Andrey Kojemyakin Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, first deputy head of the BYuT faction Date of Birth: 13.11.1965 Country: Ukraine

Biography of Andrey Kozhemyakin

Andrey Anatolievich Kozhemyakin was born on November 13, 1965, in Odessa, Ukraine, into a family of professional secret service agents. His father, Anatoly Leonidovich Kozhemyakin, worked for the KGB in Western Ukraine, specializing in "protecting statehood and combating subversive ideological centers." After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, his father became the head of the main department for combating corruption and organized crime in the newly created Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), eventually attaining the rank of Lieutenant General.

Andrey Kozhemyakin graduated from the Kiev Higher Naval Political School in 1986 and served as a lieutenant in the Black Sea Fleet of the USSR until 1988, specializing in underwater sabotage operations as a diving officer. In 1988, he completed training at the KGB school in Novosibirsk and then served in Sevastopol in a special department. In 1991, he began working for the SBU while simultaneously studying at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where he graduated in 1996. During his time at the SBU, Kozhemyakin held various positions, including operative officer, department head, and head of a service. He achieved the rank of Major General by 2005 and became the head of the main department for combating corruption and organized crime in the SBU, a position previously held by his father.

In April-September 2005, Kozhemyakin served as the deputy to Alexander Turchinov, one of the leaders of the "Orange Revolution" in 2004, who was appointed head of the SBU in February 2005. Kozhemyakin maintained a friendly relationship with Turchinov. In September 2005, Turchinov left the SBU in protest against the dismissal of Yulia Tymoshenko's government. Kozhemyakin also resigned from the Security Service of Ukraine but remained an advisor to Igor Drizhchany, who became the head of the agency.

On March 26, 2006, Kozhemyakin was elected as a Member of Parliament of Ukraine from the Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT) party. In parliament, he served on the investigative commission to investigate the circumstances and causes of the death of journalist Georgiy Gongadze. He also chaired a special commission on privatization. As the head of this commission, Kozhemyakin sought to veto the privatization plan for 2007 proposed by the head of the State Property Fund (FGI), Valentina Semenyuk. In December 2006, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko vetoed the list of privatization objects for 2007 after approval by the Verkhovna Rada.

In the early parliamentary elections in September 2007, Kozhemyakin was re-elected as a Member of Parliament from the BYuT party. He became the first deputy head of the BYuT faction in parliament and a member of the committee on legislative support for law enforcement activities. In January 2008, after Yulia Tymoshenko became the Prime Minister of Ukraine again, Kozhemyakin became her advisor on public matters.

Andrey Kozhemyakin currently resides in Kyiv. He is married and has a daughter named Daria, who is studying journalism at Kyiv National University. In October 2007, Daria married Roman Korzh, the son of Member of Parliament Vitaliy Korzh. Kozhemyakin's son-in-law heads the Kyiv office of the Russian law firm "Barshevsky and Partners." Apart from his political career, Kozhemyakin has an interest in theater and opera. He is also passionate about Eastern philosophy and martial arts, holding the rank of master in hand-to-hand combat.