President Viktor Yushchenko
Biography and Profile of Ukraine and Orange Revolution Leader
A biography of the man who overcame adversity and a violent election campaign in 2004 to lead a popular uprising and become President of the Republic of Ukraine.
Viktor Yushchenko worked his way through the banking industry and into politics, culminating in his election in December 2004 as President of Ukraine. He attained the presidency after a brutal election campaign in 2004 including hospitalization for dioxin poisoning (under suspicious circumstances), the Orange Revolution, and three rounds of voting.
Childhood
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko was born on February 23, 1954 in the village of Khoruzhivka, Sumy Oblast, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. His father, Andriy Andriyovych Yushchenko (1919-1992) was a local English teacher, and his mother, Varvara Tymofiyovna Yushchenko (1918-2005) taught physics and mathematics at the same school.
Family
Yushchenko is a patron of music and the arts, and in his spare time skis, raises bees, collects antiques, and works on various artistic endeavors. He is currently married to his second wife Kateryna and has three daughters and two sons.
Education
In 1975 Yushchenko graduated from the Ternopil Finance and Economics Institute in western Ukraine. Yushchenko's degree is in Economic Sciences, and the topic of his candidate thesis was "Development of Money Demand and Supply in Ukraine." In 1984, he earned a graduate degree in Finance and Credit for the Ukrainian Institute of Economics and Agricultural Management.
Pre-Political Career
After completing his undergraduate education, Yushchenko returned to Sumy Oblast and began work as the Chief Accountant Assistant for the collective farm (kolkhoz) known as "40th Anniversary of the Octover Revolution." After a short time in this position, Yushchenko served as a conscript in the Soviet Army near the Soviet-Turkish border.
After leaving the army in 1976, Yushchenko held the following positions:
- Chief Acting Economist of the Ulyanovsk department of the Soviet State Bank. (1976-84)
- Deputy Director for Agricultural Crediting at the Ukrainian Republican Office of the USSR State Bank. (1984-87)
- Ukrainian Agro-Industrial Bank (1987-93)
- Department Director (1987-91)
- Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors (1991-93).
- First Deputy Chairman of the Board at Bank Ukraina. (1991-93)
- Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), (1993-99)
While at NBU, Yushchenko was involved in developing key monetary, fiscal, and credit policies for the new nation. Under his guidance, an effective system of payments was established, and he also oversaw the introduction of Ukraine's national currency, the Hryvnia in 1996.
Ukrainian Politics
Yushchenko made the switch to politics when, in December 1999, he was confirmed as Prime Minister of Ukraine. He served in the position through April 2001, during which time he oversaw a series of key economic reforms to help boost Ukraine's struggling economy. Yushchenko restored a measure of public trust in government by bringing openness and forthrightness to the government. He instituted fiscal discipline, eliminated unjustified state subsidies, improved conditions for foreign and domestic investment, and pursued administrative and tax reforms.
In January 2002, Yushchenko united several democratic parties and groups into a political coalition named "Our Ukraine." Our Ukraine went on to gain 25% of all votes in Parliamentary elections that year, 101 MPs in the 450-seat legistlature.
From 2002-04, Yushchenko acted as People’s deputy of Ukraine, member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee for Human Rights, National Minorities and Inter-national Relations. In December 2004, after three rounds of voting, he was elected President of Ukraine.
References
My Ukraine: Personal Website of Viktor Yushchenko.
President of Ukraine - Official Website.
