Volodymyr Groysman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Volodymyr Groysman
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| Володимир Гройсман | |
Groysman in 2019
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| 16th Prime Minister of Ukraine | |
| In office 14 April 2016 – 29 August 2019 |
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| President | Petro Poroshenko Volodymyr Zelenskyy |
| Deputy | Stepan Kubiv |
| Preceded by | Arseniy Yatsenyuk |
| Succeeded by | Oleksiy Honcharuk |
| Acting 25 July 2014 – 31 July 2014 |
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| President | Petro Poroshenko |
| Preceded by | Arseniy Yatsenyuk |
| Succeeded by | Arseniy Yatsenyuk |
| Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada | |
| In office 27 November 2014 – 14 April 2016 |
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| Preceded by | Oleksandr Turchynov |
| Succeeded by | Andriy Parubiy |
| Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Communal Living | |
| In office 27 February 2014 – 27 November 2014 |
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| Prime Minister | Arseniy Yatsenyuk |
| Preceded by | Hennadiy Temnyk |
| Succeeded by | Hennadiy Zubko |
| Mayor of Vinnytsia | |
| In office 28 March 2006 – 27 February 2014 |
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| Preceded by | Oleksandr Dombrovskyi |
| Succeeded by | Serhiy Morhunov |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 January 1978 Vinnytsia, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Political party |
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| Alma mater | Interregional Academy of Personnel Management National Academy for Public Administration |
| Signature |  |
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Volodymyr Borysovych Groysman (Ukrainian: Володимир Борисович Гройсман; born on January 20, 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and businessman. He was the 16th Prime Minister of Ukraine from April 14, 2016, to August 29, 2019.
Before becoming Prime Minister, he was the mayor of Vinnytsia from 2006 to 2014. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Regional Development in 2014. Later, he became the 12th Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament) from 2014 to 2016.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Volodymyr Groysman was born in Vinnytsia, in what was then the Soviet Union, on January 20, 1978. Both of his parents were Jewish.
He finished Vinnytsia Secondary School No. 35 in 1994.
First Jobs
At just 14 years old, Groysman started working as a locksmith at a company called Shkolyar. His father, Boris Isaakovich Groysman, had started this company.
In August 1994, when he was 16, he became the commercial director of a small private business called OKO. A few months later, he started working as the commercial director for Yunist, another business owned by his father.
College Studies
In 1999, Groysman earned a law degree from the Vinnytsia Institute of Regional Economy and Management.
He later studied at the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management, getting another law degree in 2003. In 2010, he completed his studies at the National Academy for Public Administration under the President of Ukraine. There, he earned a master’s degree in Public Development Management, focusing on how regions and local areas are governed.
Political Career
Mayor of Vinnytsia
In 2002, at 24, Groysman was elected to the Vinnytsia City Council. This made him the youngest member of the council. In November 2005, he became the Secretary of the Vinnytsia City Council and then the acting mayor.
In March 2006, he won the election to become the mayor of Vinnytsia.
Re-election and City Improvements
In the 2010 election, Groysman was re-elected as mayor with a lot of support, winning 77.8% of the votes.
As mayor, he worked on many projects to improve the city. He started a program to save energy and improve street lighting. He also began fixing many main and smaller roads. In 2006, he helped organize street vendors so they no longer blocked sidewalks.
In December 2006, Vinnytsia started working with Zurich, Switzerland. From 2007 to 2011, Vinnytsia received 116 used trams from Zurich. These trams were repaired and even got free Wi-Fi. In 2012, he changed the city's transportation system, reducing the number of minibuses. The city also bought new buses and trolleybuses.
Vinnytsia also used its own money for city projects. They installed water and sewage systems, fixed roads in neighborhoods, and managed a landfill.
"Transparent Office" and Investments
During Groysman’s time as mayor, Vinnytsia created the first "Transparent Office" in 2008. This office made it easier for people to get government services. This system later became a model for other cities in Ukraine. The main bridge in Vinnytsia was also repaired.
Between 2007 and 2013, Groysman brought in over 736 million UAH in outside investments for Vinnytsia. For the first time, Vinnytsia was named the best regional city to live in Ukraine.
The city also opened new medical centers, rebuilt the riverside, and opened a fountain in Central Park.
Deputy Prime Minister
On February 27, 2014, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk asked Groysman to become the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine. He also became the Minister of Regional Development, Construction, and Communal Services.
His main job was to work on a big reform called decentralization. This reform started on April 1, 2014, and aimed to give more power to local governments.
He also helped coordinate efforts to investigate the MH17 plane crash in 2014. He worked to help people who had to leave their homes because of the conflict in Donbas and helped rebuild the region.
Speaker of Parliament
Groysman was elected to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) as a member of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc party. On November 27, 2014, he was chosen as the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada.
He started a plan to help parliament pass new laws more easily. He also supported a law to ban Russian television series in Ukraine in March 2015.
In July 2015, Groysman began working on reforms for the parliament itself. He signed an agreement with the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, to get advice on how to improve the Ukrainian parliament.
Prime Minister of Ukraine
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On April 14, 2016, Groysman became the Prime Minister of Ukraine. He received support from many members of parliament. At first, some journalists thought he was too close to President Petro Poroshenko. However, over time, he started to act more independently and even criticized Poroshenko.
As Prime Minister, his main goals were to continue the decentralization reform and improve healthcare, roads, and transportation.
First Actions and Economic Changes
Soon after he became Prime Minister, the government set a single price for gas for homes and businesses. This raised the cost for homes but aimed to make gas prices fair and help Ukraine produce its own gas.
In his first 100 days, the economy started to become more stable. A major focus was fixing roads, with plans to greatly increase funding for repairs. Groysman also met with many important international leaders.
Local budgets in Ukraine grew significantly during this time, helping communities decide how to spend money on things like roads, schools, and hospitals. By December 2016, local budgets had increased by 60% compared to the previous year.
Groysman believed that reforming the justice system was key to fighting corruption. In December 2016, his government approved a plan to reform healthcare and announced pay raises for healthcare workers.
The 2017 State Budget was approved by parliament. Groysman called it a "people-centered" budget. It included money for road repairs, support for farmers, and higher salaries for teachers and doctors. It also continued the decentralization efforts. Ukraine's economy grew by 4.7% in late 2016.
Reforms and Progress in 2017
In early 2017, many roads were repaired. The government also made it easier to select leaders for regional and local governments through fair competitions. They also started using electronic systems for government documents.
On April 1, 2017, the "Affordable Medicines" program began. This program allowed people to get some medications for free or at a low cost, especially for common illnesses like heart disease and asthma.
On April 14, 2017, after one year in office, Groysman listed his main goals. These included steady economic growth, more money for defense, energy independence, and reforms in healthcare, pensions, land, and education.
During his two years as Prime Minister, the average wage in Ukraine increased. The country also saw real economic growth.
In October 2017, parliament passed a pension reform law. This law increased pensions for millions of retired people. It also changed the rules for when people could retire, gradually requiring more years of work experience.
Economic Improvements in 2018
In 2018, the Groysman government helped improve Ukraine's economy. The country's economy grew by 3.2%. Prices and the national currency remained stable. For the first time since 2014, inflation stayed below 10%.
Local governments continued to receive more money, allowing them to decide how to spend it on their communities.
More people traveled by air due to easier travel to the EU and more affordable airlines. The number of flights to Ukraine by budget airlines greatly increased.
The government also focused on saving energy. A special fund was set up to help reduce energy use.
Road and infrastructure construction sped up. In 2018, 3,800 kilometers of roads were built, which was the most in 14 years.
New electronic auctions for leasing land were introduced. This made the process more open and fair, helping communities earn more money from their land.
A major healthcare reform began with the start of the National Health Service of Ukraine. This service pays hospitals for the medical care they provide. This led to higher salaries for doctors and nurses.
Starting September 1, 2018, Ukrainian families began receiving a "baby package" with 25 essential items for newborns. The government also passed a law to fight bullying in schools.
Changes in 2019
In January 2019, Groysman's government started to reorganize the tax and customs services to make them better.
From January 1, 2019, it became easier to get permits for using natural resources through electronic auctions.
Another government program, "Municipal Nanny," started in 2019. This program helped families pay for nannies.
On March 1, 2019, pensions were automatically increased for millions of retired people.
The Groysman government also made it much easier to do business in Ukraine by removing over 1,200 old rules.
In May 2019, Groysman announced he would run in the parliamentary elections with his own political party, "Ukrainian Strategy."
On May 20, 2019, the new President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, announced that he would dissolve parliament and asked the government to resign. Groysman then said he would resign. However, on May 30, parliament members voted against accepting his resignation.
Groysman's party did not get enough votes to enter parliament in the 2019 elections.
Disagreements with President Poroshenko
There were reports of disagreements between Groysman and President Poroshenko starting in 2016. These tensions became more public in 2018.
During the 2019 presidential elections, Groysman supported Poroshenko. However, before the parliamentary elections that same year, he decided not to lead Poroshenko's party and called it an "old party."
Groysman later said that he had "moral and value disagreements" with Poroshenko for all three years they worked together. He felt they had different ideas about how the economy should grow.
He also claimed that Poroshenko, despite public support, sometimes opposed the government's reforms. These included reforms in decentralization, privatization, healthcare, and business rules. Poroshenko, in turn, said that Groysman's decision to run with a separate party was a mistake, but he held no hard feelings.
Focus on Vinnytsia and Wartime Support
Since 2014, Groysman has focused on national politics but still helped with projects in Vinnytsia. He started the "Stop-Virus" fund to help fight the coronavirus.
Serhiy Morgunov, who took over as mayor of Vinnytsia after Groysman, has continued to lead the city. Under Morgunov, Vinnytsia has been recognized as the most comfortable city in Ukraine since 2015.
In the 2020 Ukrainian local elections, Groysman's party, "Ukrainian Strategy," won a large majority in the Vinnytsia City Council and the Vinnytsia Oblast Council. Morgunov was re-elected as mayor with a significant lead.
After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Groysman and his party paused their political activities. They focused on supporting the military. In 2022, Groysman led a humanitarian headquarters that helped Ukrainian soldiers and supported children of service members and people who had to leave their homes.
Accusations from Russia
In April 2024, Russia's Investigative Committee accused Groysman and other former Ukrainian officials of supporting actions related to the conflict in Donbas. In May, Russia announced that Groysman was wanted for "use of prohibited means and methods of warfare." In July, a court in Moscow issued an arrest warrant for him.
Groysman responded on his Facebook page, saying he looks forward to seeing Russian leaders face justice for their actions against Ukrainians. He stated, "So, see you in The Hague!"
During the full-scale war, Groysman also takes part in international meetings and conferences in Ukraine, like the Yalta European Strategy (YES) and the Kyiv Security Forum.
Awards and Recognition
- 2011:
, for helping develop cooperation between Poland and Ukraine. - 2012:
, for his important contributions to Ukraine's development and his professional achievements. - 2008:
, for his contributions to Ukraine's laws and his hard work.
Family Life
Volodymyr Groysman is married to Olena. They have two daughters and one son.
His father, Borys Isakovych Groysman, was a factory foreman and later a businessman. He also served as a deputy in the Vinnytsia City Council for three terms. His mother, Zhanna Izrailyvna, was a teacher.
See also
In Spanish: Volodímir Groisman para niños
- First Yatsenyuk government
- Second Government of Arseniy Yatsenyuk
- Government of Volodymyr Groysman
- List of mayors of Vinnytsia
