Woman on Top

Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko
Former Prime Minister
Ukraine

• Born in 1960 in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.
• Married Olexandr Tymoshenko in 1979. Gave birth to daughter Yevhenia in 1980.
• Obtained her degree in Economics in 1984 from the Dnepropetrovsk State University, after which she worked as an economics engineer in a Soviet machine-building plant.
• Opened a video rental chain in 1991 after perestroika.
• Became the Managing Director of the State-owned Ukranian Oil Company (UOC) in 1991, which was eventually privatised and became the United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU).
• Became President of UESU in 1995, during which she amassed a huge personal wealth and was nicknamed the "gas princess".
• Elected Member of Parliament in 1996, representing the Kirovograd Oblast.
• Became Deputy Prime Minister for fuel and energy issues in 1999 under then-Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko, a post she held until 2001.
• Arrested in February 2001 over forgery and smuggling charges during her presidency of UESU; the charges were eventually dismissed.
• Led protests against then-President Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yanukovich, eventually culminating in the Orange Revolution in 2005.
• Appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine by President Viktor Yushchenko on 24 January 2005.
• Dismissed as Prime Minister on 8 Septembr 2005 amid in-fighting and resignations among her ministers.
• Her Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYT)-- a coalition of three parties-- remains a formidable power in parliament, winning 31% of seats during the 2007 parliamentary elections.
• Probably the only Head of Government to be on the cover of a fashion magazine; her hair was recently featured on BBC.
• Has a personal website.