Petro Poroshenko

Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko (Ukrainian: Петро Олексійович Порошенко; born 26 September 1965 in Bolhrad) is a Ukrainian billionaire businessman. He became President of Ukraine on 7 June 2014. He lost his re-election in 2019 to comedian Volodymyr Zelensky.

Petro Poroshenko Петро Порошенко
5th President of Ukraine
In office 7 June 2014 – 20 May 2019
Prime Minister	Arseniy Yatsenyuk Volodymyr Groysman
Preceded by	Oleksandr Turchynov (Acting)
Succeeded by	Volodymyr Zelensky
2nd Minister of Trade and Economic Development
In office 23 March 2012 – 24 December 2012
Prime Minister	Mykola Azarov
Preceded by	Andriy Klyuyev
Succeeded by	Ihor Prasolov
9th Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 9 October 2009 – 11 March 2010
Prime Minister	Yulia Tymoshenko Oleksandr Turchynov (Acting)
Preceded by	Volodymyr Khandohiy
Succeeded by	Kostyantyn Gryshchenko
4th Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council
In office 8 February 2005 – 8 September 2005
President	Viktor Yushchenko
Preceded by	Volodymyr Radchenko
Succeeded by	Anatoliy Kinakh
Personal details
Born	Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko (1965-09-26) 26 September 1965 Bolhrad, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Solidarity (2001–present) Social Democratic Party (Before 2001) Our Ukraine-People's Self-defence Bloc (2002–2012)
Spouse(s)	Maryna Poroshenko
Children	Olexiy Yevheniya Oleksandra Mykhaylo
Alma mater	National University of Kyiv
Signature

Poroshenko was the People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th and 9th convocations (1998-2014, since 2019). He is a founder of the Solidarity Party of Ukraine and one of the co-founders of the Labor Solidarity Party of Ukraine, which later changed its name to the Party of Regions. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (2009-2010) in the second government of Yulia Tymoshenko and Minister of Trade (2012) in the government of Mykola Azarov. He was a member of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine (2007-2014).

Elected President of Ukraine in May 2014, winning 54.7% of the vote in the first round. During his presidency, he suspended active Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine and gained Ukraine's foreign policy support from Western (Europe and North America) countries. Under his presidency, Ukraine received a visa-free regime with the EU (2017). He contributed to the granting of autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (2018-2019). He initiated unprecedented reforms in the army, education, medicine, public administration, etc. He ran in the 2019 presidential election, but lost to producer and showman Volodymyr Zelensky in the second round.

In addition to his political activities, Poroshenko is engaged in business and is considered one of the Ukrainian oligarchs; regularly ranks in the rankings of the wealthiest Ukrainians. He is partly the owner of the Roshen confectionery corporation, several automobile and bus factories, the 5 TV channel, etc.

Biography

The Poroshenko family is documented in the 1835 census in Safyany, Izmail County, Bessarabian Province. The family belongs to the community of Ukrainian burghers. The family lived on the lands of the Ust-Danube Budzhak Cossack army.