Aivaras Abromavičius
Aivaras Abromavičius | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 21, 1976 Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Occupation(s) | Investor, politician |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Known for | Minister of Economy and Trade of Ukraine (2014–2016), Director General of Ukroboronprom (2019–2020) |
Aivaras Abromavičius (, born on 21 January 1976) is an investor and politician originally from Lithuania. He held the position of Ukraine's Minister of Economy and Trade from December 2014 until his departure in February 2016, and was not retained in the subsequent Groysman Cabinet established in April 2016. From August 2019 until October 2020, Abromavičius served as the Director General of Ukroboronprom, Ukraine’s largest defense industry corporation. Additionally, he is the principal shareholder of Agro Region, a prominent Ukrainian agricultural enterprise.
Biography
Abromavičius was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, and has resided in several countries including Estonia, Sweden, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in international business from Concordia International University Estonia and Concordia University Wisconsin. His professional journey began in finance in 1996 at Hansabank (currently Swedbank). Between 2002 and 2014, he co-owned and contributed to the growth of East Capital, an investment firm based in Stockholm with a focus on Eastern European markets.
In 2008, he relocated to Kyiv with his family. Following Ukraine’s 2014 revolution, President Petro Poroshenko granted him Ukrainian citizenship so he could assume the role of Minister of Economic Development and Trade within the Second Yatsenyuk Government. Abromavičius is fluent in Ukrainian, Lithuanian, English, and Russian.
Throughout his ministerial tenure, he assembled a team dedicated to reform and introduced the Electronic Public Procurement System Prozorro, which received international acclaim and generated savings amounting to billions of hryvnias. He spearheaded significant reforms of State Owned Enterprises by implementing a novel CEO appointment procedure and played a key role in establishing Ukraine’s first genuinely independent supervisory board at Naftogaz. Furthermore, he supported the creation of the Better Regulation Delivery Office with financial backing from the European Union to enhance the country’s business environment.
Abromavičius resigned in February 2016 due to conflicts with Ihor Kononenko from the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko faction, who reportedly attempted to place deputies loyal to his interests. He openly criticized political interference that obstructed reforms as well as widespread corruption. His decision to step down was met with regret by nine Western ambassadors who acknowledged his contributions to reform efforts.
In 2019, he returned to Ukrainian politics by organizing meetings for presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky. Subsequently, Zelensky appointed him to Ukroboronprom’s Supervisory Board in June 2019 and later as Director General in August 2019. Abromavičius voluntarily resigned from this position in October 2020.
Presently, he chairs Agro Region and the Ukrainian Corporate Governance Academy, leads PN Project based in Riga, and is a co-founder of Goindex, a pension fund management company headquartered in Lithuania.
He promotes economic strategies centered on austerity through substantial expenditure reductions combined with deregulation and privatization initiatives.
External links
- Chatham House
- Official page on Twitter