Prime Minister Mykola Azarov Name Pavlo Lebedyev Preceded by Dmytro Salamatin Role Politician | Succeeded by Ihor Tenyukh Residence Sevastopol, Ukraine Nationality Russian Political party Rodina | |
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Born 12 July 1962 (age 62)
Novomikhailovsky, Krasnodar Krai, RSFSR ( 1962-07-12 ) Other political
affiliations Party of Regions
Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc Alma mater Yaroslavl Military-Finance College | ||
Pavlo Lebedyev (Ukrainian: Павло Лебедєв) was the Minister of Defense of Ukraine between December 2012 and February 2014, the Honorary president of the Inter Car Group, president of the Social-Economical Sevastopol Development Fund. He is participant of liquidation of the Chernobyl disaster consequences and the Merited Economist of Ukraine (2011). The appointment became surprising to many politicians, because of a limited information about the politician.
Biography
Born on 12 July 1962 in Novomikhailovskiy of Tuapsinsky District (Krasnodar Krai), from 1979 to 1980 Lebedyev worked as a mechanic in the motorpool of the Summer camp "Orlyonok". Enrolling to the Yaroslavl Military-Finance College he graduated it in 1984 as a finance specialist. After that Lebedyev was stationed in the Chernivtsi city garrison until the fall of the Soviet Union. While serving in uniformed forces, Lebedyev worked as head of financial services for battalion and regiment. After demobilization from the Soviet Armed Forces in 1992, until 1997 he directed a couple of companies such as the META Association of "Legtekh" and a factory in producing of leatherwear accessories "Prestige-Inter".
From 1999 to 2002 Lebedyev was the chairman of financial operation in the state company "Tytan" in Armyansk, Crimea. From 2002 to 2005 he was the head of supervisory council for the Kremenchuk Steel-producing Factory (Kremenchuk) and "Dniprovahonmash" (portmanteau for Dnieper [Rail]car Machine) in Dnipropetrovsk. In 2005-06 Lebedyev was a president of the "Inter Car Group".
Since 2006 Lebedyev served as the MP for People's Deputy of Ukraine when he was elected to parliament on the party list of Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc in 2006. In Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) Lebedyev was a member of the transportation and communication committee. In 2007 he was re-elected in parliament on the party list of Party of Regions. In the October 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election Lebedyev was elected once again from a single constituency district in Sevastopol as a member of Party of Regions. On 24 December 2012, he was appointed the minister of defence, replacing Dmytro Salamatin. On 22 March 2013, Verkhovna Rada annulled his parliamentary mandate. After the February 2014 Ukrainian revolution Lebedyev fled to, and is since residing in, Simferopol. He did not participate in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election. Instead, following the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea he ran for a seat in the Sevastopol city council for the Russian politician party Rodina.
In March 2016 Lebedev together with (his predecessor as Minister of Defense) Mykhailo Yezhel were placed on a wanted list by Ukrainian authorities on suspicion of criminal activities and desertion. The same month Lebedev was candidate of Governor of Sevastopol. (Since the 2014 Crimean crisis, the status of the Crimea and of the city of Sevastopol is under dispute between Russia and Ukraine; Ukraine and the majority of the international community considers the Crimea and Sevastopol an integral part of Ukraine, while Russia, on the other hand, considers the Crimea and Sevastopol an integral part of Russia, with Sevastopol functioning as a federal city within the Southern Federal District.)