Oleksandr Vilkul

Oleksandr's great-grandfather, Oleksandr Vasyliovych Borovskyi (1896 – 1972) was a participant in the Russian Civil War, an honorary citizen of Kryvyi Rih, and member of the leadership of the Dzerzhinsky Mining Department.

He was awarded the Order of Lenin.

Oleksandr Yuriyovych Vilkul (Олексaндр Юрійович Вiлкул; born 24 May 1974), also known as Aleksandr Yuryevich Vilkul (Александр Юрьевич Вилкул) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who is currently serving as Head of the Ukrainian Military Administration of Kryvyi Rih.

He has previously served as Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Born in Kryvyi Rih in 1974, Vilkul originally pursued a career in mining, eventually becoming manager.

Oleksandr Yuriyovych Vilkul was born on 24 May 1974 in Kryvyi Rih, then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union.

His family had been miners for four generations.

In 1996, Vilkul graduated from Kryvyi Rih Technical University, specialising in open-pit mining.

He started his career as an assistant excavator driver at OJSC Southern Iron Ore Enrichment Works (PHZK), eventually becoming the mine master.

From 1997 to 2001, Vilkul was General Deputy Director of PHZK's Commerce and Finance Department.

Afterwards, he served as Vice-President of Economics and Foreign Economic Relations of the Academy of Mining Sciences of Ukraine for a year before returning to PHZK, where he served as deputy CEO.

In 2003, he joined the Party of Regions, becoming a People's Deputy of Ukraine in 2006.

In 2003, Vilkul became a member of the Russophile Party of Regions.

From 2004 to 2006, he was also a head of the Kryvorizhskyi electoral headquarters of the Party of Regions.

In 2005, he became head of the Kryvorizhska State Organization of the Party of Regions.

The next year, he became the general director of Central Iron Ore Enrichment Works (TsHZK), a position he served in until 2006.

From 2006 to 2010, he was honorary president of TsHZK and Northern Iron Ore Enrichment Works, a company he became general director of in 2004.

Over a period of five years, he was among the top ten managers, according to ratings of InvestGazeta 's "TOP100: Greatest Managers of Ukraine" and Galitskiye Kontrakty 's "Guards of Managers".

In the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Vilkul was elected as a People's Deputy of Ukraine, representing the Party of Regions.

In July 2006, he was chosen as Vice-Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Issues of Industrial and Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship.

Vilkul was re-elected in the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election.

He was chosen as Vice-Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Industrial and Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship.

As a People's Deputy, Vilkul achieved the redistribution of emission taxes in favour of local government budgets.

As a result, oblasts got 70% of ecological dues.

In 2007, Vilkul was chosen as head of the Party of Regions' electoral headquarters.

He served in the role until being appointed as Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast by President Viktor Yanukovych in March 2010.

He served in the role for two years before being appointed as Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for infrastructure, regional development, construction, utilities, and housing economy, a position he served in until the Revolution of Dignity.

Vilkul continued to be active in politics, serving as co-chair of the Opposition Bloc party until its 2022 ban, as well as leading his own party.

In February 2022, he was chosen as Head of the Military Administration of Kryvyi Rih by Ukrainian authorities following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Amidst the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election, he served as head of the electoral headquarters of Viktor Yanukovych in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Yanukovych would go on to win in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and the election as a whole, though several irregularities were reported in the oblast's vote counting.

According to The Ukrainian Week, Vilkul is closely linked to Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov.

On 18 March 2010, by decree of President Viktor Yanukovych, Vilkul was appointed as Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

From March 2010, Vilkul served as head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast organisation of the Party of Regions.

From November 2010 Vilkul is a Deputy of Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council.

He was elected by majority voted system and got 83,17% votes of electors.

According to the Comments weekly newspaper, Vilkul was recognised as the best governor in Ukraine in 2010.

In a 2011 poll, Vilkul was chosen as winner of the national "Person of the Year" award, having won the category "Regional Leader."

On 24 December 2012, by decree by President Viktor Yanukovych, Vilkul was appointed Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine.

Vilkul's role as Vice Prime Minister included development of infrastructure, introduction of modern electronics to government offices, affordable housing development, modernisation of housing and communal services, expansion of the tourism industry, and preparation and holding of finals of the European Basketball Championship "EuroBasket 2015".