 Podgorny was born in the city of Karlovka in 1903 to a Ukrainian working @-@ class family . He graduated in from a local worker 's school in 1926 , and in 1931 from the Kiev Technological Institute of Food Industry . He became a member of the All @-@ Union Communist Party ( bolsheviks ) in 1930 . Like his friend and ally Andrei Kirilenko , Podgorny climbed up the Soviet hierarchy through the industrial ladder ( delivering the production goals set by the bureaucrats in charge of the centrally planned economy ) . By 1953 he had become Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine . After Anastas Mikoyan 's resignation , Podgorny was voted into office as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet . After Premier Alexei Kosygin 's fall from favour Podgorny became the second most powerful figure in the Soviet Union until his removal as head of state in 1977 . 
