Hryhoriy Surkis

Hryhoriy Surkis Григорій Суркіс
UEFA Executive Committee member
In office 2004 – present
President of the Football Federation of Ukraine
In office 2000–2012
Preceded by	Valeriy Pustovoitenko
Succeeded by	Anatoliy Konkov
President of the Professional Football League of Ukraine
In office 1996–2000
Preceded by	post created
Succeeded by	Ravil Safiullin
Personal details
Born	(1949-09-04) 4 September 1949 Odessa, Ukrainian SSR
Association football career Playing position Goalkeeper Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) SKA Odessa[1] FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv[1] * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Hryhoriy Surkis (Ukrainian: Григорій Суркіс; born September 4, 1949 in Odessa) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician, one of five vice-presidents of UEFA since 24 May 2013.^[2] Surkis was the president of Football Federation of Ukraine till September 2012.^[3]

Biography

Hryhoriy was born to a Jewish family. His father Mikhail (Rakhmil) Davydovych Surkis was a military doctor, and his mother Rimma Yanivna Surkis was a sales specialist. He also has a brother Ihor Surkis. Surkis has an undergraduate diploma in mechanical engineering. At 22 he finished the Kyiv Technological Institute of Food Industry with a speciality in food production machines and apparatuses. While in school, he worked as a senior engineer in material-technological logistics for Holovplodvynprom (Main Directorate of Wine Industry) of Ukraine in 1971. From 1974 to 1988 he worked as a deputy-chief at "Kyivzhytlorembudmontazh" (Kyiv City Municipal Housing Remodeling and Construction Company), foreman of the SRBU#1 (Specialized Repair and Construction Directorate) in Kharkiv, and chief of logistics for RBU #3. Then and until 1991 he held a variety of a technical leadership positions at the Kyiv City Council such as chief engineer, chief of department, and others.

From 1991 to 1993 Surkis became the general director of "Dynamo-Atlantic". From 1992 to 1998 he was the president of the Ukrainian industrial financial concern Slavutych.

When Surkis became president of the Ukrainian footballing powerhouse Dynamo Kyiv in 1993, the club was near bankruptcy. Under his tenure, the club managed to balance its budget and rapidly improve its infrastructure, regaining the club's former international glory. Since 1998 he has been a member of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine.

He was the president of the Professional Football League of Ukraine from 1996 to 2000. In 2000, he was elected President of the Football Federation of Ukraine, later being re-elected twice, but after serving his third term he did not participate in the presidential election of September 2012, but he was named "Honorary President" in September 2012.^[3] He is a member of the Committee of National Associations of UEFA since 2000. In 2006, he became the vice-president of NOC of Ukraine. Since 2007 he is the Head of the Committee of beach soccer and futsal.

He was listed among the top 100 most powerful people in Ukraine in 2004 (26th place) and 2005 (38th) in the Korrespondent newspaper. Surkis was a deputy in the III and IV convocations of Verkhovna Rada for the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united), he was a leading figure in that party.^[4] In the 2006 election Surkis ran unsuccessfully for the Opposition Bloc "Ne Tak".^[4]

His brother Ihor Surkis is current chairman of Dynamo Kyiv.^[5]

US visa ban

In 2004 Surkis was refused a visa to the United States due to corruption allegations in Ukraine.^[6]

References

External links

• "Hryhoriy Surkis biography" (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 2013-04-19.
• "Surkis Hryhoriy Mykhailovych, president" (in Ukrainian).
• "Grigoriy Surkis (profile at UEFA)".