Ihor Anatoliiovych Shevchenko (; born January 10, 1971) is a Ukrainian lawyer and public figure. He was Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources from December 2014 until July 2015.
Shevchenko was the founder and President of the Ukrainian Bar Association (2002-2007). He also founded and led the leading Ukrainian law firm "Shevchenko Didkovskiy & Partners" from 1995 to 2008 (currently "Asters").
Education
In September 1977 Shevchenko's family moved to Kyiv. In 1978-1988 Shevchenko attended Kyiv public school #206.
In 1988 he enrolled into the National University of Physical Education and Sport of Ukraine, where he studied in the faculty of professional sport, specializing in athletics. Having decided not to pursue a career as a professional athlete, in 1991 Shevchenko transferred to the History Faculty of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
In September 1992, Shevchenko transferred to the law faculty of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Two months later, following a competitive selection process, he entered the university's newly-established Institute of International Relations in the faculty of International Law. In 1996 Shevchenko graduated with a degree in International Law and English. During his studies Shevchenko played an active role in university life, founding the League of Law Students of the Institute of International Relations and being one of the founders of the all-Ukrainian Association of Law Students (which in 2006 was converted into the League of Law Students of Ukrainian Bar Association) and was a member of the International Law Students Association. In 1996, Shevchenko organized and led the first ever visit by a delegation of Ukrainian law students to the congress of the International Law Students Association in Washington DC and the Telders International Law Moot Court Competition.
In 1995 Shevchenko studied European Union Law and Human Rights in the European University Institute (Florence, Italy).
In 1996 Shevchenko won a Muskie Scholarship of University of Minnesota Law School to study in America where he earned a Master's degree. In 2003 Shevchenko was recognized by the US State Department as the most outstanding Ukrainian graduate of the Muskie program.
In 1998 Shevchenko earned the diploma of specialist in international capital markets of the London Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment for Securities & Investment.
In 2006, Shevchenko won an international competition and became the first Ukrainian to receive a scholarship from the Yale World Fellows program to study at Yale University. The two other Ukrainians who have been selected for this program is the former Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) deputy and Ambassador to Canada Andriy Shevchenko (2008) and frontman of Ukraine's most popular band "Okean Elzy" Svyatoslav Vakarchuk (2015).
In 2007, Shevchenko was selected by the World Economic Forum in Davos from the members of the Forum of Young Global Leaders to participate in the "Global Leadership and Public Policy in the 21st Century" program in Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
In 1994, Shevchenko undertook an internship in the Ukrainian Embassy in Brussels at the invitation of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In 1996 he completed an internship in the central apparatus of the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine.
Legal Practice
Shevchenko began his career as a lawyer in 1991 at the Legis law firm, which was founded by Alexander Chaliy.
In 1992, Shevchenko established his own law firm Principle, which he sold in 1993 and continued his law practice in a successful firm Frishberg and Partners under the leadership of the firm's founder Alex Frishberg. Starting in 1994, Shevchenko worked at another well-known law firm Vasil Kisil & Partners, working with Vasil Kisil. At the same time, Shevchenko began independent legal practice, consulting companies such as Alcatel Business Systems (Austria) and Osnova-Solsif (Ukrainian-French)
In October 1995 Shevchenko founded Shevchenko Didkovskiy and Partners law firm together with his classmate Oleksiy Didkovskiy. In 2003 the firm became the most profitable in Ukraine and in 2004 it was acknowledged as the best law firm in the country according to the respected rating of the "Legal Practice" newspaper. In 2006 Shevchenko Didkovskiy and Partners was acknowledged as the best employer in Ukraine among leading law and audit firms by the rating in "Korrespondent" magazine.
In 1996 Shevchenko successfully passed the qualification exam and received the right to be an attorney-in-law in Ukraine.
In 1997 he successfully passed the New York State Bar Exam and worked as a foreign lawyer in the headquarters of the prestigious Coudert Brothers law firm in New York. There he worked in the areas of international tax law, corporate law and international securities market regulation and also took part in legal processes for energy production sharing agreements on Sakhalin Island involving the most successful companies such as ExxonMobil, British Petroleum (BP), Shell, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips.
Ihor Shevchenko was offered to stay in the USA and become a constant member of the Coudert Brothers company, but Shevchenko wanted to develop his own law firm in Ukraine and implement his international experience there. In 1998 Shevchenko returned to Ukraine and continued to lead his law firm.
Shevchenko Didkovskiy and Partners provided legal services to leading international companies, worked as an advisor in resonant investment projects which brought billions of dollars of investment to key sectors of the Ukrainian economy, generated thousands of new jobs and introduced cutting-edge global technologies to Ukraine.
Shevchenko Didkovskiy and Partners was the first Ukrainian law firm of the Western model. Among its clients were: Microsoft, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, IKEA, Boeing, British Petroleum (BP), Gas de France, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank, General Electric, Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz, Maybach) Rolls-Royce, Telenor, Adidas, Siemens, Samsung, Nokia, Raiffeisen Bank Aval, Ukreximbank, Alcatel, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Renault, Fiat, Levi's, Philip Morris, Citibank, UBS, Deutsche Bank, UniCredit Group, Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan, Leahman Brothers, McKinsey & Company, Arcelor, Glencore, VISA, Western Union, Aerosvit, Miele, Hilti, Velux, Ecolab and many more. Shevchenko Didkovskiy and Partners also represented the interests of star footballer Andriy Shevchenko regarding the international advertising contracts. In 2006-2007 Ihor Shevchenko was a member of the board of Kyivstar, the leading Ukrainian mobile company, representing the interests of shareholder Telenor (Norway).
In 2007 Shevchenko sold his share in the firm in order to focus on public and charitable activities. The firm was renamed "Asters" and remains one of Ukraine's leading legal practices.
«Leaving the legal profession was a revolutionary development for me. I left not only jurisprudence, but I left the entire field of business. The legal profession was a very important stage of my life. If a person knows the law and its applications, not only for himself but also to help others, this is a solid foundation for growth in many spheres, for example, politics and public governance».
- From an interview with Ihor Shevchenko
Shevchenko is a member of the International Bar Association, American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, Ukrainian-American Bar Association and Ukrainian-British Bar Association.
Ukrainian Bar Association
In 2002 Ihor Shevchenko established the Ukrainian Bar Association and became its first leader. He was elected as a president of the Association in 2002 and 2007 and since 2008 has been its Honorary President. The Ukrainian Bar Association brings together more than 6000 progressive Ukrainian legal professionals from diverse spheres of practice: advocates, corporate lawyers, judges, notaries public, prosecutors and state officials, with members including the deputy head of the Presidential Administration Oleksiy Filatov, Constitutional Court Judge Stanislav Shevchuk, deputy head of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Oleksiy Muraviev, head of the High qualification commission of judges of Ukraine Serhiy Kozyakov, Judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Mykola Husak, deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration (Mayor's office) Oleksiy Reznikov, Minister of Justice of Ukraine (1995-1997) Serhiy Holovatiy, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (2005-2006) and deputy Prosecutor General (2003-2003) Ihor Drizhchaniy, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (1998-2004) and deputy head of the Presidential Administration (2006-2008) Oleksandr Chaliy, Ambassador of Ukraine to the UK Court of Human Rights, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Benelux Countries, Ambassador of Ukraine to the UK Volodymyr Vasilenko, Deputy Minister of Justice Serhiy Shklyar, First Deputy Minister of Healthcare Oleksandra Pavlenko, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Representative of Ukraine Nataliya Mykolska, First Deputy Representative of the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine Mariya Nizhnik, People's Deputies of Ukraine Serhiy Vlasenko, Olena Sotnik, Victoria Ptashnyk, Andriy Zhurzhiy People's Deputy (2nd and 3rd Convocations), one of the authors of the Constitution of Ukraine Viktor Musiyaka, member of the Supreme Court of Ukraine (2004-2014) Serhiy Safulko, and famous lawyers such as Vasil Kisil, Anatoliy Dovhert, Volodymyr Ryzhyi and Dmitry Grishchenko, etc.
Civic Activities In 1999 Ihor Shevchenko co-founded the European Business Association, which unites the leading European, international and Ukrainian businesses operating in Ukraine.
In 2001 he co-founded and became the deputy head of the Internet Association of Ukraine, which today is the most influential civic organization of the Ukrainian internet industry.
In May 2006, Ihor Shevchenko founded the Ukrainian Advocates Association and became a member of its Supervisory Board. The Association unites the best advocaats and is the top association of practicing lawyers in Ukraine.
In 2006 Shevchenko established the Ukrainian Forum of Young Global Leaders, which undertakes projects in the area of education and professional development, youth and social entrepreneurship, healthcare and promotion of healthy lifestyles, ecology and environmental security and national cultural projects. One of the projects of the Ukrainian Forum of Young Leaders was the "Yellow and Blue – the national pride of Ukraine" project honoring the national flag of Ukraine. Forum's activists as part of this project launched an annual celebration of the Ukrainian Flag Day with the participation of influential public figures. Until 2008, the Ukrainian Flag Day existed only nominally. The Supervisory Board of the Forum of Young Leaders among others included the President of Poland Aleksander Kwasniewski (1995-2005), President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo (1994-2000) and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Anatoliy Zlenko (1990-1994).
Together with Hanna Hopko, Ihor Shevchenko took active part in the anti-tobacco project of Michael Bloomberg "Tobacco Free Kids" which organized press conferences and a rallies against smoking, which included the participation of Ukrainian celebrities and an awareness campaign on Ukrainian top TV channels. As a result, an anti-tobacco law was adopted which banned tobacco advertising, smoking in public buildings and increased taxes on cigarettes. According to experts, these activities led to a significant decline in smoking in Ukraine. Shevchenko also took part in the creation of the civic project "New Citizen" together with Oleh Ribachuk and Svitlana Zalishchuk.
Forum of Young Global Leaders