Oleksandr Svishchov
War always marks a turning point in the life of a country and its people.
For a business, war is a serious test. Even in peacetime, there are plenty of challenges to face, let alone in wartime. And all the more so when you have to not only keep your business running but also launch a new project. Just as Oleksandr Svishchov is doing.
In Lviv, albeit a few months later than planned, Ukraine’s largest sports and entertainment centre, called Leoland, has opened. It may not be quite as grand or on such a large scale, but a tennis school, ‘Futbik’ – a football centre for the youngest children – and a MakerSpace workshop have already begun operating there. A bomb shelter has now also been added to the project.
As Svishchov says, during the war it is important to create jobs (more than 400 people work at the new complex), pay taxes and fulfil obligations to contractors.
That said, Oleksandr Yuriyovych does more than he says. Because his investments are in children, and that means they are investments in Ukraine’s future.
Business: construction, retail, sport
Oleksandr Svishchov’s business interests lie in the construction, retail and sports and entertainment sectors.
Despite the war, Oleksandr Svishchov continues to grow his own business
He is a beneficiary in the following companies:
- “Lviv Regional Fish Processing Plant”;
- “By the Sea” (director);
- “The Gorodok Route” (leader);
In addition, Svishchov is the founder of the following companies:
- “Ukraine” Sports Palace;
- “Olimpeks-2”;
- “Leo Film Production” (Director);
- JSC “LEV Closed-End Non-Diversified Venture Capital Corporate Investment Fund” (manager); “International Society for Ukrainian-Indian Friendship”;
- “Ukraine-China” Sports and Wellness Centre;
- “Golden Pegasus”;
Biographical details
He was born on 22 September 1970 in Lviv.
Their parents – Yuriy Svishchov and Valentina Rykova – are descendants of victims of the Soviet regime.
In 1987, after finishing secondary school, Oleksandr enrolled at Lviv Vocational and Technical College No. 22. There, he trained to become a watch repairer. After graduating from the college, he worked in his chosen profession for five years.
In 2021, he graduated from Lviv University of Business and Law. His degree was in ‘International Relations, Public Communications and Regional Studies’.
In the mid-1990s, Oleksandr Yuriyovych began working at KAMAZ-Lviv LLC. He started out as a manager and later became deputy director of sales. He subsequently moved into the company’s marketing department.
At the same time, Svishchov is investing in PJSC “Avtomat” (in 2011–2012 he was chairman of the supervisory board), PJSC “Sambir Research and Experimental Machine-Building Plant”, LLC “Foundry”, and became a co-owner of these companies.
He subsequently sold his shares in the aforementioned companies and, in 2016, launched a tobacco products manufacturing business. Within two years, Oleksandr was investing in the construction business, and within three years – together with Hryhorii Kozlovskyi – he became a co-owner of Vynnykivska Tobacco Factory LLC and Marvel Trading House LLC.
Since 2021 – adviser to the chair of the Lviv Regional Council.
Charity and philanthropy
With the outbreak of the war, Svishchov’s business shifted its focus to supporting the army and people who had been forced to flee their homes. Oleksandr Svishchov says that his companies have taken on organisational, financial and communications responsibilities. The main objective, says the entrepreneur, is to bring Ukraine closer to victory in the war with Russia.
Oleksandr Svishchov – a well-known philanthropist and patron of the arts in the Lviv region
Svishchov is well known in the Lviv region not only for his charitable work, but also for his patronage projects. He is passionate about studying history and is knowledgeable about antiquities. And he is not only knowledgeable, but also helps to expand the collection of the Vynnyky Museum of History and Local Lore. Thanks to his involvement, the museum has acquired a fragment of a bronze bracelet dating from the Kyiv Culture period, ancient pectoral crosses, lunettes, pendants, a collection of flints and ancient European coins.
In 2021, Oleksandr Yuriyovych donated a large collection comprising 84 artefacts to the Lviv Garrison Church of Saints Peter and Paul.
Family: son – member of the regional council
Oleksandr Svishchov does not publicise his private life.
It is known that his son is Vitaliy Svischov, born in 1994.
He has played water polo since his youth. Since 2010, he has been a player for the “Dynamo” (Lviv) team. He heads the Lviv Regional Mini Water Polo Federation.
In 2017, he graduated from Lviv State University of Physical Culture with a degree in ‘Physical Education’. He later studied accountancy at the Lviv Commercial Academy.
He married Sofia Khatsayuk five years ago. The couple are raising their daughter, Nicole.
Sofia is the owner of ‘Viktorovich’ Sole Trader (wholesale trade in fish, seafood and shellfish) and ‘Vita-Komerts’ Limited Liability Company (brokerage in the trade of timber and building materials).
In 2015, Vitaliy Svischov became the youngest councillor on the Lviv City Council representing the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.
In 2020, he was elected as a member of the Lviv Regional Council in the local elections, representing the ‘European Solidarity’ party. With 4.3 million hryvnias in income from business activities in 2019, four flats in Lviv and a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 315 Cdi, Vitalii was ranked among the 10 wealthiest members of the Lviv Regional Council.
Oleksandr Svishchov’s daughter, Viktoria Oleksandrivna, is the ultimate beneficial owner of the companies ‘Romaniv’, ‘Mix Service Management’, ‘Pid’yarkiv’, ‘UNTK’, ‘Hotel Service Management’, ‘Nad Morem’, ‘Aqua-VIP-Company’ and ‘Horodotskyi Shlyakh’.
Sport: football, water polo
In the early 2000s, Svishchev became a keen football fan. For three years, he was at the helm of the SKA-Orbita football club.
Ten years ago, he became president of the ‘Dynamo’ (Lviv) water polo club. It was following Oleksandr Yuriyovych’s arrival that the Lviv water polo team went on to win the Ukrainian Championship seven times, the Ukrainian Cup eight times and the Ukrainian Super Cup three times.
Svishchov is making a great effort to promote sport in Ukraine
Water polo – Svitchev’s true passion
Svishchov says that water polo is more than just a sport or a hobby. Water polo is a big part of his life.
Have you ever seen businesspeople not only investing in sport, but also promoting it in cinemas and bookshops, as Svishchov does?
To mark the centenary of water polo in the Lviv region, he made a documentary film and published books about water polo in his native region and about the ‘Dynamo’ (Lviv) club. So that everyone would remember: water polo is a long-standing and revered sport in Western Ukraine.
In October 2021, Oleksandr Svishchov became president of the Ukrainian Water Polo Federation. Six months before the war, he set himself ambitious goals: to open water polo schools in the country’s major cities, as Svischov is convinced that the sport should be popular among schoolchildren.
However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced both Oleksandr Yuriyovych and the Water Polo Federation to revise their plans. Svishchev went to great lengths to get young athletes from eastern and southern Ukraine to the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Italy, Romania and Slovakia. The President of the Water Polo Federation tirelessly reiterates: we must save the young water polo players and create conditions for them such that, following our victory over Russia, skilled and strong athletes will return home to form the backbone of the Ukrainian national team.