Andriy Klyuyev


Andriy Petrovych Klyuyev, also spelled as Andrii Kliuiev or Kluev/Klyuev, is a Ukrainian businessman and politician, ranked as 7th "Most influential person in Ukraine" in 2011 by Korrespondent. He is a former head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine. Prior to this he was Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine for two years. His brother Serhiy Klyuyev is also politician and businessman. In 2006 experts estimated the joint assets of the Klyuyev brothers to be US$144 million. 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. As of 2011, the Klyuyevs own a mansion on a site near Vienna at Tulbing, Groissaustraße 12, and a large site at Rudyky. He was last seen with Viktor Yanukovych in Balaklava, Ukraine in 2014. But has since been on Russian television shows. Klyuyev himself claims that he started to live in Donetsk in 2014, which he considers Ukrainian territory.

Early life

Andriy Klyuyev graduated from the Mining College of the Donetsk Politech Institute as a mining automation and mechanization engineer. He also earned his Candidate of Technical Sciences post-graduate degree in 1989.
Klyuyev started working in 1983 as an underground miner at Zasyadko coal mine, then 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. From 1986 to 1991 Klyuyev conducted full-time postgraduate research at his alma mater.

Business career

From 1991 to 1994, Andriy Klyuyev headed several coal mining-related machine building companies, including "Ukrpidshipnyk" SC which is widely mentioned as his own company. In March 2011, Ukrpodshipnik is headquartered in the same building in Ukraine as Activ Solar's Ukraine representative.
Klyuyev and his younger brother Serhiy Klyuyev sold Active Bank in March 2013, as all stakes in solar business were sold in 2008 already.
Klyuyev has been repeatedly accused by journalists of being "a shadowy oligarch" with business links to Viktor Yanukovych's family, allegedly using his power to secure multi-billion contracts.
Andrii and Serhii Kliuiev were the principal beneficiaries in the Austrian holding company SLAV AG. As of February 2014, the Klyuyev brothers relationships with other entities can be found .
In 2011, the Kliuiev brothers controlled five solar plants 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 Serhii Kliuiev sold their shares in Vienna based Activ Solar GmbH and Clean Economic Energie AG, which is a holding company that operates solar power plants in Crimea with 380 MWp capacity and 500 MWh annual production.
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.

Political career

Since 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, 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.
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 got named Deputy Vice Prime Minister only, since more influential competitors insight the Party of Regions managed to occupy the posts of the Head of the Presidential administration and the Prime Minister.
At the 2006 and 2007 parliamentary elections, Klyuyev was re-elected as a deputy for Party of Regions.
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.
On February 14, 2012, Klyuyev was appointed Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. 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.
On 24 January 2014, President Yanukovych signed a decrees that dismissed Klyuyev as National Security and Defense Council secretary and appointed him head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine. On 23 February 2014, just after the "Maidan revolution", Klyuyev resigned from this post. His spokesman, Artem Petrenko, claimed 2 days later that Klyuyev's had been wounded when his car had been attacked while he was travelling back to Kiev from Crimea after tendering his resignation to former President Yanukovych. Since 7 March 2014 he is wanted for involvement in mass murder. The day before the EU froze his assets.
In June 2019 the Central Election Commission of Ukraine refused Klyuyev to register for the 21 July 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election is a candidate for the Liberal Party of Ukraine in Electoral District 46 situated in Donetsk Oblast because he had not lived in Ukraine for 5 years. The Supreme Court ordered the Central Election Commission on 1 July 2019 to reexamine Klyuyev's application and his claim that he had lived in Donetsk the last 5 year and that since Donetsk is Ukrainian territory he lived in Ukraine the last 5 years. The same day the Central Election Commission registered Klyuyev's candidacy. Eventually Klyuyev was not able to take part in the election as his registration was cancelled and constituency 46 was won by Opposition Platform — For Life candidate Fyodor Khristenko.

International sanctions

For his roles in destabilizing Ukraine, his role in the Victor Yanukovych government, his support for pro-Russia individuals and entities in Ukraine, abuse of office, and embezzlement of public funds, Klyuyev is under sanctions by Switzerland since February 26, 2014, Lichtenstein since March 3, 2014, the European Union since March 6, 2014, Canada, and the United States since July 30, 2015.
On February 21, 2018, his younger brother Serhii had some EU sanctions removed for the 2017–2018 period, and later, in July 2018, Andrii Kliuiev had some EU sanctions lifted for 2017–2018. However, his accounts in the EU are still frozen until March 9, 2019, because of ongoing EU sanctions.