Background
Vasyl Tsushko was born in the small village of Nadrichne, Odessa Oblast in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (now Ukraine). He is of mixed Ukrainian-Moldovan ancestry and is fluent in Romanian language.
Vasyl Tsushko was born in the small village of Nadrichne, Odessa Oblast in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (now Ukraine). He is of mixed Ukrainian-Moldovan ancestry and is fluent in Romanian language.
In 1982, Tsushko finished the Izmail Vocational school of Mechanics and Electronics of Agriculture. After completing the army course, he went to study at the economic faculty at the Odessa Agriculture Institute, from which he graduated in 1988.
From July 2010 to August 2011 he was the party-leader of the Socialist Party of Ukraine. From 1983-1985, Tsushko served in the Soviet Army. He is interested in historical literature.
From 1998-1996, Tsushko was the head of two soviet farms.
From 1994-2002, Vasyl Tsushko served as a national deputy of the second, third, and fourth convocations of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament). In 2005, he graduated from the National University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the qualification of a lawyer
He was chosen as the head of the Odessa Oblast Government Administration on February 3, 2005. Tsushko was chosen as the Minister of Internal Affairs on December 1, 2006 after his predecessor Yuriy Lutsenko was dismissed by the parliament.
On July 24, 2010 Tsushko took over Socialist party leadership from Oleksandr Moroz but Moroz was re-elected as leader in August 2011.
Tsushko headed the Ukrainian Economy Ministry from March till December 2010 and was appointed as head of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine on December 14, 2010. He was dismisses from the Antimonopoly Committee by the Verkhovna Rada on 26 March 2014. In the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election Tsushko received 0.05% of the vote.
On May 26, 2007, Tsushko suffered from a heart attack and was later hospitalized under critical condition.
According to some Internet media, he suffered from an overdose of methylxanthine. After worsening health, he was later flown to a hospital in Germany.
Tsushko"s friend, Tetyana Montyan, stated that his heart attack was a result of poisoning. The Interfax news agency reports that Vasyl Tsushko"s condition deteriorated while in the medical clinic in Germany.
On September 30, 2007, Vasyl Tsushko announced that he will resign as Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, due to the need of his health rehabilitation.
From May 1997, he was a member of the Socialist Party of Ukraine and the first Vice-president of the Committee of Bank and Financing of Ukraine.