The tense political situation that has been observed at the international level for more than a day attracts public attention to the circle of people who are at the top of the ruling elite of Ukraine. Western countries and the United States have long made Petro Poroshenko their protégé, but many Russians still do not know who this man is.
Prologue
The list of some of the richest people in the country is successfully supplemented by Petro Poroshenko. Biography, nationality, parents of a politician are of interest to many, we will talk about this below. Today, his fortune totals about 1.8 billion dollars, which allows him to be ranked fifth in the list of the richest persons in Ukraine. Oddly enough, the man, who is considered the sponsor of the Maidan, was born and spent his childhood in the Odessa region. Now Poroshenko is a major businessman, a well-known political and statesman, the founding president of the Ukrprominvest concern.
Parents
Father, Alexei Ivanovich Valtsman, and mother, Evgenia Sergeyevna Poroshenko, married in 1956. In 1965, a couple was born to a couple in the city of Bolgrad, Odessa region. The family lived in a house in which a courtyard was equipped. Alexei Ivanovich was always considered the owner, the children were brought up in severity, since his father was a little harsh. Despite this, everyone lived together and tried not to argue with the head of the family. As the biography testifies, Petro Poroshenko always respected the elders.
My father is a mechanical engineer. Until 1974, he worked in the Bolgrad agricultural machinery association. At the beginning of perestroika, he began to engage in entrepreneurial activity. It was the head of the family who became the founder of everything that Petro Valtsman-Poroshenko owns. Aleksey Ivanovich was awarded the Order of Power and the title of Hero of Ukraine by decree of Yushchenko.
Family secrets
In 1986, Alexey Poroshenko received a criminal record. The Supreme Court of Moldova found him guilty of committing theft of property by a group of persons, of illegally acquiring property that was obtained fraudulently, of acquiring, storing and carrying weapons. After the process, the future businessman went to places of detention for five years. Parents of Petro Poroshenko (a biography confirms such information) hardly experienced this moment. The oligarch’s father was serving the appointed term in a forced labor colony. The convict was deprived of property and the right to occupy leadership positions for a term of five years. This is the only known fact about a criminal record that contains his father's biography.
Petro Poroshenko lost his mother in 2004. During her life, Evgenia Sergeevna was a teacher by profession and worked in a technical school. The elder brother Michael died in a disaster in unclear circumstances - in such a sad way his biography ended.
Petro Poroshenko in childhood had the nickname "fluffy little cake." It was a handsome boy with a round face and black hair. He was distinguished by complaisance, kindness, diligence. His gaze was always a little offended and sad. Despite these traits of character, Peter, according to the memoirs of his peers, always fought, protecting others.
The boy studied very well, which was also inherent in his older brother. However, according to the circumstances, the family had to leave their home and move to Moldova.
The beginning of the way
The young man graduated from Kiev University. Tarasa Shevchenko, receiving a diploma in economics and international affairs. A little later, he successfully defended his thesis. However, the training process was interrupted by military service.
After a novice businessman graduated, he opened his own business. The biography (Petro Poroshenko himself announced this) during this period was replenished with very successful events. The company founded by the man was engaged in the sale of cocoa beans. And already at the dawn of the 1990s, the businessman took over several large confectionery enterprises, which in the future merged into the Roshen concern. It was this business that allowed today's oligarch to form a multi-million dollar fortune and acquire the unspoken nickname “Chocolate King”. Before the breakdown between the two countries, about half of the export of confectionery from Roshen went to Russia.
In 2011, Poroshenko Petr Alekseevich paired with B. Lozhkin acquired a large media company from one of the American businessmen. It included online platforms, a magazine, several radio stations. In the same year, after the sale of certain assets, the oligarch buys a modified starch production plant in Germany and receives permission to buy back a stake in Ekran.
Milestones in Petro Poroshenko’s career
- 1990-1991 Deputy General Director of the Republican Commercial Association.
- 1991-1993 The post of General Director of the exchange house "Ukraine".
- 1993-1998 Position of General Director of Ukrprominvest Concern.
Today, the empire of the oligarch consists of many enterprises in various fields of business.
A family
The entrepreneur is married, his wife, Marina Poroshenko, gave him four children (two sons and two daughters). The politician’s wife graduated with a degree in cardiology. Her father served as Deputy Minister of Health.
The godparents of two children (twin girls) were Oksana Bilozir and Viktor Yushchenko. It is noteworthy that Poroshenko was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine for his services to the Maidan, which happened in 2004. Some people believe that in this case, a relationship with Yushchenko played a role.
Petro Valtsman-Poroshenko married quite early - at eighteen, the bride was three years older than him. The newlyweds lived in the house of Marina's parents, who at that time were on a long trip abroad. The wife began to earn before Peter, settling in the cardiology department. The young husband received an increased scholarship.
If you believe the stories of the oligarch himself, the family had difficulties with finances (which is very doubtful).
Ranks and awards
- Order II and III degree "For Merit".
- Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (Spanish Award).
- The title of Honored Economist of Ukraine.
- Laureate of state award in the field of science and technology.
- PhD in Law.
- Author of several monographs and a number of scientific publications.
- Cavalier of the Order of St. Nicholas.
- Co-author of textbooks in the field of modern international economic relations.
- In 2009, the politician was ordained deacon.
Deputy career
In 1998, Poroshenko was elected to the country's parliament. He spoke from the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine, which at that time supported the incumbent President L. Kuchma. Two years later, Poroshenko left the ranks of party members and created the center-left faction "Solidarity". In 2001, he took an active part in the activities of the Party of Regions, but soon changed the political vector and joined the bloc of V. Yushchenko, who at that time was considered opposition. A year later, the Yushchenko faction won the parliamentary elections, and Peter himself became the head of the budget committee.
Orange Revolution
Unofficially, Petro Poroshenko (President of Ukraine in the near future) was named the sponsor of the revolutionary events that took place in the country in 2004. Viktor Yushchenko said the elections were rigged and secured the appointment of a third round. The recent vote led to his victory, and he did not fail to appoint Poroshenko Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. But the presidential protege did not last long in this post. At the height of the 2005 crisis, the entire government, led by Tymoshenko and the oligarch himself, was fired.
A year later, Poroshenko Petr Alekseevich reappeared in the Verkhovna Rada in the ranks of the Our Ukraine Party, and in 2007 began to head the council of the National Bank of the country. While Yushchenko remained in his post (in 2009-2010), he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Subsequently, Yanukovych was dismissed along with the entire cabinet. However, this was only a short break Poroshenko in the formation of a political career. Already in 2012, a decree was signed on his appointment as Minister of Trade and Economic Development. When the country was overtaken by a revolution, the politician actively spoke out and supported the protesters. This led to the spread of the opinion that he is an active supporter of the Maidan.
In one of his interviews, Petro Poroshenko, a biography, nationality, whose parents at that time were under close attention, admitted that he actually supplied the revolution with financial means.
In 2013, the oligarch expressed his intention to participate in the elections for the mayor of Kiev, but only if he enlisted the support of the opposition.
Euromaidan
In the time of troubles for Ukraine, the current president Petro Poroshenko supported the protesters and often spoke at the podium. During the exacerbation of the Crimean political crisis, the politician came to Simferopol as a representative of the new government. Locals greeted him with unfriendly screams and threw pieces of paper. The oligarch retreated by taxi in which he was put by police.
In March 2014, Petro Poroshenko registered with the CEC as a presidential candidate. In early elections, the oligarch won, and already in June, an inauguration was held.
The new president outlined his priorities as follows:
- Strengthening and maintaining the unity of the country, the return of selected territories, in particular Crimea.
- The official language is exclusively Ukrainian.
- Ukraine is a unitary state.
- In the Donbass, early elections should be held.
- Membership in the European Union, a visa-free regime for citizens of the country.
- Strengthening military capabilities.
Close circle
Companions of the oligarch consider David Zhvania, V. Skomarovsky, Arsen Avakov, V. Korol, O. Bilozir. Some time ago, the politician worked quite closely with businessman and deputy N. Martynenko. This duet took control of the activities of the radio station "Niko", where it was Petro Poroshenko who became the co-owner. Ukraine began to implement custom broadcasting.
Dirty spots biography
In 2001, M. Brodsky, the leader of the Ukrainian faction Yabloko, announced the fact that Poroshenko sent him threats in response to criticism of N. Azarov. The politician completely rejected such allegations. Brodsky was also among those who four years later accused Poroshenko of corruption.
The oligarch was not spared by rumors about falsification of the budget. Allegedly, he redistributed funds in favor of the district, where he was elected. Peter Alekseevich himself also denied these attacks, calling them misinformation. But the most burning issue remains the nationality of Petro Poroshenko. Against the background of the tense situation in the country, this is of paramount importance.
In addition, the politician was accused of tax evasion. In 2003, the relevant services of the Volyn region opened a criminal case, according to which the LuAZ leadership was charged with a financial crime. In the course of the proceedings, the court ruled that such claims were unlawful. However, it was at this time that the oligarch served as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.
In 2001, the Prosecutor General’s Office accused the director of the Lenin Forge (Poroshenko-controlled enterprise) of embezzlement. According to the investigation, the manager received seventeen million hryvnias from the Baguette company and spent it on the same day. Some time later, during the trial it was revealed that the company was liquidated and was not at all in the state register. The case was closed.
