Leonid Kozhara

Leonid Olexandrowytsch Koschara (Ukrainian Леонід Олександрович Кожара; born January 14, 1963 in Poltava, Ukrainian SSR ) is a Ukrainian diplomat and politician. December 24, 2012 to February 23, 2014 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Professional career

Koschara studied international law at the Taras Shevchenko University in Kiev. From 1985 to 1990, he studied international relations at the School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

After Koschara 1992-1994 initially worked in the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, he was from 1994 to 1997 secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in the U.S., then he held the position of Deputy Head of the Department of Foreign Relations at the presidential administration. From 2002 to 2004 Koschara was Ukrainian Ambassador to Sweden. After his return from Sweden, he took again his previous function in the presidential administration.

Since 2006 Koschara deputy of the Verkhovna Rada and was a member of the foreign affairs committee of the Parliament. Since March 2010, he was a foreign policy advisor to President Viktor Yanukovych. When the formation of the Ukrainian government after the parliamentary elections in 2012 Koschara was appointed on 24 December 2012 as the new Foreign Minister of the country, he was in that office successor Kostyantyn Gryshchenko.

His tenure ended on 23 February 2014 parliamentary decision after President Yanukovych had previously been overthrown by the protests of Euromaidan.