Yuliya Tymoshenko was born in 1960 in the city of Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine). She received university education as an economist-cyberneticist and earned a candidate of economic science degree. She authored more than 50 research works.
In 1997 under her leadership Ukraine’s major energy provider, the United Energy Systems of Ukraine, succeeded in solving the most complicated national problem, which neither the President nor the Cabinet of Ministers could tackle: in 1995 -1996 and early 1997, Ukraine’s several billion debt to Russia for natural gas was cleared; Ukraine’s international business ties in machine building, pipe industry and housing construction were renewed; Ukrainian industrial import to Russia almost doubled.
Being the head of the Parliament Budget Committee, Yuliya Tymoshenko initiated the budget reform. As the vice prime minister for fuel and energy sector at the Cabinet of Ministers she was striving to bring the industry out of collapse and managed to establish conditions favorable for its economic growth.
In February 2001, Tymoshenko headed the united democratic opposition, which demanded the dismissal of President Leonid Kuchma suspected of a number of crimes, such as involvement in the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze, falsification of the presidential and parliamentary election results, power abuse, corruption, etc.
On February 13, Yuliya Tymoshenko was arrested on charges brought by the Prosecutor General’s office against her. General public regarded this fact as a savage punishment of the democratic movement.
In March, Kyiv's Pechersk District Court found charges brought against Tymoshenko groundless and cancelled the warrant on her arrest.
Currently, most influential political parties of Ukraine and more than half thousand of national and regional public organizations have joined their forces in one election block headed by the Batkivshchyna (Motherland) party leader Yuliya Tymoshenko.
For her outstanding accomplishments, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church awarded Tymoshenko with high church awards.