On 14 April 2016, by a vote of 257 to 50, Ukraine’s Parliament elected Volodymyr Groysman prime minister, replacing Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who was forced out by public dissatisfaction and allegations of corruption surrounding his government.
At 38, Mr. Groysman is the youngest Ukrainian prime minister ever elected and the first Jew to hold such a high position.
Here are some basic facts about him:
– Born in Vinnytsia into a Jewish family on 20 January 1978.
– Grandfather Isaac survived the Holocaust by pretending to be dead after being dropped into a mass grave by Nazi troops.
– Started his career in 1994 as a commercial director of the small private business company “ОКО” and as a commercial director of the private enterprise “Youth.”
– 2003 graduate of the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management with a specialty in jurisprudence.
– Elected mayor of Vinnytsia in 2006.
– 2010 graduate of the National Academy of State Administration with a specialty in community development management.