Volodymyr Groysman

Volodymyr Borysovych Groysman, sometimes transliterated as Volodymyr Borysovych Hroisman (Ukrainian: Володимир Борисович Гройсман; (born 20 January 1978), is a Ukrainian politician who has been the Prime Minister of Ukraine since 14 April 2016.

From March 2006 until February 2014 Groysman was the Mayor of Vinnytsia. 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.

Volodymyr Borysovych Groysman was born in Vinnytsia into a Jewish family on 20 January 1978. 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".

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. In 2003, he graduated from the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management with a specialty in Jurisprudence. In 2004 Groysman joined the party Our Ukraine.

On 25 November 2005, he was elected the head of the city council and the acting mayor. In the 26 March 2006 local elections, he was elected as the city's mayor, becoming the youngest ever mayor of a Ukrainian administrative center. 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. While mayor, Groysman was the Vice-President of the Association of Ukrainian Cities and the Legal Issues society.

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.

Government minister

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. 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.

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. However, Yatsenyuk's resignation was not accepted by parliament. Nevertheless, on 25 July 2014, the Yatsenyuk Government appointed Groysman as its acting Prime Minister. However, on 31 July 2014, the Verkhovna Rada declined Yatsenyuk's resignation because only 16 of the 450 MPs voted for his resignation.

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada

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

On 27 November 2014, at the first session of newly elected parliament, Groysman was elected as the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada with 313 votes in favor. 359 (of the 423 deputies) supported his nomination. He was also the only candidate for the post.

Prime Minister of Ukraine

With public dissatisfaction and allegations of corruption surrounding his government, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced on 10 April 2016 that he planned to resign. 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. Groysman is the youngest Ukrainian prime minister ever (age 38 at election).

Groysman is not well-known outside Ukraine, and is seen by outside observers as President Poroshenko's protégé.

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. Those posts in the new Groysman government were assigned to people who were also perceived as Poroshenko allies.

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

Volodymyr Groysman is married and has two daughters and a son. He is an active member of the Jewish community in his native Vinnytsia, and is the first Jewish prime minister of Ukraine. Groysman's grandfather, Isaac, survived the Holocaust by pretending to be dead after being dropped into a mass grave by German troops.

• 2012: Order of Merit of 2nd degree, for contributions in the development of Ukraine and high professionalism
• 2011: Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, for merits in the development of Polish-Ukrainian cooperation
• 2008: Order of Merit of 3rd degree