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Andriy Vitaliyovych Shevchenko ( uk, Андрій Віталійович Шевченко) (born 10 June 1976) is the Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada since September 2015 till August 2021. He is also a prominent Ukrainian journalist and civil activist and a former member of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament.


Background

Shevchenko was born in the town of Hvizdets, near Kolomyia, in Ukraine (at that time - the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union), and spent his youth in Fastiv, near Kyiv. In 1999, he received his master's degree from the Institute of Journalism at Kyiv University; he also studied political science and economics at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.


Journalism

Shevchenko has worked as a multi-media journalist since 1994 for the
1+1 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
TV Channel, Novyi Kanal, Radio Voice of America and others. Under the administration of President
Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma ( uk, Леоні́д Дани́лович Ку́чма; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. Kuchma's presidency saw numerous corrup ...
, Shevchenko was one of the leaders of the journalists' movement against censorship. In 2002 he left Novyi Kanal under political pressure. Later in 2002 he established Kyiv Independent Media Union and was elected its first chairman. In 2003 Shevchenko introduced his idea of creating the Channel of Honest News (Канал чесних новин). The 5th Channel, a 24-hours-day news channel, was the only network not controlled by the government. It eventually played a key role during the Orange Revolution of 2004. Shevchenko was the editor-in-chief of the channel and a news presenter. In 2005, after the Orange Revolution, Shevchenko was appointed vice-president of the National Television Company of Ukraine, but left his position in six months after the government refused to transform the state broadcaster into a public broadcasting system. He is now president of the
Center for Public Media Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...
, an NGO promoting public broadcasting in Ukraine. In 2005 Shevchenko received ''The Press Freedom Award'' from
Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
(Austria, 2005). He also received a number of Ukrainian journalistic awards, including ''The Best News Presenter'', ''The Best News Program'', ''The Best Documentary'' ('Teletriumph', 2005).


Politics

Shevchenko successfully ran for the Ukrainian Parliament in 2006, 2007, and
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
with Yulia Tymoshenko's party 'Batkivshchyna'. In the elections of 2006 and 2007 he was ranked 5th in the party lists of Yulia Tymoshenko's Block, and in 2012 he was ranke
33rd in the party list of the United Opposition
In 2006 Shevchenko was elected the Ukrainian parliament's Free Speech Committee Chairman and became the youngest ever Committee chairman to serve in the Ukrainian Parliament. He was reelected the Free Speech Committee Chairman in 2010. After the election of 2012 Mr. Shevchenko was elected First Deputy Chairman of the Human Rights Committee. Shevchenko is the author of the Ukrainian Law on Access to Public Information, which was adopted in 2011 and is credited with strengthening civil freedoms and the free flow of information in the country. He is also one of the authors of the Law on Non-Governmental Organizations. Mr. Shevchenko was an active participant of Euromaydan - mass protests of 2013-14 that brought down the regime of Victor Yanukovich. In the
2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada took place on 26 October 2014. Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, had pressed for early parliamentary elections since his victory in the presidential election in May.constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
seats. In September 2015, Shevchenko was appointed
Ukrainian ambassador to Canada Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shevchenko, Andriy 1976 births Living people People from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Independent politicians of Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy alumni People of the Euromaidan 5 Kanal people Ukrainian journalists Ukrainian television journalists Ambassadors of Ukraine to Canada Fifth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Sixth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Seventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Yale University alumni