Viktor Medvedchuk
| Viktor Medvedchuk | |
|---|---|
| Віктор Медведчук | |
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Medvedchuk in May 2016
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| Head of Presidential Administration | |
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In office 12 June 2002 – 21 January 2005 |
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| President | Leonid Kuchma |
| Preceded by | Volodymyr Lytvyn |
| Succeeded by | Oleksandr Zinchenko |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Viktor Volodymyrovych Medvedchuk 7 August 1954 Pochyot, Abansky District, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russian SFSR |
| Nationality | Ukrainian |
| Spouse(s) | Oksana Marchenko (1973) |
| Children | Bohdan (1997) Daryna (2004) |
| Alma mater | Kiev University (1978) |
| Occupation | Politician, lawyer |
| Signature |  |
Viktor Volodymyrovych Medvedchuk (Ukrainian: Віктор Володимирович Медведчук; born 7 August 1954 in Krasnoyarsk, Russian SFSR, USSR) is a Ukrainian politician, lawyer, and business oligarch. Currently Medvedchuk is chairman of the pro-Russian political organization Ukrainian Choice and an opponent of Ukraine joining the European Union. Russian president Vladimir Putin is the godfather of Medvedchuk's daughter Darina (born in 2004). Medvedchuk and his party have marginal popular support in Ukraine.
Medvedchuk's father, Volodymyr Medvedchuk, avoided being drafted into the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War due to his suffering from Pott disease. During Nazi Germany's occupation of Ukraine, he worked for the German administration in a labor camp from April 1942 to November 1943. The section provided enforced deportation of the local able-bodied Ukrainian youth to work in Nazi Germany. After the retreat of German forces Volodymyr Medvedchuk was arrested by SMERSH on 7 August 1954 and sentenced to eight years of imprisonment and four of exile in Siberia "for participation in Ukrainian nationalistic activities." Viktor was born in Pochyot, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russian SFSR.
In the mid-1960s, the Medvedchuks returned to the Ukrainian SSR, settling in Kornyn, Zhytomyr Oblast. In 1971, Medvedchuk graduated from high school in Borova, Fastiv Raion (Kyiv Oblast). After graduation, he unsuccessfully tried to enroll to the Higher School of Militsiya, but was rejected due to his family history. In November 1971, Medvedchuk found a job as sorter at the Kiev Railroad Post office factory producing periodicals, and by the start of 1972 he was an overstaffed militsiya worker at the Motovylivka station (located in Borova). Already in summer of 1972 Medvedchuk successfully passed an entrance exam to the Law School of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, however was not admitted. On 12 September 1972 he was enrolled in the University by the Rector's order #445, based on the authorization from the Ministry of the Interior of he Ukrainian SSR. The reason for it, in the opinion of Dmytro Chobot, was "a secret cooperation with militia" which was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Ukraine.
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