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Yulia Tymoshenko
Юлія Тимошенко
Yulia Tymoshenko 2018 Vadim Chuprina.jpg
Tymoshenko in 2018
Prime Minister of Ukraine
In office
18 December 2007 – 4 March 2010
President Viktor Yushchenko
Deputy Oleksandr Turchynov
Preceded by Viktor Yanukovych
Succeeded by Oleksandr Turchynov (acting)
In office
24 January 2005 – 8 September 2005
Acting: 24 January 2005 – 4 February 2005
President Viktor Yushchenko
Deputy Anatoliy Kinakh
Preceded by Mykola Azarov
Succeeded by Yuriy Yekhanurov
Deputy Prime Minister
for Energy and Coal Mining
In office
30 December 1999 – 19 January 2001
President Leonid Kuchma
Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko
People's Deputy of Ukraine
Assumed office
27 November 2014
In office
  • 16 January 1997 – 2 March 2000
  • 14 May 2002 – 4 February 2005
  • 25 May 2006 – 14 June 2007
  • 23 November 2007 – 19 December 2007
Personal details
Born
Yulia Volodymyrivna Hrihyan

(1960-11-27) 27 November 1960 (age 63)
Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
(now Dnipro, Ukraine)
Political party Batkivshchyna (since 1999)
Other political
affiliations
Hromada (1997–1999)
Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (2001–2012)
Dictatorship Resistance Committee (2011–2014)
Spouse
Oleksandr Tymoshenko
(m. 1979)
Children Eugenia Tymoshenko
Alma mater
  • National Mining University of Ukraine
  • Dnipropetrovsk National University
  • Kyiv National Economic University

Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko (Ukrainian: Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, IPA: [ˈjul⁽ʲ⁾ijɐ woloˈdɪmɪr⁽ʲ⁾iu̯nɐ tɪmoˈʃɛnko]; née Hrihyan (Грігян); born 27 November 1960) is a Ukrainian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2005, and again from 2007 until 2010; the first and only woman in Ukraine to hold that position. She is a member of the Verkhovna Rada as People's Deputy of Ukraine several times between 1997, and 2007, and presently as of 2014, and was First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for the fuel and energy complex from 1999 to 2001. She has the degree of Candidate of Economic Sciences.

Tymoshenko is the leader of the Batkivshchyna (Ukrainian: Батьківщина) political party. She supports Ukraine's integration into the European Union and strongly opposes the membership of Ukraine in the Russia-led Eurasian Customs Union. She supports NATO membership for Ukraine.

She co-led the Orange Revolution and was the first woman twice appointed and endorsed by parliamentary majority to become prime minister, serving from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes magazine's list of the world's most powerful women in 2005.

Tymoshenko finished second in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election runoff, losing by 3.5 percentage points to the winner, Viktor Yanukovych. From 2011 to 2014 she was detained due to a criminal case that was seen by many as politically motivated persecution by President Viktor Yanukovych, but after the Revolution of Dignity she was rehabilitated by the Supreme Court of Ukraine and the European Court of Human Rights. In the concluding days of the Revolution of Dignity, she was released after three years in jail. She again finished second in the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election, this time to Petro Poroshenko. After being a heavy favorite in the polls for several years, she came third in the first round of the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election, receiving 13.40% of the vote, thus failing to qualify for the second round.

Elected to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) in 2019, she led her party in opposition.

Early life and career

Tymoshenko was born Yulia Hrihyan on 27 November 1960, in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, the daughter of Lyudmila Telehina (née Nelepova) and Volodymyr Hrihyan. Her father left the family when Tymoshenko was between one and three years old. She was raised by her mother.

Education

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Yulia Tymoshenko with Viktor Yushchenko in 2009

Tymoshenko attended Dnipropetrovsk high school № 75, graduating in 1977. In 1978, Tymoshenko was enrolled at Dnipro Polytechnic. In 1979, she transferred to Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, majoring in cybernatics and graduating in 1984 with a degree in economics.

In 1999, she received a Ph.D. in economics.

Business career

Prior to her political career, Tymoshenko was a successful businesswoman. In 1988, as part of the perestroika initiatives, Tymoshenko and her husband, Oleksandr Tymoshenko, took a bank loan and opened a video-rental store. In 1991, Tymoshenko established "The Ukrainian Petrol Corporation". In 1995, she was appointed the head of United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU), the main importer of Russian natural gas to Ukraine. She was nicknamed 'the gas princess' due to her position. In 2005, Tymoshenko ranked third in Forbes List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2005 and became on of the richest people in the country.

Political career

Early career

Tymoshenko entered politics in 1996, when she was elected to the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) in constituency No. 229, Bobrynets, Kirovohrad Oblast, winning a record 92.3% of the vote. In Parliament, Tymoshenko joined the Constitutional Centre faction. In February 1997 this centrists faction was 56 lawmakers strong and, according to Ukrainska Pravda, at first it supported the policies of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. In late 1997, Tymoshenko called for impeachment and the next Ukrainian Presidential elections to be held not in 1999, but in the fall of 1998. In late November 1997, the General Prosecutor of Ukraine asked the Verkhovna Rada to lift Tymoshenko's parliamentary immunity, but the deputies voted against it.

Tymoshenko was re-elected in 1998, winning a constituency in the Kirovohrad Oblast, and was also number six on the party list of Hromada. She became an influential person in the parliament, and was appointed the Chair of the Budget Committee of the Verkhovna Rada. After Hromada's party leader Pavlo Lazarenko fled to the United States in February 1999 to avoid investigations for embezzlement, various faction members left Hromada to join other parliamentary factions, among them Tymoshenko, who set up the All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" faction in March 1999 in protest against the methods of Lazarenko. "Fatherland" was officially registered as a political party in September 1999, and began to attract the voters who had voted for Yevhen Marchuk in the October 1999 presidential election. In 2000, "Fatherland" went in opposition to President Kuchma.

Deputy Prime Minister for fuel and energy

Julija tymoschenko 2002
Yulia Tymoshenko in 2002

From late December 1999 to January 2001, Tymoshenko was the Deputy Prime Minister for the fuel and energy sector in the cabinet of Viktor Yushchenko. She officially left parliament on 2 March 2000. Under her guidance, Ukraine's revenue collections from the electricity industry grew by several thousand percent. She scrapped the practice of barter in the electricity market, requiring industrial customers to pay for their electricity in cash. She also terminated exemptions for many organizations which excluded them from having their power disconnected. Her reforms meant that the government had sufficient funds to pay civil servants and increase salaries. In 2000, Tymoshenko's government provided an additional 18 billion hryvna for social payments. Half of this amount was collected due to withdrawal of funds from shadow schemes, the ban on barter payments and the introduction of competition rules to the energy market.

On 18 August 2000, Oleksandr Tymoshenko, CEO of United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU) and Yulia Tymoshenko's husband, was detained and arrested. Tymoshenko herself stated that her husband's arrest was the result of political pressure on her. On 19 January 2001, President Leonid Kuchma ordered Yulia Tymoshenko to be dismissed. Then, Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko silently accepted her dismissal, despite her achievements in the energy sector. Ukrainian media called it "the first betrayal of Viktor Yushchenko". Soon after her dismissal, Tymoshenko took leadership of the National Salvation Committee and became active in the Ukraine without Kuchma protests. The movement embraced a number of opposition parties, such as Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, "Fatherland", Ukrainian Republican Party, Ukrainian Conservative Republican Party, "Sobor", Ukrainian Social-Democratic Party, Ukrainian Christian-Democratic Party and Patriotic Party.

Campaigns against Kuchma and 2002 election

On 9 February 2001, Tymoshenko founded the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (the National Salvation Committee merged into it), a political bloc that received 7.2% of the vote in the 2002 parliamentary election. She has been head of the Batkivshchina (Fatherland) political party since the party was organised in 1999.

On 13 February 2001, Tymoshenko was arrested and charged with forging customs documents and smuggling gas in 1997 (while president of United Energy Systems of Ukraine). Her political supporters organized numerous protest rallies near the Lukyanivska Prison where she was held in custody.

In March 2001, Pechersk District Court (Kyiv) found the charges groundless and cancelled the arrest sanction. According to Tymoshenko, the charges were fabricated by Kuchma's regime at the behest of oligarchs threatened by her efforts to eradicate corruption and institute market-based reforms. On 9 April 2003, the Kyiv Court of Appeal issued a ruling that invalidated and cancelled proceedings on the criminal cases against Yulia and Oleksandr Tymoshenko. Despite Tymoshenko being cleared of the charges, Moscow maintained an arrest warrant for her should she enter Russia. In 2005, all charges were declared groundless and lifted.

The criminal case was closed in Ukraine in January 2005 due to lack of evidence, and in Russia in December 2005 by reason of lapse of time. On 18 November 2005, the Supreme Court of Ukraine issued a ruling which invalidated all criminal cases against Yulia Tymoshenko and her family. Despite this, the case was reopened in Ukraine since May 2010, after Yanukovych came to power.

Tymoshenko's husband, Oleksandr, spent two years (2002–2004) in hiding in order to avoid incarceration on charges the couple said were unfounded and politically motivated by the former Kuchma administration.

On 30 December 2010, the US State Department informed the Ukrainian government of its concern, and indicated that "the prosecution of Tymoshenko should not be selective or politically motivated.

Once the charges were dropped, Tymoshenko reassumed her place among the leaders of the grassroots campaign against President Kuchma for his alleged role in the murder of the journalist Georgiy Gongadze. In this campaign, Tymoshenko first became known as a passionate, revolutionist leader, an example of this being a TV broadcast of her smashing prison windows during one of the rallies. At the time, Tymoshenko wanted to organise a national referendum to impeach President Kuchma.

On 11 August 2001, civilian and military prosecutors in Russia opened a new criminal case against Tymoshenko accusing her of bribery. On 27 December 2005, Russian prosecutors dropped these charges. Russian prosecutors had suspended an arrest warrant when she was appointed prime minister, but reinstated it after she was fired in September 2005. The prosecutors suspended it again when she came to Moscow for questioning on 25 September 2005. Tymoshenko didn't travel to Russia during her first seven months as prime minister (the first Tymoshenko Government).

In January 2002, Tymoshenko was involved in a mysterious car accident that she survived with minor injuries – an episode some believe to have been a government assassination attempt. Her Mercedes, part of a two-vehicle convoy, collided with a Lada in Kyiv.

Role in the Orange Revolution

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Yulia Tymoshenko, 2007

In the Autumn of 2001, both Tymoshenko and Viktor Yushchenko attempted to create a broad opposition bloc against the incumbent president, Leonid Kuchma, in order to win the Ukrainian presidential election of 2004.

In late 2002, Tymoshenko, Oleksandr Moroz (Socialist Party of Ukraine), Petro Symonenko (Communist Party of Ukraine) and Viktor Yushchenko (Our Ukraine) issued a joint statement concerning "the beginning of a state revolution in Ukraine". In the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, the communist party stepped out of the alliance, but the other parties remained allied and Symonenko was against a single candidate from the alliance (until July 2006).

In March 2004, Tymoshenko announced that leaders of "Our Ukraine", BYuT and Socialist Party of Ukraine were working on a coalition agreement concerning joint participation in the presidential campaign. Tymoshenko decided not to run for president and give way to Viktor Yushchenko. On 2 July 2004, Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc established the Force of the people, a coalition which aimed to stop "the destructive process that has, as a result of the incumbent authorities, become a characteristic for Ukraine." The pact included a promise by Viktor Yushchenko to nominate Tymoshenko as prime minister if Yushchenko should win the October 2004 presidential election. Tymoshenko was actively campaigning for Yushchenko, touring and taking part in rallies all over Ukraine. After Viktor Yushchenko had dropped out of the campaign due to his mysterious poisoning, Tymoshenko continued campaigning on his behalf.

After the initial vote on 31 October, two candidates – Viktor Yanukovych and Viktor Yushchenko – proceeded to a runoff. As Tymoshenko earlier envisaged, Yushchenko received endorsement from former competitors who didn't make it to the runoff, such as Oleksandr Moroz (Socialist Party), Anatoliy Kinakh (Party of Industrials and Entrepreneurs), former Kyiv city mayor Oleksanrd Omelchenko and others.

On 6 November 2004, Tymoshenko asked people to spread the orange symbols (orange was the color of Yushchenko's campaign). "Grab a piece of the cheapest orange cloth, make ribbons and put them everywhere" she said. "Don't wait until the campaign managers give those to you".

When allegations of fraud began to spread, the "orange team" decided to conduct a parallel vote tabulation during 21 November 2004 runoff and announce the results immediately to people on Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti) in Kyiv. Tymoshenko called Kyiv residents to gather on the square and asked people from other cities and towns to come and stand for their choice. "Bring warm clothes, lard and bread, garlic and onions and come to Kyiv" she said. On 22 November 2004, massive protests broke out in cities across Ukraine: The largest, in Kyiv's Maidan Nezalezhnosti, attracted an estimated 500,000 participants. These protests became known as the Orange Revolution. On 23 November 2004, Tymoshenko led the participants of the protest to the President's Administration. On Bankova Street, special riot police prevented the procession from going any further, so people lifted Tymoshenko up and she walked on the police's shields to the Administration building.

On 3 December 2004, the Supreme Court of Ukraine invalidated the results of the runoff and scheduled the re-run for 26 December 2004. After the cancellation of Viktor Yanukovych's official victory and the second round of the election, Viktor Yushchenko was elected president with 51.99% of votes (Yanukovych received 44.2% support).

During the protests, Tymoshenko's speeches on the Maidan kept the momentum of the street protests going. Her popularity grew significantly to the point where the media began to refer to her as the Ukrainian or Slavic "Joan of Arc" as well as "Queen of the Orange revolution" in addition to her pre existing sobriquet from the 1990s decade as the "Gas Princess". Additional nicknames included "Goddess of the Revolution" and the "Princess Leia of Ukrainian politics".

First term as prime minister (February – September 2005)

Tymoshenko Appointment Feb04 2005
Yulia Tymoshenko in Parliament, 4 February 2005

On 24 January 2005, Tymoshenko was appointed acting prime minister of Ukraine under Yushchenko's presidency. On 4 February, Tymoshenko's premiership appointment was ratified by the parliament with an overwhelming majority of 373 votes (226 were required for approval). She is the first woman appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine.

The Tymoshenko cabinet did not have any other members of party Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc besides Tymoshenko herself and Oleksandr Turchynov, who was appointed the chief of Security Service of Ukraine. The ministers who were working with her took her side in the later confrontation with Viktor Yushchenko.

On 28 July 2005, Forbes named Tymoshenko the third most powerful woman in the world, behind only Condoleezza Rice and Wu Yi. However, in the magazine's list published on 1 September 2006, Tymoshenko's name was not among the top 100.

In September 2005, Tymoshenko received the "Person of the Year of Central and Eastern Europe" award according to the 15th International Economic Forum in Krinitsa Gurska.

Several months into her government, internal conflicts within the post‐Revolution coalition began to damage Tymoshenko's administration. On 24 August 2005, Viktor Yushchenko gave an Independence Day speech during which he called Tymoshenko's government "the best".

Yet on 8 September, after the resignation of several senior officials, including the Head of the Security and Defense Council Petro Poroshenko and Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Tomenko, Tymoshenko's government was dismissed by President Viktor Yushchenko during a live television address to the nation. Yushchenko went on to criticize her work as head of the Cabinet, suggesting it had led to an economic slowdown and political conflicts within the ruling coalition. He said that Tymoshenko was serving interests of some businesses, and the government decision to re-privatize the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (previously owned by Leonid Kuchma's son in law Viktor Pinchuk) "was the last drop" that made him dismiss the government. On 13 September 2005, Yushchenko accused Tymoshenko of betrayal of "Orange Revolution" ideas. In his interview for the Associated Press, he said that during the time of her presidency at UESU, Tymoshenko accumulated an 8 million Hryvna debt, and that she had used her authority as prime minister to write off that debt. Tymoshenko has repeatedly stated that the mentioned amount was not a debt, but fines imposed by the Tax Inspection from 1997 to 1998, and that all the cases regarding UESU had been closed before she became prime minister.

Tymoshenko blamed Yushchenko's closest circle for scheming against her and undermining the activities of her Cabinet. She also criticised Yushchenko, telling the BBC that he had "practically ruined our unity, our future, the future of the country", without rooting out corruption as he pledged to do and that the president's action was absolutely illogical.

At the time, Tymoshenko saw a rapid growth of approval ratings, while president Yushchenko's approval ratings went down. This tendency was later proved by the results of parliamentary elections in 2006, when for the first time ever BYuT outran "Our Ukraine" party, winning 129 seats vs. 81, respectively. During the previous parliamentary elections of 2002, BYuT had only 22 members of parliament, while "Our Ukraine" had 112.

The work of Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister in 2005 was complicated due to internal conflicts in the "orange" team. According to Tymoshenko, President Yushchenko and Petro Poroshenko were trying to turn the National Security and Defense Council into the "second Cabinet of Ministers".

Tymoshenko was succeeded as prime minister by Yuriy Yehanurov.

Opposition and 2006 parliamentary election

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Yulia Tymoshenko with Viktor Yushchenko in 2009

Soon after Tymoshenko's discharge in September 2005, the General Prosecutor Office of the Russian Federation dismissed all charges against her. On 18 November 2005, the Supreme Court of Ukraine issued a ruling which invalidated all criminal cases against Tymoshenko and her family.

After her dismissal, Tymoshenko started to tour the country in a bid to win the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election as the leader of her Bloc. Tymoshenko soon announced that she wanted to return to the post of prime minister. She managed to form a strong team that started a political fight on two fronts – with Viktor Yanukovych's and Viktor Yushchenko's camps.

With the Bloc coming second in the election, and winning 129 seats, many speculated that she might form a coalition with Yushchenko's "Our Ukraine" party and the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) to prevent the Party of Regions from gaining power. Tymoshenko again reiterated her stance in regard to becoming prime minister. However, negotiations with "Our Ukraine" and SPU faced many difficulties as the various blocs fought over posts and engaged in counter-negotiations with other groups.

On 21 June 2006, the Ukrainian media reported that the parties had finally reached a coalition agreement, which appeared to have ended nearly three months of political uncertainty.

Tymoshenko's nomination and confirmation as the new prime minister was expected to be straightforward. However, the political intrigue that took place broke the plan. BYuT partners "Our Ukraine" and Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) could not come to agreement regarding distribution of powers, thus creation of the Coalition of Democratic Forces was put on hold. Yushchenko and oligarchs from his narrow circle were trying to impede Tymoshenko from returning to the office of prime minister. Her nomination was preconditioned on the election of her long-time rival Petro Poroshenko from "Our Ukraine" to the position of speaker of the parliament. Oleksandr Moroz, the chairman of the Socialist Party of Ukraine, also expressed his interest in becoming speaker. Tymoshenko stated that she would vote for any speaker from the coalition. Within a few days of the signing of the coalition agreement, it became clear that the coalition members mistrusted each other, since they considered it a deviation from parliamentary procedures to hold a simultaneous vote on Poroshenko as the speaker and Tymoshenko as prime minister.

The Party of Regions announced an ultimatum to the coalition demanding that parliamentary procedures be observed, asking that membership in parliamentary committees be allocated in proportion to seats held by each fraction, and demanding chairmanship in certain Parliamentary committees as well as Governorships in the administrative subdivisions won by the Party of Regions. The Party of Regions complained that the coalition agreement deprived the Party of Regions and the communists of any representation in the executive and leadership in parliamentary committees, while in the local regional councils won by the Party of Regions the coalition parties were locked out of all committees as well.

Members from the Party of Regions blocked the parliament from 29 June through 6 July.

After lengthy negotiations, SPU suddenly pulled out of the Coalition and joined the alliance with the Party of Regions and the Communist Party of Ukraine. Oleksandr Moroz assured that the team of Viktor Yushchenko was conducting secret negotiations with the Party of Regions. According to that deal, Viktor Yanukovych was supposed to become the speaker, while Yuriy Yekhanurov kept the prime minister portfolio. These negotiations were conducted by Yekhanurov himself upon Yushchenko's request. Later, Yekhanurov admitted this fact in his interview with the "Ukrainska Pravda" website.

Following the surprise nomination of Oleksandr Moroz from the Socialist Party of Ukraine as the Rada speaker and his subsequent election late on 6 July with the support of the Party of Regions, the "Orange coalition" collapsed. (Poroshenko had withdrawn his candidacy and had urged Moroz to do the same on 7 July). After the creation of a large coalition of majority composed of the Party of Regions, the Socialist Party of Ukraine and the Communist Party of Ukraine, Yanukovych became prime minister, and the other two parties were left in the wilderness. On 3 August 2006, Tymoshenko refused to sign the "Universal of National Unity" declaration initiated by president Yushchenko. The document, signed by Yushchenko, Yanukovych and leaders of Socialist and Communist parties, sealed Yanukovych's appointment as prime minister. Tymoshenko called it "the act of betrayal". In September 2006, Tymoshenko announced that her political force would be in opposition to the new government. Our Ukraine stalled until 4 October 2006, when it too joined the opposition. On 12 January 2007, a BYuT vote in the parliament overrode the president's veto of the "On the Cabinet of Ministers" law that was advantageous for the president. (In exchange, BYuT voted for the "On Imperative Mandate" and "On Opposition" laws). This vote was one of many steps undertaken by BYuT to ruin a fragile alliance between president Yushchenko and prime minister Yanukovych.

In March 2007, Yulia Tymoshenko traveled to the United States, where she held high-level meetings with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Hadley, the National Security Advisor under President George W. Bush. On 31 March 2007, Tymoshenko initiated a "100 thousand people Maidan" aimed to urge the president to call an early parliamentary election.

On 4 April 2007, president Yushchenko issued an edict "On early termination of duties of the Verkhovna Rada" as a reaction to violation of the Constitution by the Party of Regions, which had started dragging individual deputies into the "ruling coalition" (this being illegal, as coalitions should be formed by factions and not by individual deputies). In doing so, the Party of Regions was trying to achieve a constitutional majority of 300 votes which would enable prime minister Yanukovych to override the president's veto and control the legislative process. Party of Regions didn't obey this edict. In order to dismiss the Verkhovna Rada, Yulia Tymoshenko and her supporters in the parliament (168 deputies from BYuT and "Our Ukraine" factions) quit their parliamentary factions on 2 June 2007. That step invalidated the convocation of the Verkhovna Rada and cleared the path to an early election.

An early parliamentary election was held on 30 September 2007.

2007 parliamentary election

Vladimir Putin and Yulia Tymoshenko-1
Yulia Tymoshenko and Vladimir Putin meeting on 19 March 2005. In November 2009, Putin praised Tymoshenko's political choices and stated that he found it comfortable to work with her.

Following balloting in the 2007 parliamentary elections held on 30 September 2007, Orange Revolution parties had won majority of 229 votes of BYUT fraction (30,71% of the votes (156 seats) and the Our Ukraine/People's Self-defence faction. On 3 October 2007, an almost final tally gave the alliance of Tymoshenko and President Yushchenko a slim lead over the rival party of Prime Minister Yanukovych, thanks in part to a vigorous BYuT campaign in the industrial east, a Party of Regions stronghold. Although Yanukovych, whose party won the single biggest share of the vote, also claimed victory, one of his coalition allies, the Socialist Party of Ukraine, failed to gain enough votes to retain seats in Parliament.

On 15 October 2007, the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc agreed to form a majority coalition in the new parliament of the 6th convocation. On 29 November, a coalition was signed between the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc, which was associated with President Yushchenko. Both parties are affiliated with the Orange Revolution. On 11 December 2007, the Coalition failed in its attempt to appoint Tymoshenko prime minister, falling one vote short (225 members of parliament supported her nomination). On 12 December 2007, the media reported on the possible attempted assassination of Yulia Tymoshenko. BYuT and Tymoshenko herself said it was an intimidation. On 18 December, Tymoshenko was once again elected as prime minister (supported by 226 deputies, the minimal number needed for passage), heading the second Tymoshenko Government.

Second term as prime minister 2007–2010, and 2008 political crisis

On 11 July 2008, the Party of Regions tried to vote no-confidence to Tymoshenko's government in the parliament, but could not collect enough votes.

The coalition of Tymoshenko's Bloc (BYuT) and Yushchenko's Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc (OU-PSD) was put at risk due to deliberate misinterpretation of Tymoshenko's opinion on the ongoing 2008 South Ossetia War between Georgia and Russia. Yushchenko's office accused her of taking a softer position in order to gain support from Russia in the upcoming 2010 election. Andriy Kyslynskyi, the president's deputy chief of staff, went as far as to accuse her of 'high treason'. According to Ukrainska Pravda and Newswire.ca Tymoshenko expressed her solidarity with Georgia on 13 and 14 August, and later preferred to stay neutral on the issue as according to Constitution President Yuschenko headed foreign policy issues.

According to BYuT, Viktor Baloha (Chief of Staff of the Presidential Secretariat) criticized the premier at every turn, doing the dirty job for the President and accusing her of everything from not being religious enough to damaging the economy and plotting to kill him, and the accusation of 'betrayal' over Georgia was simply one of the latest and most pernicious attacks directed at the premier.

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U.S. President George W. Bush and Tymoshenko, Kyiv, 1 April 2008
Julia Tymoshenko and Lech Kaczyński(2008)
Tymoshenko and President of Poland Lech Kaczyński, 14 February 2008

After Tymoshenko's BYuT voted alongside the Communist Party of Ukraine and the Party of Regions to pass legislation that would facilitate the procedure of impeachment for future presidents and limit the president's power while increasing the prime minister's powers, President Yushchenko's OU-PSD bloc pulled out of the coalition and Yushchenko promised to veto the legislation and threatened to hold an election if a new coalition was not formed soon. This resulted in the 2008 Ukrainian political crisis, which culminated in Yushchenko calling an early parliamentary election on 8 October 2008.

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Tymoshenko in November 2009

Tymoshenko was fiercely opposed to the snap election, stating "No politician would throw Ukraine into snap elections at this important time. But, if Yushchenko and Yanukovych – who are ideologists of snap elections – throw the country into snap elections, then they will bear responsibility for all the consequences of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 on Ukraine". Initially, the election was to be held on 7 December 2008, but was later postponed to an unknown date. Tymoshenko had no intention of resigning until a new coalition was formed.

In early December 2008, there were negotiations between BYuT and the Party of Regions to form a coalition, but after Volodymyr Lytvyn was elected Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament of Ukraine) on 9 December 2008, he announced the creation of a coalition between his Lytvyn Bloc, BYuT and OU-PSD. After negotiations, the three parties officially signed the coalition agreement on 16 December. It was not known whether this coalition would stop the snap election, although Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn predicted the Verkhovna Rada would work until 2012.

On 5 February 2009, Tymoshenko's opponents in the parliament were trying to dismiss her government again, but again the vote failed. The following day, president Yushchenko strongly criticized Tymoshenko and the economic policies of her government. Tymoshenko accused him of spreading "a mix of untruths, panic and hysteria."

On 18 December 2008, for the first time Tymoshenko accused the National Bank of Ukraine in the conscious manipulation of the hryvnia, and President Yushchenko of colluding with the leadership of the NBU, which led to depreciation of the national currency to the level of ₴8 per US dollar.

A large part of Tymoshenko's second term as prime minister coincided in time with the financial crisis of 2007–2008, which required her government to respond to numerous challenges that could have led the country's economic collapse.

Tymoshenko's government launched an anti-corruption campaign and identified it as one of its priorities.

Gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine (2009)

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Yulia Tymoshenko, 9 December 2009

The conditions leading to the 2009 gas dispute were created in 2006, under the Viktor Yushchenko government, when Ukraine started buying Russian gas through an intermediary, Swiss-registered RosUkrEnergo. (Fifty percent of RosUkrEnergo shares were owned by the Russian "Gazprom", with 45 percent and 5 percent owned by Ukrainian businessmen Dmytro Firtash and Ivan Fursin, respectively). Some sources indicate that notorious criminal boss Semion Mogilevich (associated with Dmytro Firtash) also owned shares in the company.

When Tymoshenko resumed her prime minister duties in 2007, she initiated direct relations between Ukraine and Russia with regard to gas trading. A 2 October 2008 Memorandum signed by Tymoshenko and Vladimir Putin stipulated liquidation of intermediaries in gas deals between the two countries and outlined detailed conditions for future gas contracts. The gas conflict of 2009 broke out because of two factors, the lack of a gas contract for 2009 and a $2.4 billion debt that Ukraine had yet to pay for gas received in 2008. Prime Minister Tymoshenko stated that it was the "RosUkrEnergo" company that was responsible for the debt, rather than the state of Ukraine. She called for an end to corruption in the gas trade area and the establishment of direct contracts with the Russian Federation.

"RosUkrEnergo", with the aid of its ties to Yushchenko's administration, managed to disrupt the signing of a gas contract scheduled for 31 December 2008. Oleksiy Miller, head of "Gazprom", stated that trader "RosUkrEnergo" broke down talks between "Gazprom" and "Naftogaz Ukrainy": "Yes indeed, in late December 2008, the prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine came to agreement, and our companies were ready to seal the deal for $235 per 1000 cubic meters of natural gas with the condition that all the export operations from Ukraine will be done bilaterally. RosUkrEnergo then suggested to buy gas at $285 price." On 31 December 2008, president Viktor Yushchenko gave Oleg Dubyna, head of "Naftogaz Ukrainy", a direct order to stop talks, not sign the agreement and recall the delegation from Moscow. The decision made by the president of Ukraine brought on the crisis.

On 14 January 2009, Prime Minister Tymoshenko said, "The negotiations on $235 gas price and $1.7–1.8 transit price, that started on October 2 and successfully have been moving forward since, have been broken up because, unfortunately, Ukrainian politicians were trying to keep "RosUkrEnergo" in business as a shadow intermediary... The negotiations between the two prime ministers and later between "Gazprom" and "Naftogaz Ukrainy" were ruined by those Ukrainian political groups, who have gotten and are planning to get corrupt benefits from "RosUkrEnergo"." On 17 January 2009, President of Russia Dmitriy Medvedev said, "I think that our Ukrainian partners and us can trade gas without any intermediaries, especially without intermediaries with questionable reputation. The problem is that some participants of negotiations insisted on keeping the intermediary referring to the instructions from the top."

On 1 January 2009, at 10 am, "Gazprom" completely stopped pumping gas to Ukraine. On 4 January, the Russian monopolist offered to sell Ukraine gas for $450 per 1000 cubic meter (minus a fee for gas transit through Ukraine), which was defined as a standard price for Eastern European countries. On 8 January 2009, the prime minister of Russia, Vladimir Putin, said that Ukraine would have to pay $470 for 1000 cubic meters of natural gas.

Between 1 and 18 January, Central and Eastern European countries received significantly less gas. Ukrainian heat-and-power stations were working to utmost capacity. Due to sub-zero temperatures, the entire housing and public utilities sectors were on the verge of collapse. On 14 January, the European Commission and the Czech presidency in the European Union demanded the immediate renewal of gas deliveries in full capacity lest the reputations of Russia and Ukraine as reliable EU partners be seriously damaged. On 18 January 2009, after five-day-long talks, prime ministers Putin and Tymoshenko came to agreement on the renewal of gas delivery to Ukraine and other EU countries. The parties agreed upon the following: A return to direct contract deals between "Gazprom" and "Naftogaz Ukrainy"; the removal of non-transparent intermediaries; the introduction of formula-based pricing for Ukraine (which also works for other Eastern European countries); and a switch to a $2.7 transit fee, which is close to the average price in Europe. According to the new gas contract, in 2009 Ukraine paid an average price of $232.98 per 1000 cubic meters, while other European consumers were paying above $500 per 1000 cubic meters.

2010 presidential election

Vladimir Putin and Yulia Tymoshenko-1
Yulia Tymoshenko and Vladimir Putin meeting on 19 March 2005. In November 2009, Putin praised Tymoshenko's political choices and stated that he found it comfortable to work with her.
Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - EPP Congress Bonn (781)
Yulia Tymoshenko, 9 December 2009
Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - EPP Summit September 2010 (12)
Tymoshenko in September 2010

Tymoshenko ran for president in the Ukrainian presidential elections of 2010. She came in second in the presidential run-off, losing to Viktor Yanukovych, who received 48.95% of electoral votes. Tymoshenko refused to recognize the election results. On 13 February 2010 during a live televised broadcast she stated that the presidential election had been rigged and that she would challenge the election results in court. Tymoshenko and her party boycotted the inauguration ceremony of President Yanukovych on 25 February 2010.

Yanukovych called on Tymoshenko to abandon her protests and resign as prime minister. On 3 March 2010, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a motion of no confidence in the second Tymoshenko Government in which the cabinet was dismissed with 243 lawmakers voting in favour out of 450.

In opposition after 2010 presidential election

During a nationally televised address on 22 February, Tymoshenko said of President-elect of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and "Yanukovych's team" (she referred to them in the speech as "The oligarchy"): "They need cheap labour, poor and disenfranchised people who can be forced to work at their factories for peanuts, they also need Ukraine's riches, which they have been stealing for the last 18 years." During the speech she also accused outgoing President Viktor Yushchenko of "opening the door to massive and flagrant election rigging" days before 7 February runoff of the January 2010 presidential election by amending the election law. During a Cabinet of Ministers meeting on 24 February, Tymoshenko stated, "The moment of truth has arrived: The decision whether or not to side with Yanukovych will show who values the preservation of Ukraine's independence and self-identity and who does not." Tymoshenko and her party, Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko, boycotted the inauguration ceremony of President Yanukovych on 25 February 2010.

Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - EPP Summit September 2010 (12)
Tymoshenko in September 2010

If the Second Tymoshenko Government could not be preserved, Tymoshenko stated on 22 February 2010, she would go into Parliamentary opposition. On 3 March 2010, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a motion of no confidence in the second Tymoshenko Government in which the cabinet was dismissed with 243 lawmakers voting in favour out of 450 (including seven lawmakers of Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko). (Prime Minister Tymoshenko had demanded this vote herself on 1 March 2010.) On 2 March 2010, the coalition had already lost the parliamentary majority. Before the vote on 3 March, Prime Minister Tymoshenko again stated, "If the dismissal of the government is passed today, at that very same moment our government will leave the cabinet. Our political force will cross into the opposition." Tymoshenko blamed the Lytvyn Bloc and "Our Ukraine, including the leader of Our Ukraine, who announced the position of the faction" for the fall of the cabinet. Tymoshenko resigned from the prime minister post on 4 March 2010. Fellow BYuT member Oleksandr Turchynov was empowered to fulfill the prime minister's duties until a new government was formed on 4 March 2010. On 9 and 15 March 2010, Tymoshenko called on "all of the national patriotic forces" to unite against Yanukovych. On 16 March, a shadow government including BYuT was established. On 10 May 2010, the People's Committee to Protect Ukraine was established, of which Tymoshenko is one of the representatives. Tymoshenko was against the 2010 Ukrainian-Russian Naval Base for Natural Gas treaty, as she believes the agreement harms Ukraine's national interests.

On 12 May 2010, Ukraine's prosecutor's office illegally re-opened a 2004 criminal case, which had been closed by the Supreme Court of Ukraine in January 2005 against Tymoshenko regarding accusations that she had tried to bribe Supreme Court judges. As she left the prosecutor's office on 12 May, Tymoshenko told journalists she had been summoned to see investigators again on 17 May, and she linked the move to Russian President Medvedev's visit to Ukraine on 17 and 18 May 2010. Tymoshenko also claimed that she was told by "all the offices of the Prosecutor General's Office" that President Yanukovych had personally instructed the Prosecutor General's Office to find any grounds to prosecute her. In a press conference on 12 May, President Yanukovych's representative in the Verkhovna Rada, Yury Miroshnychenko, dismissed Tymoshenko's statement about Yanukovych's personal interest in prosecuting her. "Yanukovych is against political repression for criticism of the regime," Miroshnychenko stated.

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Tymoshenko and Mikheil Saakashvili, September 2010

On 15 December 2010, the General Prosecutor's Office instituted a criminal case against Tymoshenko, alleging that she misused funds received by Ukraine within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol. She was officially charged on 20 December 2010. Tymoshenko denied the money had been spent on pensions, insisting it was still at the disposal of the environment ministry. She called the investigation against her a witch-hunt. According to government officials, the criminal case against Tymoshenko was a legitimate attempt to uncover corruption by the previous administration. In the case of "Kyoto money" American experts "Covington & Burling" and "BDO USA" stated the following: "the Documents that we were able to see, clearly point out that the Kyoto Target balance account in the amount of approximately 3.3 billion on the date of receipt remained unchanged throughout the period that is considered, and that, moreover, Kyoto funds have not been touched at all in 2009. Since the balance of this account remained unchanged on the date of receipt, any accusations that Prime Minister Tymoshenko "used" these funds contrary to their intended purpose, are obviously false". On 7 August 2014, the Chairman of the State Treasury service Tatiana Slyuz confirmed that the Tymoshenko government has never spent "Kyoto money", the funds were on special accounts and in 2010 were transferred to the Yanukovych government. Tymoshenko was not arrested, but ordered not to leave Kyiv while the inquiry was under way. In the same case, the environment minister in the second Tymoshenko Government, Georgiy Filipchuk, was detained. Filipchuk was the third minister from this government to face criminal charges since its fall in March 2010 (prosecutors charged former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko with abuse of office in early December 2010, and former economy minister Bohdan Danylyshyn was detained in the Czech Republic in October 2010 on similar charges). Lawmakers of BYuT blocked the rostrum and presidium of the Verkhovna Rada the next day in protest against this. That same day, the European People's Party issued a statement in which it "condemns the growth of aggressive, politically motivated pressure by the Ukrainian authorities on the opposition and its leader Yulia Tymoshenko." Tymoshenko dismissed the probe as "terror against the opposition by President Yanukovych." Earlier that month, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka had stated that there were no political reasons for the interrogations of the opposition leaders Tymoshenko, Lutsenko and Oleksandr Turchynov.

New corruption charges against Tymoshenko were filed on 27 January 2011. She was accused of using 1,000 medical vehicles for campaigning in the presidential elections of 2010. According to Tymoshenko, the charges were false and part of "Yanukovych's campaign to silence the opposition." Subsequently, in 2010, the results of the audit of the accounts chamber revealed that the acquisition of these vehicles was provided for from 2008 in the article 87 of the Budget code, the State budget-2009 and article 13 of the Law of Ukraine "On state target programs". In June 2011, the case on the "Kyoto money" and of medical assistance vehicles to the village were suspended — after auditing company "BDO USA", which has branches in over one hundred countries around the world, and a large law firm "Covington & Burling" investigated these cases and stated that they "are not worth the paper on which they are written."

A third criminal case against Tymoshenko in connection with alleged abuse of power during the 2009 Russia–Ukraine gas dispute was opened on 10 April 2011. This case was labelled "absurd" by Tymoshenko. On 24 May 2011, prosecutors charged her in connection with this (third criminal) case. She was not arrested.

On 26 April 2011, Tymoshenko sued businessman Dmytro Firtash and Swiss-based RosUkrEnergo in a US District Court in Manhattan, accusing them of "defrauding Ukraine's citizenry by manipulating an arbitration court ruling" and "undermining the rule of law in Ukraine" in connection with a 2010 international arbitration court ruling in Stockholm that ordered Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz to pay RosUkrEnergo 11 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas to compensate for fuel it had "expropriated" plus 1.1 billion bcm as a penalty.

Throughout Yanukovych's presidency, Tymoshenko stayed very critical of his and the Azarov Government's performances and intentions which, among others, she accused of selling out to Russia and of being a "funeral of democracy." ..... She believes "Ukraine can return to a democratic path of development only with an active civil society and support from the international community."

2014 release from prison

Yulia Tymoshenko addressing Euromaidan with a speech. Kyiv, Ukraine. Events of February 22, 2014.
Tymoshenko addressing Euromaidan with a speech, Kyiv, 22 February 2014

Following the Revolution of Dignity, on 21 February 2014, Parliament voted for her release in a 310–54 veto-proof vote. To do so, the members of parliament decriminalized the Article on which Tymoshenko was charged and brought it into compliance with Article 19 of the UN Convention against corruption. That could enable immediate release of Tymoshenko through the corresponding court ruling. However, Viktor Yanukovych fled the country after massive violent clashes in Kyiv that killed more than 80 people without signing the bill into law. On 22 February 2014, the Verkhovna Rada with 322 votes adopted a decree based on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights and corresponding decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

On the same day, Tymoshenko was released from Central Clinical Hospital No. 5 in Kharkiv, where she had been receiving treatment under police guard since May 2012, after being diagnosed with a spinal disc herniation. Her release was praised by western leaders.

On 28 February 2014, the parliament rehabilitated Yulia Tymoshenko and restored her rights. That enabled her to run for office; however, she has ruled out becoming prime minister again.

Kyivsky District Court of Kharkiv closed the criminal case on financial abuse of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine on 28 February 2014. And, on 14 April, the Supreme Court of Ukraine closed the "gas case" against Tymoshenko for "absence of a criminal act".

On 25 April 2014, the General Prosecutor of Ukraine launched a pre-trial investigation against a number of officials from its own office and the Pechersky district court and Kyiv's court of appeals (the judges who had sentenced Tymoshenko) because of allegedly "deliberate, systematic and flagrant violation of accused Yulia Tymoshenko's rights to defense, which are granted by Ukraine's current laws".

On 24 June 2014, the Supreme Court of Ukraine rehabilitated Tymoshenko.

On 22 January 2015, the European Court of Human Rights announced the termination of consideration of the case of Yulia Tymoshenko v. Ukraine in connection to an implied friendly settlement between the parties, after Tymoshenko's agreement with the government's declaration admitting that the criminal prosecution against her had been politically motivated. The Ukrainian government, in its exchange with the Court, had acknowledged a violation of Tymoshenko's rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights under articles 3 (prohibition of torture), 6 (right to a fair trial), 7 (no punishment without law), 8 (right to respect for private and family life), partly in conjunction with article 13 (right to an effective remedy), article 18 (political motivation), article 10 (freedom of expression) and article 4 of Protocol No. 7 to the convention (right not to be tried or punished twice). Taking note of the Ukrainian government's declaration and following measures, as well as of Tymoshenko's agreement with it, the Court struck out the application from its list of cases, as asked by the government, following article 39 of the convention (friendly settlements).

On 19 October 2015, the Kominternivskyi district court of Kharkiv has sentenced two former employees of the Kachanivska penal colony No. 54 to three years in prison for inflicting injuries on Tymoshenko.

Political activities after release

Immediately after her release from prison on 22 February 2014, Yulia Tymoshenko travelled to Kyiv, where she attended a makeshift memorial to the first slain protesters on Hrushevskogo Street and gave a speech on Maidan stage. In the following days, she had a number of meetings and phone conversations with USA, EU, and OSCE officials. Tymoshenko addressed the European Union, leaders of western democracies and of countries which guaranteed Ukraine's territorial unity according to the Budapest Memorandum; she called for action to stop what she called the "Russian aggression".

From 6 to 7 March, Tymoshenko attended a political conference of the European People's Party in Dublin, where she openly discussed events with Angela Merkel, Jose Manuel Barroso, Viviane Reding, Michel Barnier, Mariano Rajoy and Donald Tusk, amongst other notable figures. On 7 March 2014, she was admitted to the Charité hospital in Berlin, Germany, for treatment of her severe back problems.

Upon her return to Kyiv, Tymoshenko gathered military and defense experts and suggested launching a special headquarters that would elaborate responses to threats coming from Russia.

Tymoshenko 2014(PR)
2014 presidential election percentage of vote for Tymoshenko

On 27 March 2014, at a press conference in Kyiv, Tymoshenko stated that she would run in the 2014 presidential election. Two days later, the congress of Batkivshchyna party officially nominated her and on 31 March the Central Election Commission officially registered her as a candidate. The key theses of Tymoshenko's election campaign were the eradication of corruption, the fight against oligarchs, the European path of Ukraine's development (in particular, the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU), countering Russian aggression and restoring the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The election took place on 25 May. Tymoshenko came a distant second behind Petro Poroshenko. She received 12.39% of the vote.

On 30 August 2014, Tymoshenko announced her Batkivshchina party would start gathering signatures to trigger a referendum on NATO accession.

In the 2014 parliamentary election "Fatherland" received 5.68% of the vote and 19 seats in parliament. In the elections Tymoshenko was placed second on the parties electoral list, after Nadiya Savchenko. After the election Tymoshenko again became faction leader. She is a member of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on issues of European integration in the 8th convocation of parliament.

After the election, Tymoshenko began reforming the Batkivshchyna party.

Parliamentary activity, 2014–2018

On 11 December 2014, the Rada supported Tymoshenko's initiative on freeing Nadiya Savchenko.

On 5 March 2015, Parliament supported a bill to support the volunteer movement in Ukraine.

On 21 April 2015, Tymoshenko initiated a working group to check the validity of utility tariffs.

On 6 April 2016, Tymoshenko thanked Angela Merkel for her help in establishing peace in eastern Ukraine.

15 May 2016: Faction "Fatherland" preparing a statement in the name of the new Prosecutor General in connection with offenses in the activities of the National Commission, which performs state regulation in the energy and utilities relative to the unjustified increase of gas prices for the population.

16 May 2016: Yulia Tymoshenko held a meeting with the coordinator of the US State Department on the issue of sanctions, Ambassador Dan Fried. The sides discussed the situation in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, focusing on the politics of U.S. sanctions against Russia. Dan Fried assured Tymoshenko of the support of the United States of America for Ukraine, and its territorial integrity and independence.

23 May 2016: At the initiative of Yulia Tymoshenko All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" launched a website "Fair rates", the proceedings of which explain the need to establish adequate tariffs for gas for the population.

Tymoshenko is in favor of extending the moratorium on land sales and supporting farmers.

She considers negotiations in the format of the Budapest Memorandum to be an effective way to resolve the issue of the war in Donbass.

New course of Ukraine

The New Deal of Ukraine is an election program for the post of President of Ukraine, which was presented on 15 June 2018, by the leader of the "Fatherland" party, Yulia Tymoshenko. This program provides for amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine.

The program contains four blocks:

  1. New social contract
  2. New economic course
  3. New World Strategy
  4. Ecosystem of human life

2019 presidential election

Зустріч Зеленського з керівництвом ВРУ, 1
Yulia Tymoshenko, 21 May 2019

On 20 June 2018, Tymoshenko announced that she would take part in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election. She was a heavy favorite in the polls until early 2019. The situation changed after Volodymyr Zelenskyy's New Year's announcement of his intention to run for president, after which it was Zelenskyy who began to gain a rating, beating Tymoshenko at the end of January 2019.

The first round of the election was held on 31 March 2019. With 13.4% of the vote, Tymoshenko came in third behind the actor Volodymyr Zelenskyy (30.2%) and the incumbent Petro Poroshenko (15.9%).

In the 2019 parliamentary election, she led the "Fatherland" list which came in third, with 8.18% of the vote and 26 seats in parliament, in ahead of European Solidarity list led by Poroshenko (8.10%).

Elected to the Ukrainian parliament in 2019, Tymoshenko led her party in opposition.

Local elections 2020

According to the results of the CEC, Tymoshenko's party received 4093 deputy mandates (12.39%) and became one of the leading parties in local elections in Ukraine.

Parliamentary and political activities (2019–2021)

In the 2019 parliamentary election, she led the Batkivshchyna list which came in third, with 8.18% of the vote and 26 seats in parliament. Tymoshenko became a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Social Policy and Protection of Veterans' Rights. Tymoshenko's activities in this session of the Rada focussed on opposition to lifting the moratorium on land sales and pushing for government action to lower energy prices.

At the start of the term, Tymoshenko's party supported a number of measures put forward by the ruling Servant of the People party. On the first day of the new session of the Rada, Tymoshenko's party supported the bill on lifting parliamentary immunity. On 3 September 2019, the Batkivshchyna party supported the referral to the Constitutional Court of a bill to reduce the number of deputies.

However, in November 2019, after the parliament passed a bill to lift the moratorium on land sales, Yulia Tymoshenko announced her transition to opposition to the ruling Servant of the People party. On 18 November 2019, Tymoshenko appealed to the Constitutional Court to immediately consider the petition for the bill on the "land market". In December 2019, Tymoshenko united more than 40 political and public organizations that oppose the sale of land in the National Headquarters for the Protection of Native Land. On 15 December 2019, the National Headquarters approved demands to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that it be necessary to postpone the adoption of "land laws", extend the moratorium and announce a referendum. The National Corps also joined the all-Ukrainian protest action initiated by the National Headquarters for the Protection of the Motherland. On 19 December 2019, Yulia Tymoshenko and Batkivshchyna deputies addressed the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine with a statement pointing to conflicts of interest and corruption in the Parliamentary Committee on Agrarian Policy during the consideration of the law on land sales.

In November 2020, Tymoshenko's party supported the all-Ukrainian SaveFOP campaign by registering Bill 3853–2 to simplify the taxation system for small businesses. Tymoshenko signed a memorandum of cooperation with the public movement SaveFOP.

On 11 January 2021, Tymoshenko called on the authorities to provide Ukrainians with gas at a price no higher than the purchase price. According to Tymoshenko, the price of gas should not exceed ₴3, in this regard, Batkivshchyna registered Bill No. 1177 in the Verkhovna Rada.

..... At the same time, Zelenskyy criticized Tymoshenko's referendum, although he himself initiated a nationwide poll on 5 issues, as well as the strengthening of democracy in Ukraine.

On 1 March 2021, the Batkivshchyna party demanded that the Government stop importing electricity from Russia and Belarus to Ukraine and launch an investigation into the matter. According to Tymoshenko, the import of Belarusian and Russian electricity threatens the national security of the country.

In June 2021, Tymoshenko took part in a meeting of the All-Ukrainian People's Council on holding a referendum against the sale of agricultural land.

On 21 July 2021, Tymoshenko announced that the Batkivshchyna party had drafted a new Constitution of Ukraine, which provided for the division of power into four branches of government: legislative, executive, judicial, and control.

In September 2021, Tymoshenko called on the Verkhovna Rada to adopt bill No. 4680, which provides for the supply of domestically produced gas to Ukrainian citizens at a low price/

On 28 September 2021, Tymoshenko registered in the Verkhovna Rada a Draft Resolution "On the Creation of a Temporary Investigative Commission to Investigate the Activities of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine".

On 23 October 2021, Tymoshenko registered in the Verkhovna Rada a draft resolution "On urgent measures to overcome an emergency level crisis that has developed as a result of an increase in energy prices" and a draft law "On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine on the introduction of a reduced value added tax rate on energy carriers and related services".

On 26 October 2021, Tymoshenko handed over medical equipment for patients with coronavirus to the Oleksandrivska Clinical Hospital in Kyiv.

Parliamentary and political activities (2022–present)

On 20 June 2022, in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Batkivshchyna faction, led by Yulia Tymoshenko, did not support the ratification of the Istanbul Convention. Tymoshenko believes that the Istanbul Convention is not included in the package of requirements of the European Union for granting Ukraine a candidate. She noted that the Verkhovna Rada went against the will of the Ukrainians, because such an important issue should be determined at a national referendum.

On 27 January 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a resolution initiated by Tymoshenko to establish a Temporary Commission of Inquiry to investigate possible corruption that caused significant losses to the revenue side of the state budget, in particular as a result of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine. Tymoshenko became a member of this VSC.

On 19 July 2022, deputies of the Batkivshchyna faction led by Tymoshenko prevented the theft of 264 billion hryvnias from the budget, which Naftogaz of Ukraine was supposed to spend on an opaque scheme for financing the purchase of natural gas for the next heating season.

29 July 2022 the Verkhovna Rada voted for the legislative initiative of Tymoshenko on the creation of a Temporary Special Commission to Investigate the Crisis in the Energy Market of Ukraine.

On 29 July during a working visit to Japan, Yulia Tymoshenko discussed the situation in Ukraine with Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. On the same day, Tymoshenko spoke at a conference in Tokyo and called for the creation of a new stable security order in the world.

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

In late February 2022, French news channel France24 reported that Tymoshenko urged NATO and the United Nations to protect Ukraine by closing Ukrainian airspace and deploying United Nations peacekeeping forces to her country. In early April 2022, Radio Free Europe published further comments by Tymoshenko on the Russian invasion. Reportedly, she stated that "Vladimir Putin deeply believes that he has a historic mission to recreate the Soviet Union"; that this ambition poses a threat to other Eastern European nations; and that "Ukraine's membership in NATO is the most powerful guarantee, second only to having a strong army, which can once and for all stop any attempts by the Russian Federation to seize Ukraine."

On 1 March 2022, Tymoshenko took custody of the Okhmatdyt children's hospital. Tymoshenko donated medicines and essentials to the institution. Tymoshenko also helped to take sick children out of Kyiv and the region to continue treatment and medical care abroad and in the western regions of the country.

Tymoshenko created the Center for Humanitarian Aid in the central office of her political party "Batkivshchyna" to help vulnerable groups of the population and the Ukrainian military.

On 31 May 2022, Tymoshenko spoke at the Congress of the European People's Party in Rotterdam. Tymoshenko urged those present to contribute in every possible way to granting Ukraine membership in the EU and NATO. Also during the visit, Tymoshenko discussed with the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakidis the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and the issue of global food security. In addition, Tymoshenko discussed the situation in Ukraine with European Commissioner for Budget Johannes Hahn, EPP President Donald Tusk and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph in June 2022, Tymoshenko dismissed that diplomatic efforts will have any impact in the war and that Ukraine "has military might" to "finish" the war.

On 5–7 July 2022, in the city of Athens, Tymoshenko took part in a round table meeting of The Economist, where she called on the world community to form a new security system.

On 6 July 2022, Tymoshenko discussed with the executive director of the American Jewish Committee, David Harris, joint actions to counter Russian disinformation and propaganda, ways to restore Ukraine's economy, and the possibility of providing specialized medical care to Ukrainians who suffered as a result of the Russian war.

On 7 July 2022, Tymoshenko discussed with the Vice President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On the same day, Tymoshenko discussed with the Minister of Health of Greece, Thanos Plevris, the possibility of providing specialized medical assistance to Ukrainians who suffered as a result of Russian aggression.

On 19 July 2022, in an interview for the American magazine Time, Tymoshenko said that due to Russian aggression, Ukraine and Africa should stick together to prevent genocide.

On 7 August 2022, the British magazine The Economist published an article by Tymoshenko, in which she calls on the world to conclude new agreements in the field of security that will ensure the inviolability of national borders.

14 August 2022 in an interview with the Portuguese publication Sol, Tymoshenko said that in order to defeat Russia, Ukraine needs weapons to return all the territories occupied by the Russians.

On 1–2 September 2022, Tymoshenko took part in the "Estoril Conferences-2022" conference in Portugal. On 2 September 2022, the Yulia Tymoshenko scholarship was introduced for talented Ukrainian entrants to the most prestigious Nova School of Business and Economics in Portugal

On 6 October 2022 Tymoshenko, in response to the proposal of the Chairman of the Federation Council (Russia) Valentina Matviyenko on the need for Ukraine and Russia to "sit down at the negotiating table", announced during the summit of the heads of the G20 Parliaments in Indonesia, said that peace negotiations with the Russian Federation are possible only after the return of all territories of Ukraine.

On 19 October 2022, as part of the participation in the 18th annual Cyprus Summit of The Economist, Tymoshenko discussed with the President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades the strengthening of assistance to Ukraine. Also at the Summit, Tymoshenko met with the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Joschka Fischer.

On 27 September 2022, as part of a working visit to Geneva, Tymoshenko discussed the situation in Ukraine with Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization.

On 29 September 2022, as part of a working visit to Paris, Tymoshenko met with representatives of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor.

On 30 October 2022, Tymoshenko visited the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kherson Oblast.

On 30 May 2023, Yulia Tymoshenko visited Ukrainian military personnel undergoing treatment at a hospital in Kharkiv.

In the spring of 2023, on the initiative of Yulia Tymoshenko, a charity auction was held, where 7 million hryvnias were collected for the purchase of necessary equipment for military hospitals.

On 22 June 2023, Tymoshenko took part in an international conference held by the opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in Paris.

On 21–23 June 2023, Yulia Tymoshenko took part in a seminar on the topic: "The collapse of authoritarianism" in Gdansk.

30 June 2023, in the Verkhovna Rada, the Batkivshchyna faction was the only parliamentary faction to vote against draft law No. 8401, which returns fines for business.

On 31 July 2023, Yulia Tymoshenko handed over medical aid to the Ternopil Regional Hospital for wounded Ukrainian soldiers.

On 1 August 2023, Yulia Tymoshenko registered in the parliament the draft law "On Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Improvement of the System of Treatment and Rehabilitation of Servicemen Who Suffered Trauma Related to the Defense of the Motherland During Combat".

On 25 August 2023, Yulia Tymoshenko handed over humanitarian aid to hospitals in Dnipropetrovsk region and Kramatorsk.

In September 2023, Tymoshenko headed the Temporary Special Commission (TSC) on the conditions of treatment of wounded soldiers.

At the end of September 2023, Yulia Tymoshenko brought humanitarian aid for doctors in Toretsk and Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region.

In October 2023, Tymoshenko proposed to the Verkhovna Rada a "road map" of urgent actions to improve the treatment of wounded soldiers.

On 17 October 2023, Yulia Tymoshenko gave a speech on the situation in Ukraine at a meeting of the European People's Party group in Strasbourg.

On 24 October 2023, Tymoshenko took part in the international conference "The Economist" in Athens.

On 22 November 2023, Yulia Tymoshenko and Vietnamese Ambassador to Ukraine Nguyen Hoan Thanh discussed the situation in Ukraine and the further development of relations between the two countries.

Political views

Tymoshenko has long advocated EU membership for Ukraine. She also supports the push for NATO membership, stating that Ukraine shouldn't be left out from "existing security systems".

Tymoshenko views Ukraine as a strong centralized state and does not approve of any separatist sentiments. She didn't support the referendum granting Russian the status of a second official language.

She opposes privatization of the energy sector, believing that Ukraine must ensure its energy security and independence. She also advocates oil and gas exploration of the Black Sea reserves. As nuclear power provides almost 50% of the electricity supply in Ukraine, Tymoshenko's government proposed establishing independent production of nuclear fuel in Ukraine. One of her initiatives aims to provide a 10-year tax break for companies developing alternative energy in Ukraine.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election Party First round result Second round result
Votes % Result Votes % Result
2019 Fatherland 2,532,452 13.40% Third N/A N/A N/A
2014 Fatherland 2,310,050 12.81% Second N/A N/A N/A
2010 Fatherland 6,159,810 25.05% Second 11,593,357 45.47% Lost

Family and personal life

Yulia Tymoshenko's mother, Lyudmila Mykolayivna Telehina (born Nelepova), was born on 11 August 1937 in Dnipropetrovsk. Her father, Volodymyr Abramovych Hrihyan, was born on 3 December 1937, also in Dnipropetrovsk. His Soviet passport gave his nationality as Latvian. His mother was Maria Yosypivna Hrihyan, born in 1909.

Ukrainian media have published speculation regarding the genealogy of Tymoshenko. Some of the hypotheses have no scientific evidence (for example, the hypothesis of the Armenian origin of the surname "Grigyan"); or could be designed to create negative publicity, although her Minister of Communications had in 2005 described her origins as half-Jewish, half-Armenian.

About her ethnicity, Yulia Tymoshenko herself has said: "On my father's side – everyone is Latvian for ten generations, and on my mother's side – everyone is Ukrainian for ten generations." Tymoshenko's parents were both born in Ukraine and are, therefore, Ukrainian as defined by the Law on Citizenship of Ukraine and by the Ukrainian Constitution.

Tymoshenko has said that, like most Soviet citizens, she spoke only Russian in her childhood (although she studied the Ukrainian language and literature at school for ten years, as did all schoolchildren in Soviet Ukraine). In January 2010, Tymoshenko stated that in Dnipropetrovsk she did not have to speak Ukrainian until she was 36 (i.e. before 1996). According to Tymoshenko, her braids are a family tradition.

In 1979, Yulia married businessman Oleksandr Tymoshenko (born 11 June 1960). The couple have a daughter – Yevhenia (Eugenia) Tymoshenko (born 20 February 1980) – a graduate of the London School of Economics (Bsc "Government", Msc "Russian and Post-Soviet Studies").

Personal life

Tymoshenko and her husband rent a house in Kyiv and own an apartment in Dnipro. Houses in Dnipro belong to their relatives. Tymoshenko has declared she never used and will never use or move into a state-owned summer house, in contrast with all former-Presidents and many high-ranking officials of Ukraine, who live in state-owned dachas in Koncha-Zaspa. According to Ukrainian media, Tymoshenko lives in an estate in Koncha-Zaspa, "rented from a friend". In March 2014, Tymoshenko opened the door of her house to public activists and guided them around.

In her spare time, before she was imprisoned, Tymoshenko ran on a treadmill for exercise and listened to the music of Andrea Bocelli, Sarah Brightman, Anna Netrebko and Alessandro Safina. Ukrainska Pravda and Лівий берег are her favourite news sources. Tymoshenko stated that she watched the Tunisian Revolution and Egyptian Revolution of 2011 "with joy and admiration".

On 23 August 2020, Tymoshenko tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalized in serious condition, with one of her spokespeople saying that "her condition is assessed as serious, her temperature is up to 39 (Celsius)." On 25 August, Tymoshenko was moved to the intensive care unit after her health worsened and prompted a transfer, a spokeswoman said, adding that she remains in "serious condition." On 2 September, Tymoshenko announced through her Facebook account that "Finally today, my crisis condition is behind. And although recovery is still a distant prospect, now there is an opportunity to return to normal life, step by step," adding "that fighting off a serious disease for almost two weeks alters the perception of reality". On 11 September Tymoshenko's press secretary Maryna Soroka announced that Tymoshenko had tested negative for COVID-19.

Cultural and political image

Tymoshenko is a voluble public performer. Her fiery rhetoric made her an icon of the Orange Revolution.

Tymoshenko's critics have suggested that, as an oligarch, she gained her fortune improperly. Her former business partner, former Ukrainian prime minister Pavlo Lazarenko, was convicted in the United States on charges of money laundering, corruption and fraud, the magnitude of which was in the billions of dollars. However, on 7 May 2004, Judge Martin Jenkins of the US District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the allegations of Tymoshenko's involvement in Lazarenko's murky business.

Her transition from oligarch to reformer was believed by many voters to be both genuine and effective. Discrepancies between her declared income and her luxurious designer outfits, have been pointed out in the Ukrainian tabloids.

When Tymoshenko joined the Yushchenko government, she did not speak Ukrainian. According to fellow Ukrainian politician Borys Tarasyuk, in 2002 Tymoshenko "only spoke Russian even when I spoke to her in Ukrainian", but since then she has made the transition to speaking only Ukrainian.

During her second stint as prime-minister her ratings in opinion polls fell. In early 2008, in opinion polls for the 2009 Ukrainian presidential election, she stood at 30% but by late April 2009 that had shrunk to 15% According to a poll carried out between 29 January and 5 February 2009 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, just over 43% of the Ukrainian voters believed Tymoshenko should leave her post, whereas just over 45% believed she should stay. According to an opinion poll carried out between 3 and 12 February 2009 by the "Sofia" Center for Social Studies, some 59.1% of those polled believed that the activities of (then) Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko were aimed at the defense of her own interests and that of her entourage, some 4.2% said her activities were aimed at the defense of interests of foreign states, and some 23.9% believed that Tymoshenko worked for the sake of national interests. 77.7% of the respondents were unsatisfied with the economic policy of the second Tymoshenko Government. Some 71.8% believed that this government was not able to lead the Ukrainian economy out of the 2008–09 Ukrainian financial crisis or even change the situation in Ukraine to better; 18.1% of respondents did think that the government could do that. Despite the neck-to-neck 2010 presidential race, many experts believed that Tymoshenko would win the vote due to her ability to "hike her popularity just before the voting day". JP Morgan Securities Inc. experts said that Tymoshenko's victory in presidential election would "bring stability in 2010, with budget consolidation, better terms of crediting and higher influx of capital. As a result, the economy will have better prospects of growing in the second half of 2010 and 2011".

Tymoshenko has been ranked three times by Forbes magazine among the most powerful women in the world. During her first term in 2005, she was ranked third (behind Condoleezza Rice and Wu Yi), in 2008 she was number 17 and in 2009 at number 47. According to the Ukrainian magazine Focus, Tymoshenko placed first in an annual ranking of the most influential women in Ukraine in 2006–2010 (five years). During the Orange Revolution, some Western media publications dubbed her the "Joan of Arc of the Revolution". In December 2011, Tymoshenko's party BYuT-Batkivschyna nominated her for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin has stated (in November 2009) he found it comfortable to work with his (then) Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko and also praised her for strengthening Ukrainian sovereignty and building stable ties with Moscow and called the second Tymoshenko Government "efficient and a force for stability". It has been suggested by Reuters that the Russian government, after seeing her opposition to Viktor Yushchenko, supported her since late 2008, although Putin denied it.

Former ally and President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko stated in November 2009, "I am sure that every week spent by Yulia Tymoshenko in the post of prime minister leads the country to a catastrophe. Because of Yulia Tymoshenko, it is a crisis, a crisis in everything". Yushchenko has repeatedly accused his former ally turned rival Tymoshenko of acting in the interests of Russia, although she firmly denied the allegations. On 31 May 2010, Yushchenko stated that Tymoshenko was his "worst mistake", "The most serious mistake was to give the power to her twice". Expert in Ukrainian politics Dr. Taras Kuzio believes that he has always prioritized personal revenge against Tymoshenko over Ukraine's national interests. In her turn, Tymoshenko has blamed President Viktor Yushchenko for obstructing the government-proposed anti-crisis measures and efforts to form a broad coalition to battle the crisis. "The president is using flashy words today to deprive the nation, first of all its government, of the opportunity to counter the crisis, and to leave the nation without a government it logically needs" she said. "Viktor Yushchenko has no right to any criticism. He is the incumbent president. He only has the right to work and to serve Ukraine. He will have the right to criticize when he joins the opposition. Now he must work and answer for his moves".

Former Ukrainian Minister of Finance of Ukraine Viktor Pynzenyk has called Tymoshenko's decisions "normally guided by 'adventurous populism'", which she saw as a tool to "consolidate power in her own hands" and believed Tymoshenko should have "taken advantage of the opportunity presented by the 2008–2009 Ukrainian financial crisis to reform".

Party of Regions Deputy Head Borys Kolesnykov stated on 11 February 2010, "Tymoshenko was the most effective politician during the entire period of Ukraine's recent history". Former European High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana has called Tymoshenko "a patriot regardless of the position in which you have found yourself". President Viktor Yanukovych stated about Tymoshenko on 13 May 2010, "She likes to create a sensation. We have grown used to this extravagant woman".

Vitaly Chepinoha has closely collaborated with Tymoshenko during various elections for more than a decade.

In some newspapers and television programs, Tymoshenko has been referred to as Lady Yu (Ледi Ю, Леди Ю).

Awards

  • Order of Saint Varvara, Great Martyr from Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate (1998)
  • Third-most powerful woman in the world, rating by Forbes magazine (July 2005)
  • "Person of the year in Central and Eastern Europe" award at International Economic Forum in Krynica-Zdrój, Poland (September 2005)
  • "Prix de la fondation Crans Montana" award for efficient governance and anti-corruption campaign at the annual session of the Crans Montana Forum (December 2005)
  • "For Political Courage" by French magazine "Politique internationale"; it was the first award given to a Ukrainian nominee over the last 25 years of the magazine's history (March 2007)
  • Award by American NGO Conservative Political Action Conference for contribution to democracy development. (March 2007)
  • "Shakhtarska Slava" award on Coalminer Day in Luhansk (2008)
  • The Order of the Holy Sepulchre award from the Jerusalem Orthodox Church, given to Tymoshenko by Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem (October 2008)
  • The Saint Andrew the First-Called Order of II degree (the highest church award of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate) from Apostolic Patriarch of Ukraine Philaret (2011)
  • The Pope Boniface VIII International Award (October 2012). (The first person to receive the award was Pope John Paul II.)
  • Manuel Carrasco Formiguera medal for her contribution to the defense of democracy and freedom and the struggle for the restoration of the rule of law in Ukraine, awarded by the Democratic Union of Catalonia party (July 2013).
  • On 18 October 2014, in Khmelnytskyi, journalists presented Yulia Tymoshenko with the Yakov Halchevsky Prize "For significant contribution to the development of democracy and asceticism in state-building in Ukraine." The Batkivshchyna leader was awarded this prize in 2011. The diploma was presented to Yulia Tymoshenko in the Pechersk court, and the award was presented to Yakov Galchevsky's book "Against the Red Occupiers" by journalists in 2014.
  • In March 2023, Yulia Tymoshenko received the Bush-Thatcher Award for Freedom and Democracy.

Tymoshenko's positions in national ratings

In 2004 Korrespondent magazine named Yulia Tymoshenko "Revolutionary of the Year".

In 2006 Korrespondent magazine ranked Tymoshenko as its 2005 "Personality of the Year", naming her in the TOP 100 most influential politicians of Ukraine, 2nd place (Women with nimbus), Person of the year.

2007 Yulia Tymoshenko, Focus magazine, the most influential women of Ukraine, 1st place. Yulia Tymoshenko, Korrespondent magazine, TOP 100 the most influential politics of Ukraine, 4th place (Woman-brand), Person of the year. Yulia Tymoshenko, Focus magazine, 200 the most influential Ukrainians, 2nd place.

2009 Yulia Tymoshenko, Korrespondent magazine, TOP 100 the most influential Ukrainians, 1st place (Dream women). Yulia Tymoshenko, Focus magazine, the most influential women of Ukraine, 1st place. Yulia Tymoshenko, Focus magazine, TOP 200 the most influential politicians of Ukraine, 1st place.

Between 2007 and 2013 in Ukraine, Tymoshenko was the most popular politician on the Internet, in blogs and social networks. As of 2010 Yulia Tymoshenko was the most popular foreign politician in the Russian media.

In 2012 the national rating (28 December 2012) by the Razumkov Center and the "Foundation for Democratic Initiatives [uk]" recognised Yulia Tymoshenko as the best prime minister of Ukraine – 19.5%, compared with Viktor Yanukovych – 11.4%, Mykola Azarov – 8.6%, Leonid Kuchma – 5.6%, Viktor Yushchenko – 3.9%, Pavel Lazarenko – 2.2%.

According to the sociological group "Rating" Yulia Tymoshenko was ranked as third most trusted politician in early April 2021, behind President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then-Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov.

Documentaries about Tymoshenko

  • 2009 — «Julia» – American film studio «Coppola Productions».
  • 2011 — documentary (25 minutes) shown to delegates to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, 8 October 2011.

Books about Tymoshenko

  • 2007 — «Julia,Yulechka» – Antonina Nikolaevna Ulyakhina (Dnipropetrovsk)
  • 2007 — «Julia, Julia Vladimirovna» Antonina Nikolaevna Ulyakhina (Dnipropetrovsk)

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Yulia Timoshenko para niños

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