Yevhen Marchuk

Yevhen Marchuk Євген Кирилович Марчук
Yevhen Marchuk in August 2004
Minister of Defence of Ukraine
In office 25 June 2003 – 23 September 2004
Prime Minister	Viktor Yanukovych
Preceded by	Volodymyr Shkidchenko
Succeeded by	Oleksandr Kuzmuk
2nd Secretary of National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine
In office 10 November 1999 – 25 June 2003
President	Leonid Kuchma
Preceded by	Volodymyr Horbulin
Succeeded by	Volodymyr Radchenko
4th Prime Minister of Ukraine
In office 6 March 1995 – 27 May 1996 (until 8 June 1995 as acting)
President	Leonid Kuchma
Preceded by	Vitaliy Masol
Succeeded by	Pavlo Lazarenko
First Vice-Premier (on State Security and Defence)
In office 1 July 1994 – 6 March 1995 (until 31 October 1994 as Vice Premier)
Prime Minister	Vitaliy Masol
Preceded by	Yukhym Zvyahilsky
Succeeded by	Viktor Pynzenyk
1st Chief of Security Service of Ukraine
In office 6 November 1991 – 12 July 1994
President	Leonid Kravchuk
Preceded by	Mykola Holushko (as acting)
Succeeded by	Valeriy Malikov
State Minister of Defense, State Security, and Emergencies
In office 5 June 1991 – 6 November 1991
Prime Minister	Vitold Fokin
Personal details
Born	(1941-01-28) 28 January 1941 (age 76)
Nationality	Ukrainian
Other political affiliations	Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) (1995–2000)
Spouse(s)	Larysa Ivshyna
Children	Taras, Vadym
Alma mater	Kirovohrad Pedagogical Institute

(Gen. Ret.) Yevhen Kyrylovych Marchuk (Ukrainian: Євген Кирилович Марчук), born on January 28, 1941, is a Ukrainian statesman and politician. During his career, Marchuk was prime minister of Ukraine, presidential candidate, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, and Defense Minister of Ukraine. Marchuk is affiliated with the Ukrainian Den newspaper, edited by his wife. He has been a general in the Army of Ukraine since March 23, 1994.

Yevhen Marchuk was born soon before World War II into a peasant family in Central Ukraine. In 1963, upon graduation from the Kirovohrad Pedagogical Institute, Marchuk was recruited by the KGB and steadily rose through the ranks of that organization. As an operative officer he served first in Kirovohrad Oblast, then in the republican KGB branch in Kiev as an intelligence and secret service officer, for a total of 31 years of service. Marchuk has admitted specializing in secret police functions. However, he claims to have been a humane lawful agent, secretly protecting some Ukrainian dissidents from harsh persecution.

In the early 1990s, Marchuk was one of the first high-level KGB officers who appeared to be loyal to the newly established Ukrainian independence and was one of the reformers of the Ukrainian Secret Service (later SBU) serving as the first Chief of SBU. At first he was appointed the Ukrainian SSR Minister of National Security and Defence. That position held no actual power since local KGB, militsiya, and the army were still subordinated to Moscow until 1991. The Soviet Union then collapsed, ending Marchuk’s service to the KGB, and he was able to participate fully in the Ukrainian independent government. He headed the SBU until 1994.