Vadym Vladyslavovych Novynskyi is a people’s deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the VII, VIII and IX convocations, the owner of the financial and industrial group “Smart-Holding” and co-owner of “Metinvest”.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on June 3, 1963 in the city of Staraya Rusa, Novgorod region, Russian Federation (Russia).
In 1985, he completed his studies at the Leningrad Academy of Civil Aviation, receiving the specialty of a control systems engineer.
Career
In 1985-1989, Novynskyi worked in the Petrozavodsk aviation detachment in the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. From 1989 to 1991, he held a position at the Department of Control Systems and Computer Engineering at the Academy of Civil Aviation.
Later, he joined the Center for Advanced Studies in St. Petersburg, where he continued his professional activities. In 1996-1998 he worked in the representative office of the company “Lukoil-North-West”, and in 1998-2002 – in the Trading House of the company.
In 1998, he joined the process of privatization of the Ingulets and Southern Mining and Processing Plants in Ukraine. From 2004 to 2007, he headed the supervisory board of the Ingulets Mining and Processing Plant.
In 2006, he founded the Smart-Holding industrial and investment group in Kyiv and became its head.
At the end of 2007, Novynskyi exchanged metallurgical assets, including two mining and processing plants, for 25% in the Metinvest holding, owned by Rinat Akhmetov.
After that, he founded a shipbuilding holding and an agro-industrial company, which included, in particular, the enterprise for the production of canned vegetables “Veres”.
In 2010, his industrial and investment group “Smart-Holding” became a sponsor of the football club “Sevastopol”, and Novinsky himself received the title of honorary president of the team.
In 2012, he acquired Forum Bank. In the same year, he received Ukrainian citizenship in accordance with the decree of the then President Viktor Yanukovych.
Political Activities
In 2013, Novynskyi won the by-elections to the Verkhovna Rada. In the parliament of the VII convocation, he joined the Party of Regions faction.
In 2014, he again received a deputy mandate, this time entering the Verkhovna Rada on the list of the “Opposition Bloc” under No. 11. In the parliament, he headed the faction of the political force.
In the 2019 elections, he became a people’s deputy of the IX convocation again from the Opposition Bloc.
In July 2022, he voluntarily resigned as a deputy.
Religion
In 2020, Novynskyi received the rank of deacon in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), and a few months later he was promoted to protodeacon.
In 2021, he participated in the liturgy in St. Petersburg, where Patriarch Kirill of Moscow was present.
In 2023, he conducted services in the church of the Russian Orthodox Church in Zurich.
Criminal Cases
In 2016, Novynskyi was deprived of parliamentary immunity after the then Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko appealed to the Verkhovna Rada with a request to grant permission to prosecute him. The proceedings concerned pressure on the Primate of the UOC-MP Volodymyr during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych. At the same time, Novynskyi had the status of a witness in this case.
In 2022, the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) imposed sanctions against him, along with a number of other representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Shortly before that, he transferred the business of the industrial and investment group “Smart-Holding” to a trust, but later the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine canceled this decision.
In 2023, he became a defendant in a criminal case involving the assistance of Russia. According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), he re-registered his gas production enterprises to persons associated with Russia in order to avoid sanctions. At the same time, the SBU seized his property with a total value of more than 3.5 billion hryvnias.
Marital Status
He is married to Maria Novynska. The couple has four children: son Mikhail, as well as daughters Victoria, Anastasia and Daria.
