Vladimir Konstantinov (politician)

Vladimir Andreyevich Konstantinov (Влади́мир Андре́евич Константи́нов, Володимир Андрійович Константинов; born 19 November 1956) is a Crimean and Russian politician who has served as the Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea since 17 March 2014.

He served as Chairman of the Supreme Council in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea from 17 March 2010 until 17 March 2014. On 5 March 2014 the Shevchenko District Court of Kyiv ruled on the detention of the self-proclaimed leaders Sergey Aksyonov and Vladimir Konstantinov. The Security Service of Ukraine was charged to bring them to court. On 15 March 2014 Ukrainian parliament dissolved the Supreme Council of Crimea.

In 2012, Konstantinov strongly condemned calls for an incorporation of Crimea into Russia. On 20 February 2014, during a visit to Moscow, he stated that the 1954 transfer of Crimea from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic had been a mistake. Since March 2014, Konstantinov is a strong supporter of the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.

Biography
He was born in Vladimirovca in the Moldavian SSR (present-day Moldova/Transnistria) on 19 November 1956. In 1973, he graduated from Nauchnenskaya secondary school of Bakhchysarai Raion.

He is a graduate of Simferopol branch of Sevastopol instrument-making institute, majoring in industrial and civil engineering. In the same year, until 1974, at the age of 17, he ended up at the Alminsky building materials plant of the Krymstroyd trust. He worked as an assistant driver of a stone-cutting machine at the Alminsky building materials plant.

In 1979 he graduated from the Simferopol branch of the Sevastopol Instrument-Making Institute with a degree in Industrial and Civil Construction. By the same year, he is the master of the Crimean Repair and Construction Department.

From 1979 to 1981 he served in the Soviet Army. He held numerous awards and merits including the "Honored Builder of Ukraine".

From 1989 to 1991, he was the head of the Crimean specialized repair and construction department of the Ukrremstroymaterialy trust.

From June 1991 to June 1993, he was the General Director of the rental company Consol.

From September to November 2001, he was the Chairman of the Board of Consol, Ltd.

From December 2001 to August 2004, he was the Chairman of the Ukrrosbud corporation.

From August 2004 to March 2010, he was the President of the Ukrrosbud Corporation.

He is an honorary professor at the Crimean National Academy of Environmental and Resort Construction.

Political career
He served as Deputy of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea 1998–2002.

Alleged criminal involvement
Andriy Senchenko, member of the Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council of Ukraine) from Batkivshchyna party led by Yulia Tymoshenko, has alleged in March 2014 that Vladimir Konstatinov has been involved in fraudulent real estate transactions and that he has worked since the 1990s with Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov, whom Senchenko alleged to be a member of organized crime.