Serhii Taruta was born inMariupol in 1955 and was a successful cyclist in his youth; he later claimed that he rode an average of 120 kilometres a day.[11] He studied atPryazovskyi State Technical University[12] before going on to work at the large Ukrainian metal plant,Azovstal.[11]
In 1995, Serhii Taruta left Azovstal for "Azovintex", a foreign trade company he co-founded. In December, 1995 he was appointed the CEO of theIndustrial Union of Donbass Corporation (ISD Corporation), which he co-founded. Between 2001 and 2014, Taruta served as the Chairman of the Board of ISD Corporation.[13][failed verification]
According toForbes magazine, he ranks among the richest people in the world, with his estimated wealth being over 2.7 billionUS dollars (2008).[14][15]
In 1998 and 2002 Serhii Taruta was elected a member of the Donetsk Regional City Council forTelmanovsky electoral district, Donetsk Region.[citation needed]
Taruta leads the Group for Inter-parliamentary Ties between Ukraine andGermany.[22]
He is also the Head of the Sub-Committee for Protection of Historic and Cultural Heritage of the Parliamentary Committee for Culture and Spiritual Affairs.[23]
Taruta is the co-chair of the Parliamentary Platform for the Future of Donbass, a body that aims to develop new legislative initiatives to help solve problems related to the reintegration of occupied territories of the region.[24]
He is the author of the Three Pillars peace plan for Donbass,[25] and also proposed the creation of the Vienna Format for Donbass peace talks.[26]
Taruta led the group of developers of Sustainable Development Doctrine Ukraine 2030.[27]
On 22 September 2018,Osnova nominated Taruta as the party's candidate for the2019 Ukrainian presidential election.[30] On 16 March (2 weeks and one day before the election) Taruta pledged his campaign-team would support fellow candidateYulia Tymoshenko's campaign efforts.[31] However, his name was not taken of the ballot.[31] (7 March was the last day when candidates could withdraw their names from the ballot.[32])
Serhii Taruta was conferred the Order for the Service to Homeland of III (2006) and II degrees (2009), as well as the Order of St. Ann, II degree.[citation needed]
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