At its session held on June 4, the Verkhovna Rada appointed Olha Stefanishyna to the post of a Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. Appointment of Olha Stefanishyna as Deputy Prime Minister was supported by 255 People’s Deputies during the parliamentary voting procedure. Prior to her appointment to the Government, Olha Stefanishyna was a part of the team of legal advisers of the top-ranking law firm Ilyashev & Partners.
Introducing the candidacy of Olha Stefanishyna to the Deputies, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal referred to her as a “highly-trained professional” and mentioned that she previously headed the Government Office for Coordination on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.
“She is very knowledgeable on the subject and is aware where our country has stalled in European integration and how we can speed up this process,” – Shmyhal said.
According to him, Olha Stefanishyna will be tasked to resume the operation of the Government Office for Coordination on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and hold negotiations with the European partners on the revision of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
During her speech, Olha Stefanishyna stated that European and Euro-Atlantic integration remains among Ukraine’s top priorities. She said that during its negotiations with the EU and NATO Ukraine must bring into focus its status of “a fully-fledged player on the world stage” and not just an ordinary subject of the talks.
Olha Stefanishyna was born in 1985. She graduated from the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Faculty of International Law (Master of International Law) and Odessa National Economic University (Specialist in Banking and Finance).
In 2006-2007 Olha Stefanishyna practiced law as a private lawyer. After this, she headed the Department of Legal Support for European Integration in the State Department for Adaptation of Legislation during a three-year period. In 2010-2015 she worked at the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. During the period from 2016 till 2019 Olha Stefanishyna headed the Government Office for Coordination on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. Starting from 2019, she occupied a position of a legal adviser at Ilyashev & Partners Law Firm.
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