Serhiy Leonidovych Tihipko is a politician, entrepreneur, MP of the III, IV and VII convocations, head of the “Strong Ukraine” party (2009-2012, since 2014), Deputy Prime Minister (2010-2014), Minister of Social Policy (2010-2012), Minister of Economy (1999-2000).
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on February 13, 1960 in the village of Dragonești, Lazov district, Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic.
He received his higher education at the Dnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute, which he graduated in 1982 with a degree in Metallurgical Engineering.
In 1996 he defended his dissertation on the topic “Formation and state regulation of the systems of commercial banks in Ukraine”. He received a PhD in Economics.
Career
In 1982 – 1984, Tigipko served in the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union. After demobilization, from 1984 to 1991, he was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
From 1984 to 1986, he held a number of positions at the Dnipropetrovsk Mechanical and Metallurgical College, working as a secretary of the Komsomol committee, and later as deputy director.
After that, he went to work in the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Committee of the Lenin Communist Youth Union of Ukraine, where he dealt with propaganda and agitation. In September 1989, he headed the organization, taking the position of first secretary.
In 1990 – 1991 he was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he began his career in the banking sector. In the fall of 1991, he became deputy chairman of the board of Dnipro Bank, and in the spring of 1992, he headed the board of PrivatBank.
In November 1994, Tigipko began working as a freelance consultant to President Leonid Kuchma, dealing with monetary policy issues.
In 1997, he took the post of Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs in the government of Pavlo Lazarenko and retained this position in the Cabinet of Ministers under the leadership of Valeriy Pustovoitenko.
On December 17, 2002, he was appointed Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
In 2005 – 2007, he headed the board of the TAS financial and industrial group.
After that, until 2009, he headed the board of the open joint stock company (JSC) Swedbank, which became the legal successor of TAS-Commerzbank.
Political Activities
In 2000, Tigipko became a people’s deputy of Ukraine, which forced him to leave his post in the government. In the Verkhovna Rada, he became a member of the Committee on Finance and Banking.
In the fall of the same year, he headed the political party “Labor Ukraine”. In the parliamentary elections of 2002, he was re-elected to the Verkhovna Rada, this time from the bloc “For United Ukraine”.
In 2003, he announced his intention to participate in the presidential elections, but later refused to do so, supporting the candidacy of Viktor Yanukovych. During the election campaign, he headed his headquarters. After the second round of the presidential elections in November 2004, against the backdrop of mass protests, he left the post of head of the NBU and head of the election headquarters.
In 2008, he worked on a voluntary basis as an adviser to Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and was co-chairman of the Investors Council under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
In the summer of 2009, he left these positions to focus entirely on political activities. In November of the same year, he headed the “Strong Ukraine” party.
In February 2010, a few months after the founding of “Strong Ukraine”, Tigipko initiated the formation of the “Tihipko Bloc”. In the same year, hetook the post of Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Social Policy in the government of Mykola Azarov.
In March 2012, he joined the Party of Regions, receiving the post of deputy chairman of the political force. However, in April 2014, he was expelled from the ranks.
Soon after, he announced the resumption of the activities of the Strong Ukraine party and headed its electoral list in the early parliamentary elections in October of the same year. However, the political force could not overcome the electoral barrier and did not get into the Verkhovna Rada.
In 2020, after Volodymyr Zelensky came to power, Tihipko was considered as one of the candidates for the post of Prime Minister of Ukraine. However, due to public outcry, his candidacy was eventually rejected.
Marital Status
He is married to Alla Zinevych. The couple has four children together: sons Serhiy, Stanislav and Oleksandr, as well as a daughter Yulianna.
In particular, Tihipko has four children from previous marriages: daughters Anna and Asya, as well as sons Tymofiy and Leontiy.
