Yulia Tymoshenko

Yulia Tymoshenko

Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko (Ukrainian: Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, ), née Hryhian (Ukrainian: Григян), born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. Tymoshenko is the leader of the All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland"; which is the second biggest political party in Ukraine.

Tymoshenko has been a practising economist and academic. Prior to her political career, Yulia Tymoshenko was a successful but controversial businesswoman in the gas industry, becoming by some estimates one of the richest people in the country. Before becoming Ukraine's first female Prime Minister in 2005, Tymoshenko co-led the Orange Revolution. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2005. Tymoshenko was a candidate in the Ukrainian presidential elections of 2010, but lost this election to Viktor Yanukovych (Tymoshenko received 45.47% of the votes in the second and final round of this election).

Since May 2010 a number of criminal cases have been opened against Tymoshenko. On 11 October 2011, a Ukrainian court sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years in prison after she was found guilty of abuse of office when brokering the 2009 gas deal with Russia. The European Union and other international organizations sees the conviction as "justice being applied selectively under political motivation". The European Union has shelved the European Union Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with Ukraine over the issue.

Tymoshenko is currently being held in Kharkiv, where since May 2012 she is receiving treatment at a hospital after being diagnosed with a spinal disc herniation Tymoshenko has been on two hunger strikes since her imprisonment.