Serhiy Taruta

Serhiy Taruta (Ukrainian: Сергій Олексійович Тарута, Russian: Сергей Алексеевич Тарута, tr. Sergei Alekseyevich Taruta, born 22 July 1955 in Vynohradne, Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian politician and current member of the Ukrainian parliament,oligarch, founder of Industrial Union of Donbas, President of FC Metalurh Donetsk, and the former governor of Donetsk Oblast.

According to Forbes magazine, he ranks among the richest people in the world, with his estimated wealth being over 2.7 billion US dollars.

Taruta was born in Mariupol in 1955 and was a successful cyclist in his youth; he later claimed that he rode an average of 120 kilometres a day. He studied at Priazovskiy Derzhavniy Technical University before going on to work at the large Ukrainian metal plant, Azovstal.

On 2 March 2014, amidst the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov appointed Taruta Governor of Donetsk Oblast. On 10 October 2014, President Petro Poroshenko fired Taruta from office, replacing him with Oleksandr Kikhtenko.

In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Taruta as an independent candidate won a single-member district in Mariupol with 60.00% of the votes and is thus a member of the Ukrainian parliament since 27 November 2014.

...
Wikipedia