republic
The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Union Republics ( rus, Сою́зные Респу́блики, r=Soyúznye Respúbliki) were national-based administrative units of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( ...
), and all citizens of the SSRs were also citizens of the USSR.) After the end of his service, his father worked as a crankshaft grinder, and his mother worked as a kindergarten teacher. Later, the family moved to the city of Dolynska, where Andriy graduated from high school.
He began his career in 1977, becoming an electrician at the Budindustriya plant in
Kirovohrad
Kropyvnytskyi ( uk, Кропивницький, Kropyvnytskyi ) is a city in central Ukraine on the Inhul river with a population of . It is an administrative center of the Kirovohrad Oblast.
Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its name ...
. After that, he served in the Soviet army for two years. In 1982, he graduated from the Kirovohrad Institute of Agricultural Engineering with a degree in power supply for industrial enterprises.
From 1979 to 1986, he was an engineer at the Dolynska Poultry Plant, where over time he was appointed instructor of the Dolynska District Committee of the
Communist Party of Ukraine
The Communist Party of Ukraine, Abbreviation: KPU, from Ukrainian and Russian "" is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 as the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine which was banned in 1991 (accord ...
. In 1986, he became the head of the Dolynska bakery plant, and in 1988, the Dolinsky poultry plant.
Between 1990 and 2004, he was a director and then chairman of the board of the open joint-stock company Poultry Plant in Kirovohrad. In 1992, he became the owner of the Yatran Meat Processing Plant.
In 1997, he became one of the co-founders of the Kirovograd regional branch of the People's Party of Ukraine. In the 1998 parliamentary elections, Raykovych ran on the list of the People's Party (No. 175), but was not elected. Four years later, he again unsuccessfully ran for the Ukrainian national parliament
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
from the bloc "
For United Ukraine!
For United Ukraine! ( uk, «За Єдину Україну!», translit=Za Yedynu Ukrayinu!) was a political alliance and an electoral bloc in Ukraine founded in December 2001 to participate in the parliamentary election held on 30 March 2002. ...
".
In the
2006 Ukrainian local elections
The 2006 Ukrainian local elections took place on March 26, 2006. The elections saw the southern and eastern regions of the country vote for the Party of Regions, while the west and central regions were won by the Our Ukraine Bloc and Yulia Tymoshe ...
, he became a member of the
Kirovohrad Oblast Council
The Kirovohrad Oblast Council ( uk, Кіровоградська обласна рада) is the regional oblast council (parliament) of the Kirovohrad Oblast ( province) located in central Ukraine.
Council members are elected for five year te ...
of the 5th convocation. In the same year, he unsuccessfully ran in the
2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second smalles ...
Petro Poroshenko Bloc
European Solidarity ( uk, Європейська солідарність, Yevropeis'ka solidarnist', YeS) is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in vari ...
party and was elected in the second round, gaining 48.6% of the vote. He was sworn to office on 27 November. The city was renamed to Kropyvnytskyi in 2016.
During the 2020 local elections, Raykovych once again decided to run for the mayor's seat, running from the Proposition party. According to the results of the first round of elections, he received 53.53% of the votes.
On 7 March 2022, by decree of the President of Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...
, Raykovych was appointed
Governor of Kirovohrad Oblast
The Governor of Kirovohrad Oblast is the head of executive branch for the Kirovohrad Oblast.
The office of Governor is an appointed position, with officeholders being appointed by the President of Ukraine, on recommendation from the Prime ...