Volodymyr Borysovych Groysman[a][2] (Ukrainian: Володимир Борисович Гройсман;[3] born 20 January 1978),[4] is a Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 14 April 2016 to 29 August 2019.[5]

Volodymyr Groysman
Володимир Гройсман
Groysman in 2019
16th Prime Minister of Ukraine
In office
14 April 2016 – 29 August 2019
PresidentPetro Poroshenko
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
DeputyStepan Kubiv
Preceded byArseniy Yatsenyuk
Succeeded byOleksiy Honcharuk
Acting
25 July 2014 – 31 July 2014
PresidentPetro Poroshenko
Preceded byArseniy Yatsenyuk
Succeeded byArseniy Yatsenyuk
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
In office
27 November 2014 – 14 April 2016
Preceded byOleksandr Turchynov
Succeeded byAndriy Parubiy
Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Communal Living
In office
27 February 2014 – 27 November 2014
Prime MinisterArseniy Yatsenyuk
Preceded byHennadiy Temnyk
Succeeded byHennadiy Zubko
Mayor of Vinnytsia
In office
28 March 2006 – 27 February 2014
Preceded byOleksandr Dombrovskyi
Succeeded bySerhiy Morhunov
Personal details
Born (1978-01-20) 20 January 1978 (age 46)
Vinnytsia, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
(now Ukraine)
Political partyOur Ukraine (2004–2010)
Conscience of Ukraine (2010–2014)
Petro Poroshenko Bloc
(2014–2019)
Ukrainian Strategy of Groysman
(from 2019)
Alma materInterregional Academy of Personnel Management
National Academy for Public Administration
Signature
WebsiteGovernment website
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv, 7 July 2016

From March 2006 until February 2014 Groysman was the Mayor of Vinnytsia.[6][7][8] From then to November 2014, he 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. He was elected into parliament on the party lists of the pro-presidential Petro Poroshenko Bloc. Groysman's next post was the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's national parliament), starting late November 2014 until being appointed Prime Minister. In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election he took part as the party leader of the party Ukrainian Strategy.[9] But this party failed to win any parliamentary seats.[10] Groysman's tenure as Prime Minister ended when Oleksiy Honcharuk was appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine on 29 August 2019.[11]

In many media sources Groysman is called the first Jewish prime minister of Ukraine,[12][13][14][15] although Yukhym Zvyahilsky had previously served as acting prime minister.[16][17]

Early life edit

Volodymyr Borysovych Groysman was born in Vinnytsia, to Jewish parents.[18][19][20] His father, Borys Groysman, is a businessman and a local politician.[4] In 1994, he started his career as a commercial director of his father's small private business company "ОКО" and as a commercial director of the private enterprise "Youth".[4][21] Groysman studied at Ukraine's Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (known as MAUP).[22]

Career edit

In the 2002 local elections, he was elected as a member of the Vinnytsia City Council from the 29th electoral district. In the city council, he worked as the Deputy Head of the Permanent Committee of the City Council on Human Rights, Lawfulness, Council Members' Activities and Ethics.[4] In 2003, he graduated from the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management with a specialty in jurisprudence.[4] In 2004 Groysman joined the party Our Ukraine.[21]

On 25 November 2005, he was elected the head of the city council and the acting mayor.[4] In the 26 March 2006 local elections, he was elected as the city's mayor,[4] becoming the youngest ever mayor of a Ukrainian administrative center ( age 28 years at time of elections ).[23] In the 10 October 2010 local elections, he was re-elected mayor for a second term, as a candidate of the party Conscience of Ukraine, gaining the support of 77.81% of citizens.[4] While mayor, Groysman was the vice-president of the Association of Ukrainian Cities.[4]

In February 2010, Groysman graduated from the National Academy of State Administration with a specialty in Community Development Management, especially management on the local and regional levels.[4]

Government minister edit

On 27 February 2014, Groysman was concurrently appointed as the Vice Prime Minister for Regional Policy and the Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine in the First Yatsenyuk Government.[4] During this period, Groysman was appointed the chair of the Ukrainian Special Government Commission on MH17, investigating the shootdown and crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 ("MH17"), during the War in Donbass.[24][25]

The parliamentary coalition that supported this government collapsed on 24 July 2014, and on the same day, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced that he was immediately resigning from his office.[26][27][28][29] However, Yatsenyuk's resignation was not accepted by parliament.[30] Nevertheless, on 25 July 2014, the Yatsenyuk Government appointed Groysman as its acting Prime Minister.[31] However, on 31 July 2014, the Verkhovna Rada declined Yatsenyuk's resignation because only 16 of the 450 MPs voted for his resignation.[32]

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada edit

 
Joe Biden with Ukrainian leaders in December 2015

In the 2014 parliamentary election, Groysman was elected into parliament after being in the top 10 of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc's electoral list.[33]

On 27 November 2014, at the first session of newly elected parliament, Groysman was elected as the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.[34][35] 359 (of the 423 deputies) supported his nomination. He was also the only candidate for the post.[36]

Prime Minister of Ukraine edit

 
Groysman with President of the European Council Donald Tusk on 24 May 2018
 
Groysman with Moldovan Prime Minister Maia Sandu on 11 July 2019

With public dissatisfaction and allegations of corruption surrounding his government, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced on 10 April 2016 that he planned to resign.[37] Following several days of parliamentary debate, on 14 April 2016, Groysman was voted in by MPs 257 to 50 as the 16th Prime Minister of Ukraine.[5] Groysman is the youngest Ukrainian prime minister ever (age 38 at election) and the only one ever to be of Jewish ethnicity and/or religion.[38][39][40]

14 April 2016
Nomination of Prime Minister vote for Volodymyr Groysman

Absolute majority: 212/422
Note that 28 members were not elected in unstable regions in the East and South of Ukraine
Vote Votes
 Y Yes
257 / 422
No
50 / 307
Not voting
115 / 422

Groysman's selection as PM triggered a constitutional requirement for a new Cabinet, in which new appointments were already forthcoming due to resignations in protest over Ukraine's corruption and reform issues. Some of the posts in the new Groysman government were assigned to people who were perceived as Poroshenko allies.[40][41][42]

Groysman indicated in 2016 he would fight corruption and build closer ties with the European Union,[39][41] which has complained about widespread and pervasive corruption in Ukraine's government and economy.[43]

Groysman left the Petro Poroshenko Bloc "Solidarity" on 23 April 2019.[44] On 20 May 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky, who defeated the incumbent Poroshenko in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election, was inaugurated as President of Ukraine and Groysman announced he would resign as Prime Minister of Ukraine.[45]

2019 parliamentary election and end of prime ministership edit

On 24 May 2019, Groysman announced that he would take part in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election with the party Ukrainian Strategy.[9] (This party was registered in 2015 as the local party Vinnytsia European Strategy.[46]) On 30 May 2019, the Ukrainian parliament voted to reject Groysman's resignation as Prime Minister of Ukraine and confirmed that he would remain Prime Minister until at least the parliamentary election which was held in July 2019.[47][48][49] In this election Ukrainian Strategy failed to win any parliamentary seats gaining 2.41% of the total votes while the election had a 5% election threshold.[10] The party also failed to win a constituency seat.[50]

Groysman's prime ministership ended when Oleksiy Honcharuk was appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine on 29 August 2019.[11]

Personal life edit

Groysman is married and has two daughters and a son.[4]

For 2019, Groysman declared a salary of ₴425,503, a 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class 350D car, and an entire set of luxury wristwatches (Ulysse Nardin, Audemars Piguet, Rolex, Parmigiani, Girard-Perregaux, Breguet, Boucheron).[51]

Awards edit

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ sometimes Hroisman[1] or Hroysman

References edit

  1. ^ Interfax-Ukraine. Hroisman as appointed Ukraine's acting prime minister. Kyiv Post. 24 July 2014
  2. ^ Groysman or Hroysman? The Ukrainian Weekly. 22 April 2016
  3. ^ "Профіль – Кабінет Міністрів України". 13 February 2018. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l (in Russian) Short bio, LIGA
  5. ^ a b "Ukraine MPs approve Volodymyr Groysman as new PM". BBC News. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  6. ^ "News - Mayor Volodymyr Groysman described the reception..." www.vmr.gov.ua.
  7. ^ "Congress of Local and Regional Authorities". Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
  8. ^ "Letter to Volodymyr Groysman" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Гройсман розповів про партію, з якою піде на вибори". Українська правда.
  10. ^ a b Servant of the People Party wins 124 mandates on party ticket in Rada elections, Interfax-Ukraine (5 August 2019)
  11. ^ a b Ukrainian Lawmakers Approve Political Novice Honcharuk As Prime Minister, Radio Free Europe (29 August 2019)
  12. ^ Скрипін, Роман (30 March 2009). "Мер Вінниці Володимир Гройсман: "Сьогодні ми прибираємо краще і витрачаємо в два рази менше коштів"". Радіо Свобода. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  13. ^ "Analysis: Choice of Jewish PM undercuts long-held accusations of state anti-Semitism in Ukraine". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  14. ^ "Jewish Wunderkind Turned Ukrainian Prime Minister – Who Is Vlodymir Groysman?". Haaretz. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  15. ^ "Marking end to spat, Netanyahu meets with Ukraine's Jewish premier". Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  16. ^ Ефим Звягильский: «УМИРАТЬ Я БУДУ ДОМА, В ДОНЕЦКЕ, КАК БЫ МНЕ НЕ СТАРАЛИСЬ ПОМЕШАТЬ»
  17. ^ Офіційний портал Верховної Ради України
  18. ^ JNi.Media. "Meet Volodymyr Groysman, Ukraine's Jewish Prime Minister". Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  19. ^ Israeli envoy warns of growing trend as Ukraine unveils statue of anti-Semite, The Times of Israel (28 October 2017)
  20. ^ Russia and Ukraine at war — among the Jews anyway, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (27 March 2014)
  21. ^ a b The rapid rise of Ukraine's Volodymyr Groysman, Deutsche Welle (12 April 2016)
  22. ^ (in Russian) Short bio of Volodymyr Groysman, LIGA
  23. ^ Ukrainian president taps Jewish politician to be next prime minister, Jerusalem Post (14 April 2016)
  24. ^ "Malaysia demands unrestricted access to crash site," 21 July 2014, The Star/Asia News Network in The Straits Times, retrieved 18 April 2016
  25. ^ Higgins, Andrew & Rick Gladstone, "More bodies possible at Ukraine crash site, officials say," 23 July 2014, NYT News Service in The Times of India, retrieved 18 April 2016
  26. ^ Herszenhorn, David M. (24 July 2014). "Ukraine Prime Minister Resigns, as Kiev Moves Toward Elections". New York Times. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  27. ^ Rada speaker announces dissolution of parliamentary coalition, Interfax-Ukraine (24 July 2014)
  28. ^ Ukrainian PM Yatseniuk announces resignation in parliament, Interfax-Ukraine (24 July 2014)
  29. ^ Yatseniuk says collapse of Rada coalition means failure to pass laws on filling budget, Interfax-Ukraine (24 July 2014)
  30. ^ Yatseniuk's statement of resignation sent to parliament – Hroisman, Interfax-Ukraine (25 July 2014)
  31. ^ Government adopts resolution appointing Hroisman as Ukraine's acting PM, Interfax-Ukraine (25 July 2014)
    Deputy PM Hroisman appointed Ukraine's acting premier, says Avakov, Interfax-Ukraine (25 July 2014)
  32. ^ Rada expresses confidence in PM Yatseniuk, Interfax-Ukraine (31 July 2014)
  33. ^ General official results of Rada election, Interfax-Ukraine (11 November 2014)
    Central Election Commission announces official results of Rada election on party tickets, Interfax-Ukraine (11 November 2014)
  34. ^ Laws of Ukraine. Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine decree No. 21-VIII: Проект Постанови про обрання Першого заступника Голови Верховної Ради України та заступника Голови Верховної Ради України (Draft Resolution on the election of the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine). Adopted on 4 December 2014. (Ukrainian)
  35. ^ Council elected a new speaker. Ukrainska Pravda. 27 November 2014
  36. ^ Hroisman elected Rada speaker, Interfax-Ukraine (27 November 2014)
  37. ^ Ukrainian PM Yatsenyuk resigns, UNIAN (10 April 2016)
    Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to resign, BBC News (10 April 2016)
  38. ^ Kramer, Andrew E. (14 April 2016). "Volodymyr Groysman Approved as New Prime Minister by Ukraine's Parliament". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  39. ^ a b "Ukraine MPs approve Volodymyr Groysman as new PM," 14 April 2016, BBC World News, retrieved 18 April 2016
  40. ^ a b IANS, "Ukrainian parliament accepts PM's resignation and appoints new head," 14 April 2016, IANS in The Times of India, retrieved 18 April 2016
  41. ^ a b Reuters, "Ukraine parliament approves Volodymyr Groysman as new PM ," 14 April 2016, The Guardian, retrieved Apr.18, 2016
  42. ^ Harding, Luke, "Ukraine’s leader set up secret offshore firm as battle raged with Russia," 4 April 2016, The Guardian, U.K., retrieved 8 April 2016
  43. ^ Dorell, Oren and Kim Hjelmgaard, "2 years after revolution, corruption plagues war-torn Ukraine,", 21 February 2016, USA Today, retrieved 16 April 2016
  44. ^ "Prime Minister Groysman to run for parliament but not with Poroshenko's Bloc | KyivPost – Ukraine's Global Voice". KyivPost. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  45. ^ "Prime Minister Groysman announces resignation | KyivPost - Ukraine's Global Voice". KyivPost. 20 May 2019.
  46. ^ "Давня добра "стратегія". Гройсман веде на вибори свою вінницьку партію". Вибори вибори.
  47. ^ "Parliament rejects Groysman's resignation". www.ukrinform.net. 30 May 2019.
  48. ^ "Ukrainian parliament rejects prime minister's resignation". Reuters. 30 May 2019.
  49. ^ "Ukrainian Parliament Rejects Prime Minister's Resignation". www.usnews.com. 30 May 2019.
  50. ^ CEC counts 100 percent of vote in Ukraine's parliamentary elections, Ukrinform (26 July 2019)
    (in Russian) Results of the extraordinary elections of the People's Deputies of Ukraine 2019, Ukrainska Pravda (21 July 2019)
  51. ^ "Declarations: Hroisman Volodymyr Borysovych from the NACP". declarations.com.ua. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  52. ^ "Янукович дав ордена мерові Вінниці", Quote: «за значний особистий внесок у державне будівництво, соціально-економічний, науково-технічний, культурно-освітній розвиток України, вагомі трудові здобутки та високий професіоналізм
  53. ^ "Володимир Гройсман отримав державну нагороду Республіки Польща". www.myvin.com.ua. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  54. ^ Указ Президента України від 26 червня 2008 року № 584/2008 «Про відзначення державними нагородами України» Quote: "За вагомий особистий внесок у розвиток конституційних засад української державності, багаторічну сумлінну працю, високий професіоналізм та з нагоди Дня Конституції України "

External links edit

  Media related to Volodymyr Groysman at Wikimedia Commons

Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Vinnytsia
2006–2014
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Communal Living
2014
Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Ukraine
Acting

2014
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
2014–2016
Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Ukraine
2016–2019
Succeeded by