Andriy Klyuyev

Andriy Petrovych Klyuyev (Андрій Петрович Клюєв, Russian: Андрей Петрович Клюев, born 12 August 1964), also spelled as Andrii Kliuiev, is a Ukrainian businessman and politician, who was ranked as 7th "Most influential person in Ukraine" in 2011 by Korrespondent.

Klyuyev started working in 1983 as an underground miner at Zasyadko coal mine, before becoming a foreman at the Gorki Mine in 1984.

After graduation he worked as the deputy chief and then Chief of Mine Transport at Bilorichenska Mine (Voroshylovhradvuhillya state holding in Luhansk Oblast).

From 1986 to 1991 Klyuyev conducted full-time postgraduate research at his alma mater.

He also earned his Candidate of Technical Sciences post-graduate degree in 1989.

From 1991 to 1994, Klyuyev headed several coal mining-related machine building companies, including "Ukrpidshipnyk" SC.

Starting in 1994, Klyuyev was a deputy chairman of the Donetsk Oblast Executive Council.

From November 1995 to April 1996 he was a Deputy Head of the Donetsk Oblast State Administration, responsible for local development, trade, and consumer goods production.

After a career in Donetsk Oblast, and at the time working closely with later and current President Viktor Yanukovych, Klyuyev moved to national politics.

On December 14, 2001, Klyuyev was elected the deputy chairman of the Party of Regions.

At the 2002 election, he became a member of the Verkhovna Rada for the Party of Regions, working as head of the Energy, Nuclear Policy and Nuclear Safety Committee.

On April 19, 2003, at the 5th Party Congress Klyuyev was elected the secretary of the party's political council.

From 2003 to 2004, Klyuyev was the Energy Vice Prime Minister in the First Yanukovych Government.

At the 2006 and 2007 parliamentary elections, Klyuyev was re-elected as a deputy for Party of Regions.

In June 2009, the Klyuyev brothers were ranked 48th in the Korrespondent's list of Top 50 richest Ukrainians with the estimated wealth of US$227 million.

Under the Presidency of former President Viktor Yanukovych, Klyuyev served as First Vice Prime Minister from 2010 to 2012, and then he served as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine under Yanukovych for two years.

Klyuyev is described in the press as the Yanukovych's Shadow Campaign Head in 2010 presidential election, following Borys Kolesnikov as head of the electoral headquarter of the Party of Regions.

He was however, only named Deputy Vice Prime Minister, as more influential competitors insight the Party of Regions managed to occupy the posts of the Head of the Presidential administration and the Prime Minister.

On March 11, 2010, Klyuyev was appointed the First Vice-Prime Minister in the Azarov Government, and after the Yanukovych administrative reform on December 9, 2010, he also has accepted the assignment of the Minister of Economic Development and Trade.

As of 2011, the Klyuyevs own a mansion on a 27 hectare site near Vienna at Tulbing, Groissaustraße 12, and a large 17 hectare site at Rudyky (Рудики).

Since March 2011, Ukrpodshipnik is headquartered in the same building in Ukraine as Activ Solar's Ukraine representative.

In 2011, the Klyuyev brothers controlled five solar plants (Crimea Solar 1–5) outside of Simferopol at Rodnykoye.

All of these plants were subsidiaries of Activ Solar which is part of the Activ Solar Holding GmbH which is a subsidiary of SLAV Beteiligung GmbH, which is part of Slav AG.

Just prior to the Maidan revolution, Andrii and Serhiy Klyuyev sold their shares in Vienna based Activ Solar GmbH and Clean Economic Energie (CEE) AG, which is a holding company that operates solar power plants in Crimea with 380 MWp capacity and 500 MWh annual production.

On February 14, 2012, Klyuyev was appointed Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC).

Insiders in the Party of Regions always claimed that his removal from the post of the First Vice Prime Minister, responsible for the European Integration of Ukraine, happened due to the personal conflict with the Head of the Presidential Administration, Sergiy Lyovochkin and was to be seen as a punishment for his influential position within the institutions of the European Union.

This shift placed Klyuyev, as the chief campaign manager of the Party of Regions, in the position to ensure that the Party of Regions would win the elections in the fall of 2012.

NSDC secretary sees Azarov as likely candidate for premiership.

Klyuyev and his younger brother, Serhiy Klyuyev, sold Active Bank in March 2013, as all stakes in the solar business were sold in 2008 already.

Klyuyev has been repeatedly accused by journalists of being "a shadowy oligarch" with business links to (former President) Viktor Yanukovych's family, allegedly using his power to secure multi-billion contracts.

Andrii and Serhiy Klyuyev were the principal beneficiaries in the Austrian holding company SLAV AG.

From 23 January to 23 February 2014, amidst the escalation of Euromaidan into the Revolution of Dignity, he worked as the head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine.

His brother Serhiy Klyuyev is also a politician and businessman.

He was last seen publicly with Viktor Yanukovych in Balaklava, Ukraine in early 2014.

Since then, he has made occasional appearances on Russian television shows, confirming he is alive.

Regarding his disappearance from Kyiv since the Revolution of Dignity overthrew President Viktor Yanukovych, Klyuyev has claimed that he moved to Donetsk in 2014, which he considers Ukrainian territory (although Donetsk is no longer controlled by Ukrainian authorities since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014).

As of February 2014, the Klyuyev brothers relationships with other entities can be found online.

In March 2016, the Klyuyev brothers' company SLAV Handel applied for bankruptcy in Vienna at the International Court of Arbitration of Vienna International Chamber of Commerce.

In 2019, the Security Service of Ukraine stated that Klyuyev was living in hiding in Russia, and in 2022 a British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office report alleged that Klyuyev, along with three other former Ukrainian government officials who served under Yanukovych, was allegedly working with the Russian intelligence services to “subvert Ukraine”.

Andriy Klyuyev graduated from the Mining College of the Donetsk Politech Institute as a mining automation and mechanization engineer.