Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House of Commons today to welcome Mr. Viktor Yushchenko, former prime minister of Ukraine to Canada.
From 1993 to 1999, Mr. Yushchenko was governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, one of Europe's newest central banks, and he played a key role in establishing a solid banking system in the newly independent Ukraine. For his outstanding accomplishments, he received the Global Finance Award as one of the world's top central bankers.
During his 16 months as prime minister, he oversaw a series of key economic reforms that helped turn around Ukraine's struggling economy and improved conditions for foreign and domestic investment.
In January 2002 Mr. Yushchenko united a broad range of democratic parties and groups to create “Our Ukraine”, an electoral coalition that won numerous parliamentary elections that year.
While in Canada, Mr. Yushchenko will be reinforcing the good relations between Ukraine and Canada and will be meeting with members of Canada's million strong Ukrainian community.