MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st April, 2019) Incumbent Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is seeking reelection in the upcoming second round of the presidential election, scheduled for Sunday.
Poroshenko was born on September 26, 1965, in the Ukrainian city of Bolhrad, the Odessa Region.
In 1989, he graduated from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a degree in international economic relations.
In 1989-1992, Poroshenko worked as a graduate assistant at the university's department of international economic relations.
In 1990-1991, Poroshenko served as deputy director general of the Republic Union of Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs.
In 1991-1993, the incumbent Ukrainian president headed a joint-stock company.
In 1993-1998, Poroshenko served as CEO of the Ukrainian Industrial and Investment Concern Company (UkrPromInvest), the head of the OJSC Leninska Kuznia Plant (currently known as Kuznya on Rybalsky shipbuilding company), the chairman of the Mriya Bank's board and the head of the supervisory board of the OJSC Vinnitsa Confectionery Factory.
In 1998-2002, Poroshenko was a member of the Ukrainian parliament of the third convocation. Poroshenko was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (SDPU) united parliamentary group, and a member of the SDPU policy-making committee.
In 2000, he left the SDPU and formed his own group Solidarity and later the Solidarity party. Poroshenko headed the Solidarity parliamentary group from 2000 to 2002.
In December 2001, the Solidarity party joined the Our Ukraine electoral bloc, headed by Viktor Yushchenko, who later became president of Ukraine. Poroshenko became the bloc's campaign manager.
In 2000-2004, Poroshenko was the deputy head of the board of the National Bank of Ukraine.
In 2002-2005, he was a member of the Ukrainian parliament of the fourth convocation and chaired the legislature's budget committee.
In 2003, Poroshenko established Ukraine's first news channel, 5 Kanal (Channel 5).
In 2004, Poroshenko was one of Yushchenko's closest associates during the Orange Revolution events.
In February-September 2005, he headed the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
In 2006, Poroshenko was elected a member of the parliament from the Our Ukraine bloc. He also chaired the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Financial Policy and Banking.
In 2007-2012, Poroshenko headed the board of the National Bank of Ukraine.
On October 9, 2009, Poroshenko was appointed Ukrainian foreign minister.
On March 11, 2010, he resigned along with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's entire government.
On March 23, 2012, then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych appointed Poroshenko Ukrainian minister of economic development and trade.
In December 2012, Poroshenko became a member of the Ukrainian parliament of the seventh convocation. He was the co-chair of the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on European Integration and at that time was not affiliated with any parliamentary group or party.
In March 2014, Poroshenko announced his intention to run for the Ukrainian presidency.
On March 31, 2014, he was officially registered as an independent presidential candidate.
On May 25, 2014, Poroshenko was elected Ukraine's new president in a snap election, having received 54.7 percent of the vote. He became the fifth president of independent Ukraine, and the second president elected in the first round of presidential election in the history of independent Ukraine.
His inauguration took place on June 7, 2014.
In early 2019, Poroshenko announced his intention to run for the second presidential term. On February 7, he was registered as an independent presidential candidate.
On March 31, 2019, Poroshenko got 15.95 percent of votes during the first round of the presidential election, which allowed him to qualify for the runoff where he will struggle with Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Poroshenko is the author of the monograph "State Corporate Rights Management in Ukraine. Theory of Establishment of Legal Relations" and a number of scientific publications.
Poroshenko is one of Ukraine's richest people. He was named Ukraine's sixth richest person by Forbes in 2016, with his fortune estimated at $858 million, and he also ranked sixth in the "100 richest Ukrainians" ranking, which was presented by the Novoye Vremya magazine together with Dragon Capital investment company in October 2018. It was noted that Poroshenko's fortune increased by 10 percent in comparison with 2017 and exceeded $1 billion.
Poroshenko has stocks in such companies as Roshen confectionery corporation, Agroprodinvest Group, PJSC Dneprovsky starch and syrup plant, and Kuznya on Rybalsky plant. Poroshenko transferred his share in the Roshen corporation to the Rothschild Trust foundation.
In 2017, Poroshenko's declared income that amounted to about $600,000.
In 2018, the president's annual income may exceed $47.6 million, which is more than 80 times higher than his income in 2017.
Poroshenko is married, his wife, Maryna Poroshenko, has a medical degree. The couple has four children, two sons and two daughters.
