Oleksandr Mykolayovych Kovalenko (; 9 May 1935 – 29 June 2021) was a Ukrainian economist and politician who became the first

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

from 1990 to 1991.

Biography

Early life and education

Kovalenko was born on 22 March 1932 in the village of Novolyubimivka,

Ukraine SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. Under the Soviet one-party m ...

, and graduated from the Odesa Institute of National Economy in 1964. After completing the military aviation school and serving in the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

's aviation units from 1953 to 1958. Prior to Kovalenko's ministerial role, he had held several early positions such as part of the

Tokmak Raion Tokmak Raion () was one of the raions (districts) of Zaporizhzhia Oblast in southern Ukraine between 1923 and 2020. The administrative center of the region was the small city of Tokmak. Before 1962, it was known as Velykyi Tokmak Raion (). The las ...

Executive Committee of the

Zaporizhia Oblast Zaporizhzhia Oblast (), commonly referred to as Zaporizhzhia (), is an oblast (region) in south-east Ukraine. Its administrative centre is the city of Zaporizhzhia. The oblast covers an area of , and has a population of The oblast is an import ...

as their inspector and senior inspector of state revenues since 1958; the Vice

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the Primorye Krai Executive Committee and head of the financial division in 1965; the 2nd Secretary of the Primorye Krai Committee of the

Communist Party of Ukraine The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU or KPU) is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 and claimed to be the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine, which had been banned in 1991. In 2002 it held a "unifi ...

, deputy head of the

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...

Regional Finance Department in 1969; an instructor of the Department of Planning and Financial Bodies of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine in 1974; the head of the financial department of the

Cherkasy Raion Cherkasy Raion () is a Raions of Ukraine, raion (district) of Cherkasy Oblast. It is located in the central part of Cherkasy oblast, and the center of the raion is the city of Cherkasy. The population is On 18 July 2020, as part of the administr ...

Executive Committee in 1976; the 1st Deputy Minister of Finance of the Ukrainian SSR in 1986.

Career

Kovalenko was appointed as the Minister of Finance of Ukraine on 2 August 1990. He was relieved of his duties as minister on 29 October 1991 because of a decline in his health. The Badge of Honor and two medals were given to him in recognition of his accomplishments throughout many years of financial activity. He would go on to become the 1st Deputy Chairman of the

Joint Stock Company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certifi ...

(JSC) bank named

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

from October 1991 to April 1992. From April 1992 to May 1996, he was promoted to the position of chairman of the bank. lastly, he was the deputy chairman of the board and Head of Affairs of JSC bank Ukraine.

Death

Kovalenko passed away at the age of 85 in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

on 29 June 2021. The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers extended its deepest sympathies to his family and friends.

Honours

Throughout his career, he has been awarded the following honours; * SU Order of the Badge of Honour ribbon

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour () was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding achievements in sports, production, scientific research and socia ...

(1981) * Merited Economist of Ukraine

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovalenko, Oleksandr Mykolayovych 1935 births 2021 deaths People from Zaporizhzhia Oblast Finance ministers of Ukraine 20th-century Ukrainian politicians 20th-century Ukrainian economists Odesa National Economics University alumni