Volodymyr Groysman

Volodymyr Borysovych Groysman or sometimes transliterated as Volodymyr Borysovych Hroisman (Ukrainian: Володимир Борисович Гройсман; Yiddish: וואָלאָדימיר באָריסאָוויטש גרויסמאַן‎; born 20 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician who has been the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the 8th convocation, Ukraine's national parliament, since 27 November 2014. He was elected into parliament on the party lists of the pro-presidential Petro Poroshenko Bloc.

In the First Yatsenyuk Government which was in office from 27 February until 27 November 2014, Groysman held two concurrent positions as the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for Regional Policy and the Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine. From 28 March 2006 until 27 February 2014, Groysman was the Mayor of Vinnytsia.

Biography

Early career

Volodymyr Groysman was born in Vinnytsia into a Jewish family on 20 January 1978. In 1994 he started his career as a commercial director of the small private business company "ОКО" and as a commercial director of the private enterprise "Youth".

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime minister is the presiding member and chairman of the cabinet. In a minority of systems, notably in semi-presidential systems of government, a prime minister is the official who is appointed to manage the civil service and execute the directives of the head of state.

In parliamentary systems fashioned after the Westminster system, the prime minister is the presiding and actual head of government and head of the executive branch. In such systems, the head of state or the head of state's official representative (i.e. the monarch, president, or governor-general) usually holds a largely ceremonial position, although often with reserve powers.

The prime minister is often, but not always, a member of parliament and is expected with other ministers to ensure the passage of bills through the legislature. In some monarchies the monarch may also exercise executive powers (known as the royal prerogative) that are constitutionally vested in the crown and may be exercised without the approval of parliament.

Volodymyr

Volodymyr may refer to:

Ukraine

Ukraine (ⁱ/juːˈkreɪn/; Ukrainian: Україна, tr. Ukraina [ukrɑˈjinɑ]) is a country in Eastern Europe,bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland and Slovakia to the west, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It is currently in dispute with Russia over the Crimean peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014 but Ukraine and most of the international community still recognise as Ukrainian. Including Crimea, Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km² (233,062 sq mi), making it the largest country entirely within Europe and the 46th largest country in the world, and a population of about 44.5 million, making it the 32nd most populous country in the world.

The territory of modern Ukraine has been inhabited since 32,000 BC. During the Middle Ages, the area was a key centre of East Slavic culture, with the powerful state of Kievan Rus' forming the basis of Ukrainian identity. Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers, including Lithuania, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. A Cossack republic emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, but its territory was eventually split between Poland and the Russian Empire, and later submerged fully into Russia. Two brief periods of independence occurred during the 20th century, once near the end of World War I and another during World War II, but both occasions would ultimately see Ukraine's territories conquered and consolidated into a Soviet republic, a situation that persisted until 1991, when Ukraine gained its independence from the Soviet Union in the aftermath of its dissolution at the end of the Cold War.

Petro Poroshenko

Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko (Ukrainian: Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, Ukrainian pronunciation: [pɛt'rɔ oɫɛk'sijovɪt͡ʃ poro'ʃɛnko]; born 26 September 1965) is the fifth and current President of Ukraine, in office since 2014. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2010, and as the Minister of Trade and Economic Development in 2012. From 2007 until 2012, Poroshenko headed the Council of Ukraine's National Bank.

Outside government, Poroshenko has been a prominent oligarch with a lucrative career in acquiring and building assets. His most recognized ownerships are Roshen, the large-scale confectionery company which has earned him the nickname of 'Chocolate King', and a TV channel 5 kanal, an all-news national TV broadcaster. Due to the scale of his business holdings in manufacturing, agriculture and financial industry, his political influence that included several stints at government prior to his presidency, and ownership of an influential mass-media outlet Poroshenko has long been considered one of the prominent Ukrainian oligarchs even though not the most influential among them.