Today, many people of the older generation recall the "era of stagnation", highlighting the pros and cons of the policy of the Secretary General of the CPSU Central Committee. Leonid Ilyich for 18 years of governing the country has become a prominent political figure in the USSR. Brezhnev Andrey decided to continue the work of his famous grandfather and become involved in public affairs. However, it was not easy to repeat the success of the Secretary General. On the political Olympus, he repeatedly failed.
At the same time, Brezhnev Andrei repeatedly emphasized that there was a period when he and his relatives were denied access not only to state administration, but also to other areas of activity. We are talking about the years of perestroika: Mikhail Gorbachev then sharply criticized all the achievements of the country's development course chosen by Leonid Ilyich. But this did not prevent Brezhnev’s grandson from subsequently trying to realize his political ambitions. Today, he has abstracted somewhat from them, highlighting other interests.
Years of childhood and youth
Brezhnev Andrey is a native of the city of Moscow. He was born on March 15, 1961 in the family of the son of Leonid Ilyich. It should be noted that Andrei’s father was almost 100 percent similar to the general secretary. Yuri Brezhnev first graduated from the Metallurgical Institute in Dneprodzerzhinsk, and after a while he entered and became a graduate of the All-Union Academy of Foreign Trade. Andrei's father for a long time held leading positions in the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the USSR. He also had a chance to work in the Soviet Foreign Ministry.
Upon retiring, Yuri Brezhnev began to devote more time to his children and grandchildren.
Andrei Yurievich, who studied in a regular school, decided to choose a similar profession and became a student at MGIMO (Faculty of International Economic Relations). Future politician Alexei Mitrofanov and future businessman Vladimir Potanin turned out to be fellow students of the young man .
Start of work
Having received a diploma from a prestigious university, the young man went to work in his specialty.
In 1983, Andrei Brezhnev (Brezhnev’s grandson) was employed by an engineer at the Soyuzkhimeksport foreign trade enterprise (under the USSR Ministry of Foreign Trade).
Two years later, the young man becomes an attaché of the Office of International Economic Organizations in the structure of the Soviet Foreign Ministry.
After that, he rises even higher up the career ladder, taking the post of assistant to the head of the Office of Foreign Relations of the USSR Ministry of Trade.
When the communist regime collapsed and the country headed for a market economy, the grandson of the CPSU Central Committee General Secretary Andrei Brezhnev “went” to business. He changed more than one commercial structure and for some time even was a co-owner of the beer bar on Krasnaya Presnya. Also, in the early 90s, a graduate of MGIMO was an expert in the Soviet-French enterprise Moscow.
Social work
In 1996, Andrei Yuryevich headed the charity fund “Children - the hope of the future”.
In the fall of 1998, the grandson of Leonid Ilyich initiated the creation of the All-Russian Communist Social Movement structure, taking the post of Secretary General. In early 1999, Andrei Brezhnev, whose biography is of particular interest to political scientists, became one of the initiators of the Union of Ural Factories.
The start of a political career
In the late 90s, with the support of his friend and fellow student Alexei Mitrofanov, who was at that time in the party of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the grandson of the Secretary General is trying to become a contender for the post of vice mayor of the capital.
But he and Mitrofanov, who was methyl in the mayors of Moscow, are denied registration. Representatives of the city election commission explained their position simply: by creating an election fund, Mitrofanov violated the rules of the regulation, which governs the replenishment and expenditure of financial assets formed in candidate structures. Then the ex-associate of Vladimir Volfovich and Andrei Brezhnev (Brezhnev’s grandson) change tactics: they do not come from the LDPR, but become self-nominated. And in this status, the electoral commission registered candidates applying for leadership positions in the city hall of the capital.
But still, Mitrofanov and Brezhnev failed to win the election campaign: they lost to Yuri Luzhkov and Valery Shantsev. Then the residents of the Sverdlovsk region elected the head of the region, and the grandson of the secretary general put forward his candidacy for this post. And again he failed: he lost.
Another unsuccessful attempt
Immediately after the mayoral election, the grandson of Leonid Ilyich becomes a contender for membership in the lower house of the Russian parliament. But this time, candidate for deputy Andrei Brezhnev, who has advanced from the Odintsovo single-mandate polling station No. 110, is failing. He gains 2.35% of the vote, losing the seat of parliament to the Yabloko Evgeny Sobakin.
And miss again ...
In early 2001, Andrei Yuryevich took part in the election of the head of the Tula region.
Already in the first round it became known that a leading position in the region would not go to the grandson of the Secretary General. According to the results of the vote, he took last place.
Party with a clearly "left" bias, but not the Communist Party
In the spring of 2002, Brezhnev Andrey forms the organizing committee of the New Communists party and gives it legal status. Soon he announces the creation of a new political structure, the name of which will be invented at its first congress.
Brezhnev stressed that the "new Communists" will not support the candidacy of Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov in the presidential elections. He explained this by the fact that the current Communist Party does not meet the ideals and tasks of "true" communism.
In the summer of 2002, the grandson of Leonid Ilyich was elected secretary general of the New Communist Party, which he founded, which would wholeheartedly honor the principles of atheism and internationalism.
The paradox will occur in the fall of 2004, when Andrei Yurievich unexpectedly joins the ranks of the Communist Party. And he will wear a party ticket for this structure over the next ten years.
In 2014, the grandson of the Secretary General will again change priorities in political orientation, joining the members of the "Communist Party of Social Justice". Then he made attempts to get into the regional legislative bodies: Mari El, Crimea, Sevastopol. But the victory spared him. Today he is a member of the Rodina party.
About the rule of his grandfather
Andrei Brezhnev recalls with nostalgia the times when Leonid Ilyich was in power. He claims that then a person was given a full set of social guarantees, including free medicine and education. The grandson of the Secretary General in every possible way suppresses attempts to ridicule his relative, who, in his opinion, led the country not to stagnation, but to stability. Andrei Yurievich also criticizes the views of modern directors on the era of the reign of Leonid Ilyich. In particular, we are talking about the film "Brezhnev", released in 2005. The leader of the new communists believes that the reality shown by Sergei Snezhkin is not true. He even tried to restore justice through the courts, but ultimately realized that it was pointless.
Do Brezhnev’s grandchildren keep in touch? Yes and no. Although not often, Andrei communicates with his brother Leonid, but still communicates. But with the granddaughter of Secretary General Victoria (from Galina), he does not contact at all. Now Brezhnev’s grandchildren are people, each of whom lives his own life.
Personal life
Andrei Yurievich married twice. The first wife, Nadezhda Lyamina, after a divorce from the Secretary General, married entrepreneur Alexander Mamut.
Two sons were born from the first wife - Leonid and Dmitry. The second chosen one of the grandson of Brezhnev was a girl named Elena.
The youngest son Dmitry is an expert in the creation of computer programs, he is a graduate of Oxford. Senior offspring Leonid works as a translator in the military department.
Currently, Andrei Brezhnev lives in Crimea. He initiates exhibitions of contemporary artists and is the owner of his own gallery of paintings. The grandson of the Secretary General considers himself a true patriot of his country, for which Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are a single whole.