Andriy Pavlovych Raykovych (Ukrainian: Андрій Павлович Райкович; born on 7 April 1956) is a Ukrainian politician who has been governor of Kirovohrad Oblast since 7 March 2022. He had served as the mayor of Kropyvnytskyi from 2015 to 2022.[1]
Biography
Andriy Raykovych was born on 7 April 1956 in Soviet occupiedTallinn, Estonia.[2] His paternal grandfather comes from the village of Berezovka, Dolynska Raion (now part of the Kropyvnytskyi Raion of Ukraine). He participated in World War I, until repressed in 1937. Andriy's father, Pavlo, is a participant in World War II, who remained after the end of the war to serve in Tallinn. In Estonia, he met his future wife, who was according to the Soviet nationality law Russian by nationality. (All citizens of the USSR were also citizens of an SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic), and all citizens of the SSRs were also citizens of the USSR.[3]) 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.[4]
He began his career in 1977, becoming an electrician at the Budindustriya plant in Kirovohrad. 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.[2]
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. In 1986, he became the head of the Dolynska bakery plant, and in 1988, the Dolinsky poultry plant.[2]
Between 1990 and 2004, he was a director and then chairman of the board of the open joint-stock company Poultry Plant in Kirovohrad.[2] In 1992, he became the owner of the Yatran Meat Processing Plant.[5]
In the 2010 Ukrainian local elections, he was reelected as a member of the Kirovohrad Oblast Council.[11] He was a member of the standing committee on budget, financial activities and socio-economic development.[2]
In September 2011, he became the General Director of the Yatran Meat Processing Plant.[2]
During the 2020 local elections, Raykovych once again decided to run for the mayor's seat, running from the Proposition party.[5] According to the results of the first round of elections, he received 53.53% of the votes.[13]