Skip to content

Questions about Petro Poroshenko

Short answers, pulled from the story.

Who is Petro Poroshenko and what office did he hold in Ukraine?

Petro Poroshenko served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2010 and as Minister of Trade and Economic Development in 2012, and headed the Council of Ukraine's National Bank from 2007 to 2012.

How did Petro Poroshenko win the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election?

Poroshenko won the 25th of May 2014 presidential election in the first round, receiving 54.7% of the vote and avoiding a runoff entirely. Pre-election polling from March 2014 had already placed him as the leading candidate, with one poll giving him a rating of over 40%.

Why is Petro Poroshenko called the Chocolate King?

Poroshenko earned the nickname "Chocolate King" through his ownership of Roshen, the largest confectionery manufacturing operation in Ukraine. He began supplying cocoa beans to the Soviet chocolate industry in 1991 and co-founded the company that created Roshen in the 1990s.

What did Petro Poroshenko accomplish during his presidency regarding the war in Donbas?

Poroshenko led Ukraine through the first phase of the Donbas war, signing the Minsk Agreements in September 2014 and February 2015 to freeze frontlines and reduce casualties. He also began rebuilding the Ukrainian military, which had been largely dismantled under his predecessor Viktor Yanukovych.

What is the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and how is Poroshenko connected to it?

The autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine was created in 2018 under Poroshenko's presidency by merging two Ukrainian churches and separating them from the Moscow Patriarchate. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople announced it would grant autocephaly on the 11th of October 2018, an act that triggered the Moscow-Constantinople schism when Moscow severed communion with Constantinople four days later.

Why did Petro Poroshenko lose the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election to Zelenskyy?

Poroshenko received 24.5% of second-round votes in 2019, losing to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Analysts cited his failure to end the war or stem corruption, scandals involving his associates, a hostile media campaign backed by oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi, and a campaign that focused narrowly on nationalist voters while neglecting economic and social concerns.