Petro Poroshenko

President of Ukraine

Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko 26 September 1965 Bolhrad, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

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7 June 2014 – 20 May 2019

5th President of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019 In this Eastern Slavic naming convention, the patronymic is Oleksiyovych and the family name is Poroshenko. Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko (Ukrainian: Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко , pronounced  ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as President of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2010, and as the Minister of Trade and Economic Development in 2012. From 2007 until 2012, Poroshenko headed the Council of Ukraine's National Bank. He was elected president on 25 May 2014, capturing 54.7% of the vote in the first round, thereby winning outright and avoiding a run-off. During his presidency, Poroshenko led the country through the Russo-Ukrainian War, pushing the insurgent rebel forces deeper into the Donbas Region. He began the process of integration with the European Union by signing the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement. In terms of domestic policy, Poroshenko promoted the Ukrainian language, inclusive capitalism, decommunization, and administrative decentralization. In 2018, Poroshenko helped create the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine, separating Ukrainian churches from the Moscow Patriarchate. His presidency was distilled into a three-word slogan, employed by both supporters and opponents: armiya, mova, vira. In translation from Ukrainian, it is: military, language, faith. As a candidate for a second term in 2019, he obtained 24.5% in the second round, being defeated by Volodymyr Zelensky. There was no true consensus in the expert community on why Poroshenko lost, with opinions ranging from opposition to intensifying nationalism, failure to stem corruption, absence of actionable reforms, and dissatisfaction from overlooked Russian-speaking regions. Outside government, Poroshenko has been a prominent Ukrainian oligarch with a lucrative career in acquiring and building assets. His most recognized brands are Roshen, the large-scale confectionery company which has earned him the nickname of "Chocolate King", and the TV news channel 5 kanal. Due to the scale of his business holdings in the manufacturing, agriculture and financial sectors, his political influence that included several stints at government prior to his presidency, and ownership of an influential mass-media outlet, Poroshenko has long been considered one of the prominent Ukrainian oligarchs even though not the most influential among them.