Ivan Kirilenko Politician, head of the Ukrainian parliamentary faction Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc Date of Birth: 02.10.1956 Country: Ukraine

Biography of Ivan Kyrylenko

Ivan Hryhorovych Kyrylenko, a politician and leader of the Ukrainian parliamentary faction Block of Yulia Tymoshenko, was born on October 2, 1956, in the village of Berestove in the Berdiansk district of the Zaporizhia region of the Ukrainian SSR. He is a member of the political party "Batkivshchyna" and has served as a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in multiple terms.

Kyrylenko began his political career in the 1990s and was elected as a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada in the second, third, fourth, and fifth convocations in 1995, 1998, 2002, and 2006 respectively. From 2002 to 2005, he held the position of the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for Agro-Industrial Complex Affairs in the Cabinet of Ministers under Viktor Yanukovych. In 2003-2004, Kyrylenko served as the Chairman of the Agrarian Party of Ukraine. He also held the position of Minister of Agricultural Policy in the governments of Viktor Yushchenko and Anatoliy Kinakh from 2000 to 2002.

Kyrylenko is a prominent figure in the field of agriculture, holding the title of Honored Worker of Agriculture of Ukraine. He obtained a degree in agronomy from the Dnipropetrovsk Agricultural Institute in 1978 and later pursued a career in politics.

Throughout his career, Kyrylenko held various positions within the Communist Party of Ukraine and was actively involved in the youth organization Komsomol. He served as a secretary and later as the first secretary of the Soloniansky District Committee of the Leninist Communist Youth League of Ukraine. In 1985, he became the chairman of the Petrovsky Collective Farm in the Soloniansky district. Subsequently, he transitioned to party work and held positions within the Communist Party of Ukraine.

In 1991, Kyrylenko graduated from the Moscow Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He then worked in the agricultural sector and held various positions in the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Administration. In 1994, he became the deputy of Pavlo Lazarenko, who was the chairman of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council at the time.

In 1999, Kyrylenko joined the newly formed political faction "Batkivshchyna" led by Yulia Tymoshenko. He served as a member of the National Council on Youth Policy under President Leonid Kuchma and was appointed as the Minister of Agricultural Policy of Ukraine in 2000. He continued to hold this position in the governments of Viktor Yushchenko and Anatoliy Kinakh until 2002.

In November 2002, Kyrylenko was appointed as the First Vice Prime Minister for Agro-Industrial Complex Affairs in the Cabinet of Ministers led by Viktor Yanukovych. He later served as the Chairman of the Agrarian Party of Ukraine from 2003 to 2004.

Following the "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine in 2004, Yulia Tymoshenko became the Prime Minister, and Kyrylenko was dismissed from his position in February 2005. He then pursued a career in academia and became a leading research fellow at the National Scientific Center "Institute of Agrarian Economics" of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences.

Kyrylenko continued his political career and was elected as a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada for the sixth convocation in the 2007 parliamentary elections. He became the leader of the parliamentary faction of the Block of Yulia Tymoshenko in December 2007. Throughout his career, Kyrylenko has been known for his expertise in agricultural policy and his contributions to the development of the agricultural sector in Ukraine.

Kyrylenko holds a Ph.D. in Historical Sciences and a Doctorate in Economic Sciences. He is a Corresponding Member of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences and has received state honors, including the Order "For Merit" and the Order of Honor. Kyrylenko is married and has a daughter.