Prince Vasilii

Date of Birth: 09.03.1956

Place of Birth. Education. Born in the village of Ternovitsa in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. In 1975, he graduated from the Medical School in Ivano-Frankivsk, and in 1984 from the Medical Institute (Specialty: Internist). In 1996, he defended his candidate dissertation.

Career. After graduating from medical school, he worked at the city hospital of Ivano-Frankivsk as a paramedic in the emergency service. After graduating in 1984, he was sent to the Ternopil district hospital center in Butschatsch as part of a distribution.

In 1985, Vasilii Knyazevich was appointed chief physician of the tuberculosis sanatorium in Jablunow.

From 1987 to 1992 - chief physician of the Butschatscher district.

From 1992 to 1998 - head of the health department of the Ternopil regional administration.

From 2000 to 2002 - chief physician, general director of the Ternopil Municipal Special Medical Association 'Phthisiology'.

From 2002 to 2005 - chief physician of the central district clinic of the Desniansky district of Kyiv, head of the health administration of the Desnianska district administration.

Since April 2005 - head of the medical department and later deputy head of the state administration.

On December 18, 2007, shortly after the formation of the parliamentary coalition between the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defense Bloc (NUNS), he was elected Minister of Health of Ukraine in Yulia Tymoshenko's government. He replaced Yury Haydayev, who represented the party of Ukraine in the previous cabinet. He lost his position after the resignation of the government following Viktor Yanukovych's victory in the presidential elections.

Since 2011, he has been the chairman of the board of the All-Ukrainian non-profit organization

'Ukrainian League for the Promotion of Palliative and Hospice Care Development'.

From 2012 to 2013 - rector of the medical university of Kyiv of the Ukrainian National Medical Association.

Since September 2013, he has been the head of the Department of Public Health Management at the National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine.

Views and Evaluations. Formally, the ministerial post was received by Knyazevich from the NUNS quota. However, as Ukrayinska Pravda reported, his candidacy for the position of Minister of Health was personally proposed by President Victor Yushchenko. Officially, he was the deputy head of the state administration for affairs of Igor Tarasyuk regarding the work of medical facilities that serve the country's top officials. However, his main task may have been to lead a group of doctors monitoring Yushchenko's health after the poisoning during the 2004 presidential election campaign. Knyazevich revealed only after being appointed Minister of Health that he continued to lead a group of doctors caring for the president's health.

Knyazevich met Igor Tarasyuk much earlier during his appointment as head of the state administration. They worked together in the Ternopil Regional Administration. In 1996-1998, Tarasyuk was the head of the department for energy resources and energy savings and deputy head of the OGA.

Immediately after taking office, the new Minister of Health promised to bring Ukraine to European healthcare standards as quickly as possible, but 'without another revolution' on the way to the set goal. Among the top tasks defined by Knyazevich was to increase the average life expectancy of Ukrainians by three years within five years.

Awards. Honored Doctor of Ukraine.

Family. Married. Father of three children. He is the uncle of the Ukrainian deputy, former member of the Central Election Commission, Ruslan Knyazevich.

07.03.2022