Volodymyr Prodyvus was born into a miner’s family on the 8t of December 1962, in a small Kazakh village of Shakhan.  In 1963, the Prodyvus family moved to Ukraine to a small town named Novy Bug in the Nikolaev region, and later, to the Vinnitsa region.

Early in his life, he lost his father.  Being underage, he learned the value of hard work and earning an honest living.  There was no form of work he would not do.  His brother and he became the breadwinners of the family.  They earned the money that paid for the medicines and treatment that their mother (a totally disabled person) needed.  After a car accident, his mother was never able to get up from her bed.  Vladimir took care of her until her last day. 

As a youth, he grew and learned on the street.  He learned how to fight for his own hard, to take punches without buckling.  He took a great interest in sport.  When he walked into a boxing club, the trainer refused to take him onto the team.  Though Vladimir was very persistent. Eventually his name became the name of a gifted young boxer from Vinnitsa region within the sports world.  Twice he was named the champion of Ukraine, he won all Ukraine sports days, won “bronze” at the Soviet Union Cup and found himself among candidates for the boxing team of the USSR. 

Not having many options after graduating school, Vladimir entered the Vinntsa Pedagogical Institute, in the physical education department, named after Nikolay Ostrovsky.

When the time came for the young man to join the army, he was allowed a draft deferment because of his sports achievements.  Despite his deferment, he chose to become a soldier.

After serving his time in the army, he plunged into the business world.  Step by step, appointment by appointment, he worked his way into the heart of business.  Vladimir held executive positions with several companies, some he established from almost nothing.  Today, many of them make up the backbone of the powerful business group Premier-Finance and were consolidated into the corporation, the board of which is headed by Prodyvus.  He also became a shareholder of the largest Ukrainian bridge construction company – JSC “Mostobud” and was elected the chairman of the Supervisory Board of this joint-stock company. Due to his active participation, the former glory of Ukrainian bridge-contractors has been revived, fundamental renewal of the company production equipment has been conducted, and a large-scale social program is being carried out embracing both the workers and veterans of “Mostobud”. Today, the company has been entrusted to construct the most important strategic objects, among them, large-scale, out-of-class bridge constructions in Zaporozhe, Podol Bridge crossing in Kiev, which is meant for simultaneous vehicle and underground train traffic.  “Mostobud” is receiving proposals frequently to build complicated structures abroad.

These achievements would have been impossible without performing the radical technical updates of the company, which were made by investors, along with Prodyvus. Within two years, they increase funding of equipment and machinery renewal three times. They bought only the best and most perspective equipment and mastered advanced technologies.  At the same time, they cared for the prestige of the workers: bridge builders.  Those in smaller provinces were not paid less than workers in the capital.  Transparency and openness are the signature of the new shareholder’s policy.  It is company policy to pay the salaries of employees in a fair and legal manner, so deductions into the budget and pension fund are made from each hryvnia earned. Realizing the most important state tasks concerning development of the countries infrastructure, “Mostobud” has become the most important and permanent tax payer.  After all, more than five thousand people work in the collective and earn high wages.

 

Who has stopped, that has lagged – this is the rule that Volodymyr Prodyvus strictly applies first to himself, and than towards others.  Already being a prominent business manager, he continues his education because he knows that the knowledge obtained in a Pedagogical Institute is not enough for a modern day manager.  Without abandoning his business, Prodyvus graduated from Ternopol Academy of National Economy, majoring in finance, received a master’s degree in psychology from the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management, and a master’s degree in public administration in the Ukrainian Academy of Public Administration, Office of the President of Ukraine.

Amid severe global economic and financial crisis which overwhelmed Ukraine as well, Prodyvus is looking for and finding ways to protect his business. "Mostobud" credits large scale state building projects at own expense, at the same time keeping parallel construction of two unique and extremely complex bridges, and rushing into foreign markets. Preventing labor outflow from "Mostobud" is a matter of principle for Prodyvus, because the company has been training its personnel for years and decades. To achieve this goal it is necessary to give people jobs and opportunity to earn money. He prepays many million building projects.

Knowledge and practical experience have constituted the basis of scientific research. Working on his thesis for doctoral degree, Prodyvus deeply analyzes problems related to psychology of managing huge workforce and works on his thesis.

Volodymyr Prodyvus is a dedicated and well-rounded person. Having graduated from strict universities, after having spent his youth being educated on the streets, he realizes how important it is to take young people away from the streets. This is why he helps to finance youth programs, both educational and athletic, and helps take care of the elderly.  Having become the president of Ukraine's Boxing Federation Prodyvus is personally involved in the popularization of this sport in our country and with the promotion of Ukrainian athletes abroad.  He also spends his own funds for trips and training of our boxers in the best foreign centers. He actively supports the development of soccer in the Vinnitsa region, sponsors performances of the KVN (Club for the Cheerful and Quick-witted) team “Vinnitsa Peppers,” which won the major Ukrainian League and a trip ticket to Jurmala for the final round of the show.  Together with outstanding science teachers, he implements and finances the assistance program for talented children.  War and labor veterans, former partisans, the elderly and the poor, know that they can always obtain support and material aid in the public association Social Center and the fund “Primirenie” headed by Prodyvus.

Among significant honors of Volodymyr Prodyvus there is the honorary title of the Honored Constructor of Ukraine, the Mikhail Grushevskiy order “For Development of Ukraine” of the IV degree, Cross of Honor “For Revival of Ukraine” of the II degree, the order “Glory for Faithfulness to Motherland” of the II degree, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Order of St. Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles and many others.