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Sergey Aksyonov
Сергей Аксёнов
Sergey Aksyonov (2018).jpg
Head of the Republic of Crimea
Assumed office
9 October 2014
Acting: 14 April 2014 – 9 October 2014
President Vladimir Putin
Prime Minister himself (2014–2019)
Yury Gotsanyuk (2019–present)
Preceded by Office established
Prime Minister of Crimea
In office
27 February 2014 – 20 September 2019
Preceded by Anatolii Mohyliov
Succeeded by Yury Gotsanyuk
Deputy of the State Council of Crimea
In office
17 March 2014 – 21 May 2014
Deputy of the Supreme Council of Crimea
In office
31 October 2010 – 17 March 2014
Personal details
Born (1972-11-26) 26 November 1972 (age 51)
Bălți, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union
Political party Russian Unity (2008–2014)
United Russia (since 2014)
Children 2

Sergey Valeryevich Aksyonov (Russian: Сергей Валерьевич Аксёнов; Ukrainian: Сергій Валерійович Аксьонов, romanizedSerhiy Valeriiovych Aksionov; Romanian: Serghei Valerievici Aksionov; born 26 November 1972) is a Russian politician serving as the head of the Republic of Crimea since 9 October 2014, a territory internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.

Biography

Sergey Aksyonov was born in Bălți in the Moldavian SSR on 26 November 1972. His father was the leader of a group called the Russian Community of Northern Moldova in Bălți.

In 1989, he moved to Crimea and enrolled in a college for military engineers in Simferopol; however, the fall of the Soviet Union occurred before he could graduate from the academy to become a Soviet Army officer. He then refused to swear an oath of allegiance to Ukraine, which he considered 'an unjustly severed appendage of Russia'.

From 1993 to 1998, he was deputy director of a company named Ellada, a business related to food products. From October 1998 to March 2001, he was deputy director of the Asteriks company and since April 2001 he has been deputy director of the Eskada company. Aksyonov is also the head of Crimea's Greco-Roman wrestling organization, Sports club Hwarang-do. Aksyonov received his Ukrainian passport on 12 August 1997.

Political career

Aksyonov was granted Russian citizenship as a resident of Moldova on 10 January 2003.

In 2008, he became a member of the "Russian Community of Crimea" ("Русская община Крыма") and a member of public organisation "Civic Asset of Crimea" ("Гражданский актив Крыма").

Mykola Kirilchuk, a former Crimean Minister of Industry, stated that in 2008–2009 Aksyonov borrowed almost $5 million from him to develop the Russian Unity party. Kirilchuk has since fled Crimea and has been trying to get his money back though the court system. Since 2009, he has been a member of the board in "Гражданский актив Крыма", co-president of Coordinating Council "За русское единство в Крыму!" ("For Russian Unity in Crimea!"), and leader of the all-Crimean public political movement Russian Unity ("Русское единство").

Since 2010, Aksyonov had been a deputy of the Supreme Council of Crimea, elected as a member of Russian Unity, which had 4% of votes (warranting 3 seats of total 100 in Crimean parliament) during elections into Supreme Council of Crimea.

During a talk show on the TV channel ATR on 3 March 2012, Aksyonov commented about a possible accession of Crimea to Russia: "I think the time for this process has already passed. Today we live in Ukraine. I have a Ukrainian passport, Ukrainian citizenship, so all problems should be discussed only in friendly relations between our countries".

Head of Crimea

Putin with Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergey Aksyonov and Alexey Chaly 4
From left to right, Sergey Aksyonov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Vladimir Putin, and Aleksei Chaly sign the Treaty on Accession of the Republic of Crimea to Russia.

Following the Ukrainian revolution, on 27 February an emergency session was held in the Crimean legislature while it was occupied by Russian forces without insignias. After sealing the doors and confiscating all mobile phones, the MPs who had been invited by Aksyonov to enter the building, passed the motion in the presence of the gunmen armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and rocket launchers. The result was that 55 of 64 votes elected Aksyonov Prime Minister. Various media accounts have disputed whether he was able to gather a quorum of 50 of his peers before the session convened that day, and some Crimean legislators who were registered as present have said they did not come near the building. Others denied being in the city, and claimed that duplicate voting cards stolen from the Parliament's safe were used in their name. Opposition deputies have avoided speaking out publicly out of fear of reprisal, due to threats received. Crimean Prime Minister Anatolii Mohyliov was barred from attending the session.

Under the Ukrainian constitution, the Prime Minister of Crimea is appointed by the autonomous republic's parliament following consultations with the President of Ukraine. The Director of the Information Analysis department of the legislature's secretariat, Olha Sulnikova, has stated that an agreement exists with ousted president Viktor Yanukovych. The interim President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov decreed the appointment of Aksyonov as the head of the government of Crimea to be unconstitutional.

On 5 March 2014, the Shevchenko district court of Kyiv issued a warrant for Aksyonov and Vladimir Konstantinov's arrest, and the Security Service of Ukraine was charged to bring them to court.

Due to the Crimean crisis, on 17 March 2014, he was put on Canadian, EU and US sanction lists; his assets in these countries were frozen, and Aksyonov was banned from entering these countries.

Аксёнов в Армянске (2018, 1)
Aksyonov in Armyansk, Crimea, September 2018

In the 2014 Crimean parliamentary election, Aksyonov ran as a candidate for United Russia because, according to himself, "The Popular Front" had delegated him to the United Russia party list.

Sergey Aksyonov was re-elected after the 2019 Crimean parliamentary election. But, during his second term, he refused to combine the positions of Head of the Republic and Prime Minister. The new Prime Minister was appointed Yury Gotsanyuk.

Детская новая волна - 2019 6
Sergey Aksyonov at the 2019 New Wave Junior international contest for young pop music performers that was held in Artek.

Domestic policy

Aksyonov has promised that Ukrainian would cease to be an official language if Crimea joined Russia. "We use two languages on a daily basis – Russian and Crimean Tatar," Aksyonov said. "It's certain that the republic [of Crimea] will have two languages." Aksyonov's main goals for the immediate future of Crimea is to "use the funds, allocated for construction of infrastructures, for healthcare, energy and so on." Aksyonov has also pushed for the Crimean Bridge to be completed by 2018.

Crimean Tatar minority
Vladimir Putin's meeting with representatives of the Crimean Tatars 02
Aksyonov and Putin meeting with representatives of the Crimean Tatars, 16 May 2014

Sergey Aksyonov has led efforts to stamp out dissent among ethnic Crimean Tatars over the annexation, saying "All activities aimed at non-recognition of Crimea's joining to Russia and non-recognition of the leadership of the country will face prosecution under the law and we will take a very tough stance on this."

Homosexuals

Aksyonov says homosexuals "have no chance" in Crimea, and that "we in Crimea do not need such people." He also promised that if gays tried to hold public gatherings, "our police and self-defense forces will react immediately and in three minutes will explain to them what kind of sexual orientation they should stick to."

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Serguéi Aksiónov para niños

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