Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk (born 22 May 1974) is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served two terms as Prime Minister of Ukraine – from 27 February 2014 to 27 November 2014 and from 27 November 2014 to 14 April 2016.Arseniy Yatsenyuk He was the youngest foreign affairs minister in Ukraine's history.
Yatsenyuk's first government post was as minister of economy from 2005 to 2006; subsequently he was Foreign Minister of Ukraine in 2007 and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) from 2007 to 2008. Yatsenyuk was one of the leaders of Ukraine's second largest party All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland",After the parliamentary elections in Ukraine: a tough victory for the Party of Regions , Centre for Eastern Studies (7 November 2012) and former leader of its parliamentary faction.Ukraine's united opposition discussing formation of single party, Kyiv Post (7 December 2012)Sobolev: Front for Change and Reform and Order Party to join Batkivschyna, Interfax-Ukraine (11 June 2013)Front for Change, Reforms and Order to dissolve for merger with Batkivshchyna - Sobolev , Ukrinform (11 June 2013) Sobolev heads "Batkivshchyna" in the Rada, Televiziyna Sluzhba Novyn (20 March 2014) He became the prime minister of Ukraine following the 2014 revolution that removed Viktor Yanukovych from power. In September 2014, Yatsenyuk started the new party People's Front. On 16 February 2016, the president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, asked Yatsenyuk to resign saying he had lost the support of the coalition and the same day, the Ukrainian parliament voted the cabinet's work unsatisfactory but rejected a call for a vote of no confidence. On 10 April 2016, Yatsenyuk announced that he would report to parliament on 12 April and resign as prime minister. On 14 April 2016, Yatsenyuk was replaced by new prime minister Volodymyr Groysman. , he is the Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum and the founder of the Open Ukraine Foundation. He holds the diplomatic rank of extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador.
Early life Yatsenyuk was born on 22 May 1974, in Chernovtsy (present-day Chernivtsi, Ukraine), then part of the Soviet Union. His father, historian Petro Ivanovich Yatsenyuk, was a professor at the Faculty of History at Chernivtsi National University and has since become deputy dean of its history faculty. Arseniy's mother, Maria Grigoriievna Yatsenyuk (née Bakaj), has long been a French teacher at area high schools and in the French Department of Foreign Languages at Chernivtsi University.Яценюк Арсеній Петрович (Yatsenyuk Arsenij Petrovich) at parliament2012.com.ua (in Ukrainian) Yatsenyuk speaks Ukrainian, Russian and English, and has some knowledge of Romanian as well.
Ancestry According to Yatsenyuk, he comes from a family of ethnic Ukrainians, and is a member of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.Official website of the "Front for Change" - Arseniy Yatsenyuk Family Tree Official website of Arseniy Yatsenyuk - Arseniy Yatsenyuk Family Tree He is of partly Romanian ancestry; one of his ancestors was a citizen of Romania from the region around Chernivtsi. Some sources state he was born to a family of ethnic Romanian-Jewish-Ukrainians.Famous Jews of Ukraine [Знаменитые евреи Украины], by Professor Shimon Dubnov, Rudolf Yakovlevich Mirsky, and Alexander Yakovlevich Naiman, pub 2009, p18-19UKRAINE: Yatsenyuk capitalises on public discontent (March 9, 2009). Oxford Analytica. However, Yaakov Bleich, a chief rabbi of Ukraine, stated, "Arseniy Yatsenyuk is not Jewish."Ukrainian Jews want mayor charged for slurs , Jewish Telegraphic Agency (August 10, 2009) Furthermore, Anna Rudnitskaya said, "[Yatsenyuk's] hypothetical Jewishness was never established."
Education After Yatsenyuk began studying at Chernivtsi University in 1992, he set up a student law firm. Yatsenyuk graduated from the university in 1996, and later attended the Chernivtsi Trade-Economics Institute of the Kyiv National Trade-Economics Institute in 2001. In addition to holding a law degree and a master's degree in accounting and auditing, Yatsenyuk also earned a Ph.D. in economics from the Ukrainian Academy of Banking of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Legal and banking careers From December 1992 to September 1997, Yatsenyuk was the president of Yurek Ltd., a law firm based in Chernivtsi. From January 1998 until September 2001, Yatsenyuk worked in the Aval bank, based in Kyiv. From November 2003 to February 2005, Yatsenyuk served as the first vice-president of the National Bank of Ukraine under Serhiy Tihipko. After Tihipko left the National Bank, Arseniy Yatsenyuk was put in charge of it.
Political career From September until November 2001, Yatsenyuk served as an acting Minister of Economy of Crimea, and from November of the same year until January 2003, served as the official Minister of Economy of Crimea.
After Vasyl Tsushko was appointed as the new governor of Odesa Oblast, Tsushko asked Yatsenyuk to serve as his vice-governor, which he served from 9 March to September 2005.
Minister of the Economy (September 2005 – August 2006) From 27 September 2005 to 4 August 2006, he served as the Minister of Economy of Ukraine in the Yekhanurov Government.
Yatsenyuk then headed talks about Ukrainian membership in the World Trade Organization. For example he signed the U.S. – Ukraine WTO Bilateral Market Access Agreement, a precursor agreement that paved the way to the full accession of Ukraine on 16 May 2008.
From 20 September 2006, he served as the first vice-president of the Head of Secretariat of the President of Ukraine, and the representative of the president in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Foreign Minister of Ukraine (2007)
Yatsenyuk was proposed for the post of foreign minister by the president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko. Yatsenyuk was confirmed by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) on 21 March 2007 with 426 votes (from 450 maximum).
In his April 2007 remarks made to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace he commented that the Ukrainian transition to a market economy was a success.
In July 2007 while he was still foreign minister, Yatsenuk started the Open Ukraine Foundation, which he intended to become an international foundation for the "strengthening and development of Ukraine's reputation in the world."
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (December 2007 – November 2008) In the early parliamentary elections held on 30 September 2007, Yatsenyuk was elected to the parliament from Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc (number 3 in the bloc's member list). On 3 December 2007, he was nominated for the position of the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada from the democratic coalition formed from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc. On 4 December 2007, Yatsenyuk was elected the chairman of the Parliament. His candidacy was the only one in the ballot, and he obtained 227 votes in favor (from the democratic coalition; opposition abstained from the voting).
In early 2008, Yatsenyuk co-wrote along with Tymoshenko and Yushchenko the so-called "letter of three" to NATO, in which they asked for a Membership Action Plan with a view to joining the Alliance. At the beginning of 2008 the work of the Rada was blocked for two months due, according to at least one observer, to this letter.
During the Ukrainian political crises of September 2008 Yatsenyuk offered his resignation on 17 September 2008. A vote on his dismissal on 11 November 2008, was declared invalid by the counting commission of the Parliament (the vote was proposed by opposition party Party of Regions).
On 12 November 2008, a total of 233 of 226 required deputies satisfied the resignation statement of Yatsenyuk and thus dismissed him from his post of Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada. The voting was carried out through the parliaments voting system and not by means of secret ballots, as stipulated by the parliamentary regulations. After his dismissal Yatsenyuk told journalists that he will form a new political force "for change in the country."
On 21 November 2008, Yatsenyuk was also dismissed by President Viktor Yushchenko from the National Security and Defense Council.
2010 presidential campaign
On 16 December 2008, Yatsenyuk announced plans to create a political party on basis of the Front of Changes public initiative. In an interview with Den on 4 February 2009, he claimed to have no allies among the contemporary politicians.Yatsenyuk says he has no allies among Ukrainian politicians, Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (4 February 2009) Polls held in the last months of 2008 suggested a political party led by Yatsenyuk would pass the 3 percent election threshold in a Ukrainian parliamentary election.BYT, Regions Party, Communist Party, Bloc Of Lytvyn, And Bloc Of Yatsenyuk Might Override 3% Election Threshold, According To FOM-Ukraine Poll, Ukrainian News Agency (26 November 2008)
On 5 April 2009, Yatsenyuk announced his candidacy for President of Ukraine in the next presidential election. During the election, campaign fellow candidate Serhiy Ratushniak repeatedly insulted Yatsenyuk because of his alleged Jewish roots. Among other things, Ratushniak called Yatsenyuk an "impudent little Jew" who was "successfully serving the thieves who are in power in Ukraine and is using criminal money to plough ahead towards Ukraine's presidency."Anti-Semitic Ukraine mayor to run for president, The Jerusalem Post (November 17, 2009)
Yatsenyuk's presidential campaign was estimated to cost about $60–$70 million. When Yatsenyuk billboards first appeared around Ukraine at the end of June 2009, Yatsenyuk was depicted as a military-style leader, while his previous image was that of a "young liberal". Some analysts think that this did not help the campaign.Paid advisers descend on candidates, nation, Kyiv Post (November 19, 2009) On 13 January 2010, Yatsenyuk stated that his election campaign had cost ₴80 million and that "The number of my advertising posters is ten times less than that of all of my political opponents"; Yatsenyuk claimed that funds from his election budget were mainly spent on his appearances on television.Yatsenyuk spends Hr 80 million on his election campaign, Kyiv Post (13 January 2010)
After the elections, Yatsenyuk wanted to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada because, in his view, it would prevent him from working. He also stated in November 2009 that the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Party of Regions were "almost a single whole".Yatsenyuk proposes referendum on switch to open-list elections to parliament , Interfax-Ukraine (November 23, 2009)Yatsenyuk says Tymoshenko, Yanukovych will unite if parliament not dissolved, Kyiv Post (December 7, 2009)
In late November 2009, he stated he was not interested in "using his votes as bargaining material" for a high political post.Yatsenyuk not interested in becoming prime minister, Kyiv Post (November 29, 2009)