Oleksiy Valeriyovych Honcharuk ( uk, Олексі́й Вале́рійович Гончару́к, ; born 7 July 1984) is a Ukrainian politician. He served as the

Prime Minister of Ukraine The prime minister of Ukraine ( uk, Прем'єр-міністр України, ) is the head of government of Ukraine. The prime minister presides over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of th ...

from 29 August 2019 to 4 March 2020 following a landslide parliamentary election win. Honcharuk was replaced by

Denys Shmyhal Denys Anatoliyovych Shmyhal ( uk, Денис Анатолійович Шмигаль; born 15 October 1975) is a Ukrainian politician and entrepreneur who is the current Prime Minister of Ukraine since 2020. Prior to his appointment as prime ...

during the formation of the Shmyhal Government. Before this appointment, Honcharuk was a lawyer and the deputy head of the

Office of the President of Ukraine The Office of the President of Ukraine ('' uk, Офіс Президента України'') (formerly ''Administration of the President of Ukraine'', uk, Адміністрація Президента) is a standing advisory body set up by ...

, led by

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

. and a member of the Servant of the People party led by Zelenskyy. At the age of 35 at the time of appointment, he is also the youngest Prime Minister in Ukrainian history.

Early life and career

Family

Oleksiy Valeriyovych Honcharuk was born on 7 July 1984 in Zhmerynka,

Vinnytsia Oblast Vinnytsia Oblast ( uk, Ві́нницька о́бласть, translit=Vinnytska oblast; ; also referred to as Vinnychchyna — uk, Ві́нниччина) is an oblast of western and southwestern Ukraine. Its administrative center is Vinnytsi ...

, in what was then the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. Other sources have claimed that he was born in Horodnia,

Chernihiv Oblast Chernihiv Oblast ( uk, Черні́гівська о́бласть, translit=Chernihivska oblast; also referred to as Chernihivshchyna, uk, Черні́гівщина, translit=Chernihivshchyna) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. T ...

, where he finished school.Prime Minister, people about Honcharuk

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukrai ...

(August 29, 2019) Honcharuk's father Valeriy was a politician, and part of the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united). He died in an accident in 2003. Honcharuk later told journalists that his father's death was the motivating factor for his decision to reform emergency medical services as Prime Minister. Oleksiy's mother, Tetiana, is a doctor. When Oleksiy was 16 years old, she immigrated to Italy and lives there until now. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Tetiana served in a hospital near

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

. Oleksiy Honcharuk also has a younger brother.

Education

Honcharuk was a student of the

Interregional Academy of Personnel Management Interregional Academy of Personnel Management ( uk, Міжрегіональна Академія управління персоналом (МАУП), translit.: ''Mizhrehional'na Akademiya upravlinnya personalom'', English acronym: MAUP) is a pr ...

from 2001 to 2006./(website has automatic

Google Translate Google Translate is a multilingual neural machine translation service developed by Google to translate text, documents and websites from one language into another. It offers a website interface, a mobile app for Android and iOS, and an API ...

option
Small biography of Oleksiy Honcharuk
LIGA In 2006 he obtained his master's degree in Public Administration at the National Academy for Public Administration. He also graduated from the

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

and Kyiv-Mohyla Business School.

Career

From 2005, Honcharuk worked as a lawyer and head of law departments of various companies. Honcharuk has had more than ten years of legal practice. He has worked as a lawyer in the PRIOR-Invest investment company, and later headed its legal department. In 2008 Oleksiy Honcharuk established law firm Constructive Lawyers, which provides legal services in the field of investment and financing real estate construction. Honcharuk's last position as a lawyer was being a lead partner at a company that specializes in real estate development. In 2009, Honcharuk became Chairman of the Association for Assistance to Affected Investors and the Union of Investors of Ukraine, two non-government organisations centred around investment.

Early political career

In the

2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada took place on 26 October 2014. Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, had pressed for early parliamentary elections since his victory in the presidential election in May.Power of the People party, and was placed first on the party's electoral list.Zelensky to offer parliament to appoint Honcharuk as new prime minister
/ref> Following the election, he became an adviser to ecology minister Ihor Shevchenko and First Vice Premier Stepan Kubiv. In 2015, Economic Minister

Aivaras Abromavičius Aivaras Abromavičius ( ua, Айварас Абромавичус, born 21 January 1976) is a Lithuanian-born Ukrainian investment banker and politician. He was Ukraine's Minister of Economy and Trade starting in December 2014 (Abromavičius ann ...

, with the financial support of Canada and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

, created an office of the BRDO think tank dealing with the simplification of state regulations in the relations between the state and business. The competition for the leader of BRDO was won by Honcharuk. Under the leadership of Honcharuk, BRDO primarily sought the deregulation of business, and successfully pursued the abolition of around 1,000 illegal and irrelevant acts, as well as approving more than 50 decisions in favour of business. The reform of regulatory bodies was initiated, including a transition to a risk-oriented approach. Apart from that, there were developed a number of progressive on-line products including the portal of step-by-step instructions for starting your own business, an inspection portal for monitoring the use of funds, and a number of other initiatives. In April 2016, Honcharuk once again met Kubiv, who invited him to become his advisor ''pro bono'' as Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Development. At the end of 2018, Honcharuk co-created the

liberal conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by li ...

non-government organisation, which was intended to grow into a political party. However, the party was not deemed ready enough to take part in the snap July

2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Ukrainian parliament were held on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, these elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved parliament on 21 ...

Joining the presidential administration

On 28 May 2019, Honcharuk was appointed Deputy Head of the

. In this position, he was responsible for the block of economic development and continuation of reforms. As a member of the presidential administration, Honcharuk was a member of the National Council of Reforms, and also served as a member of the National Investment Council of Ukraine from June 2019 and a member of the National Council on Anti-corruption policies. During his work in the President's Office, Honcharuk was responsible for the implementation of reforms aimed at simplifying business conditions, improving the investment climate, opening up the land market, and a number of other economic reforms. This led to the signing of a number of decrees during his tenure. Among the most critical decrees during Honcharuk's time in the presidential administration were those counteracting illegal takeover and smuggling and those promoting the introduction of new approaches in infrastructure. In particular, Honcharuk sought increased construction and repairing of roads, as well as increasing internet access throughout the country. The minimum payment for notary services has also been abolished simplifying their work and allowing notaries to pay less than 1% of real estate value. One of the most striking and important decrees was abolition of five-fold fine for violation of cashier discipline. Upon initiative of Honcharuk a full revision of presidential decrees was carried out, so that 160 of obsolete decrees which prevented businesses from working and created additional bureaucratic barriers were abolished. According to ''

,'' in the spring of 2019, Monobank co-founder

Dmytro Dubilet Dmytro Oleksandrovych Dubilet ( ua, Дмитро Олександрович Дубілет; born 27 May 1985) is a Ukrainian banker, businessman, one of the founders of Monobank, the first mobile bank in Ukraine, and politician. On 29 August 2019 ...

introduced Honcharuk to

Andriy Bohdan Andriy Yosypovych Bohdan ( uk, Андрій Йосипович Богдан; born on 3 December 1976) is a Ukrainian lawyer and former Head of the Presidential Administration. On 21 May 2019 President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Bohdan to le ...

as the one "who brought him to Bankova". First aide to

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

confirmed that Bohdan was responsible for the appointment of Honcharuk in the presidential administration. Dubilet and Zelenskyy's campaign staff denied this and claim they met Honcharuk in 2018 in his capacity as chairman.

Prime Minister of Ukraine

On 27 August, international media reported that Zelenskyy would propose that the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

appoint Honcharuk to the post of

. On 29 August, he was officially nominated for the post of Prime Minister and the same day the Verkhovna Rada easily approved Honcharuk with 290 deputies voting in favour of his appointment.Ukrainian Lawmakers Approve Political Novice Honcharuk As Prime Minister

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

(29 August 2019) On 29 August 2019, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appointed Honcharuk as Prime Minister of Ukraine. The Honcharuk Government included several experts - including Honcharuk himself - who grew and gained credibility in European-funded programs. International analysts welcomed the appointment of Oleksiy Honcharuk. Impressions of the foreign press on Honcharuk's appointment were extremely positive. The Western press drew attention to the prime minister's young age, his "workaholism" and promises to achieve sharp GDP growth. Honcharuk is the youngest-ever Prime Minister of Ukraine, aged 35 at the time of his appointment. Before him, the youngest one was

Volodymyr Groysman Volodymyr Borysovych Groysman, sometimes transliterated as Volodymyr Borysovych Hroisman ( uk, Володи́мир Бори́сович Гро́йсман; born 20 January 1978), is a Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukrai ...

, who took the post at 38 and was himself succeeded by Honcharuk. Honcharuk only had three months of government experience before becoming Prime Minister. High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union

Josep Borrell Josep Borrell Fontelles (; born 24 April 1947) is a Spanish politician serving as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy since 1 December 2019. A member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), he served ...

admitted at the annual EU-Ukraine summit in Brussels that the Honcharuk government's reform agenda had been ambitious and had made significant progress in five months.

Privatisation

In September 2019, the Government of Honcharuk presented its Action Program to the Verkhovna Rada, which was approved by the Verkhovna Rada on 4 October 2019. According to the media, this was the first Government's Program of Action, where ministers had clear indicators with specific KPI's and dates of their implementation. Honcharuk proposed a fundamental reconstruction of the , in the process removing 20 of the service's 24 oblast-level heads. The three goals pushed by Honcharuk were the creation of a digital map of Ukrainian geography and resources, a catalogue of all land in the preparation of opening the land market, and ensuring transparency by publishing all decisions of the State Geocadastre and its regional subdivisions online. These efforts sought to prepare the country for an opening of the land market, and allowed the Verkhovna Rada to adopt a historic land reform bill on 31 March 2020. Under Honcharuk's leadership, the government launched the largest-scale privatisation process since independence. Government moved more than 1,000 unprofitable state-owned enterprises to the State Property Fund — ten times more than in the previous ten years. That allowed the State Property Fund to sell the first large object at the auction, the Dnipro Hotel in the centre of Kyiv, for a record ₴1.1 billion in July 2020. Honcharuk's government was also the first in the history of Ukraine to unbundle

Naftogaz Naftogaz of Ukraine ( uk, НАК "Нафтогаз України", ''Naftogaz Ukrayiny''; literally "Petro-Gas of Ukraine") is the largest national oil and gas company of Ukraine. It is a state-owned company

- a 4-month process. This decision allowed a new contract for gas transportation between Ukraine, the European Union, and Russia in December 2019. Thanks to the work of Honcharuk's government, the contract with Russia for gas transportation was signed on favourable terms for Ukraine. For the first time since Ukraine's independence, the government launched a public-private partnership mechanism and conducted the concessions of the Olvia and

Kherson Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located on the Black Sea and on the Dnieper River, Kherson is the home of a major ship-building industry and is a regional economic centre. I ...

seaports, as well as preparing the concession of 12 other facilities.

Economics

In October 2019, the Government of Oleksiy Honcharuk and the

National Bank In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings: * a bank owned by the state * an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally) * in the United States, an ordinary p ...

, headed by Yakov Smoliy, signed a memorandum of understanding to achieve sustainable economic growth and price stability. This memorandum between the government and the National Bank allowed Ukraine in January 2020 to place Eurobonds at the cheapest interest rates in Ukrainian history. Ukraine issued new 10-year Eurobonds in

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s with an interest rate of 4.375% per annum. The funds raised would be used to finance the state budget. As a result, Ukraine attracted 1.25 billion euros. To support and develop small businesses, together with leading state-owned banks, Honcharuk's government launched a program of cheap loans for small and micro-businesses. Citing his father's 2003 death in a car accident, Honcharuk invested heavily into the emergency medical services of Ukraine. ₴6 billion in the 2020 budget were set aside, with the aim of providing adequate equipment to 200 emergency departments throughout Ukraine.

Anti-corruption

Honcharuk's government had zero tolerance for corruption. In October 2019, the Government began a complete reset of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention. In January 2020, the government appointed Oleksandr Novikov as the new head of the agency. The government replaced managers at most state-owned enterprises who had been associated with the corruption scandals, and, together with the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Justi ...

, the government launched the Anti-Raid Office, which responds to attacks on business within 24 hours. Working in tandem with law enforcement authorities and the State Fiscal Service, the government started fighting grey markets —they closed more than 500 illegal gas stations and illegal gambling establishments in the regions. In just one day, thanks to law enforcement officers across Ukraine, more than 5,500 illegal gambling establishments were closed.

Resignation

In January 2020, after leaked recordings emerging on the internet in which a man with a voice similar to Honcharuk's criticised Zelenskyy's knowledge of economics, as well as his own knowledge of the subject and competence, Honcharuk submitted a letter of resignation to the President of Ukraine. Zelenskyy, who could not dismiss Honcharuk without the assent of the Verkhovna Rada, refused to accept the resignation, saying, "Now is not the time to undermine the state, economically or politically".Ukraine President Zelenskyy rejects PM's resignation

Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; ar, الجزيرة‎, translit=al-jazīrah, , literally "The Peninsula", referring to the Qatar Peninsula) is an international 24-hour English-language news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is o ...

(17 January 2020) Nevertheless, in March 2020, Zelenskyy proposed sweeping changes to the government, including the appointment of a new prime minister. On 4 March 2020, the Honcharuk Government was replaced by the Shmyhal Government.

After resignation

In the first interview after his resignation, he stated that he would remain involved in politics and will continue to promote the continuance and implementation of reforms. On 31 August 2020, the

Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic pro ...

's Eurasia Centre announced that Honcharuk would be joining them as a distinguished fellow. In September 2020, Honcharuk left for the United States, claiming he sought to improve American policy on Ukraine and

Ukraine–United States relations The United States officially recognized the independence of Ukraine on December 25, 1991. The United States upgraded its consulate in the capital, Kyiv, to embassy status on January 21, 1992. In 2002, relations between the United States and Ukrain ...

Controversy

On 17 October 2019, Honcharuk (alongside minister Oksana Koliada, who would upload the pictures to her Facebook page) attended a concert headlined by the openly

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...

and

Holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

ist band . The event, at which he spoke on stage, was arranged by notorious far-right figure , who chairs an organisation for veterans of the War in Donbas linked to the S14 group and is a suspect in the murder of journalist Oles Buzina. Honcharuk addressed his critics by accusing them of inappropriately politicising the situation by highlighting the Neo-Nazi character of the band, declaring that "it is not up to the government to dictate what its defenders should sing", and further justified his presence at the event by claiming there were "many bands" at the concert (there were a total of three). He denied being a fan of Sokyra Peruna and stated that he had attended the event following an invitation from a veterans' group.

Income

In 2019, he declared a salary of ₴315,369, revenues from entrepreneurship of ₴315,369, cash of ₴100,000, US$31,000, €10,000, a 2007 Jaguar X-Type, and a 2004

Toyota Land Cruiser The (also sometimes spelled as LandCruiser) is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series of models. , the sales of the Land Cruiser totalled more than ...

References

External links

* * *
Blog
on

website (in Ukrainian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Honcharuk, Oleksiy 1984 births Living people People from Zhmerynka Interregional Academy of Personnel Management alumni National Academy of State Administration alumni Ukrainian civil servants 21st-century Ukrainian lawyers 21st-century Ukrainian politicians Prime Ministers of Ukraine National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine