Regions Party member Rybak elected as Verkhovna Rada Chairman
The Verkhovna Rada of the seventh convocation has elected a member of the Regions Party, Volodymyr Rybak, as chairman of the parliament.
An Interfax-Ukraine reporter said that 250 MPs voted for the appointed of Rybak at the sitting on Thursday. In particular, Rybak received 207 votes from the Regions Party faction, 32 from the Communist Party faction, 11 from the independent parliamentarians, while the rest of parliamentarians did not vote for him.
Rybak was born in Donetsk on October 3, 1964. He graduated from the economy department of Donetsk State University. Rybak is a co-organizer and first chairman of the Regions Party (1997-2001).
He also chaired Donets City Council, executive committee, and worked as Donetsk mayor in 1993-2002.
Rybak was a member of the Verkhovna Rada of the fourth, fifth, and sixth convocations (since 2002).
He also held the positions of first vice premier of Ukraine and construction, architecture and housing and utility minister of Ukraine (August 4, 2006 – March 21, 2007), and vice premier of Ukraine on March 21, 2007 through December 18, 2007.