Kira Rudyk

In 2005, in the third year of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kira started working in the IT field at Software MacKiev. Since 2007, she has tested software at TAIN Ukraine.[4] She worked as a manager of several IT projects, in particular American MiMedia (2010—2013) and TechTeamLabs (2013—2016).

Since 2016, she has been the chief operating officer of Ring Ukraine.[5] In 3 years, under her leadership, the company increased its staff in Ukraine from ten to a thousand employees with offices in three cities, and the company was considered the most innovative development office in Ukraine. In 2018, Ring was sold to Amazon for $1 billion, making it the second-largest asset purchase in Amazon's history.[6][7]

In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Kira Rudyk was elected as a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the IX convocation under the third number on the electoral list of the Holos. In Parliament, she became the first deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Digital Transformation.[8] She is a co-chairperson of the group on inter-parliamentary relations with Singapore.

As a member of parliament, she continues to support the IT industry and opposes tax increases for IT professionals.[9][10] In addition, she is a co-author of a number of draft laws[11] in the field of economy, social protection, animal protection. On December 12, 2019, Rudyk became the co-chair of the Humane Country Association, created on the initiative of the UAnimals to protect animals from cruelty.[12]

On March 11, 2020, the congress of the Holos party elected Kira as the head of the party. Before that, Sviatoslav Vakarchuk was the head of the party. In July 2020, Kira Rudyk announced the transition of the party to the opposition.[13] On September 4, 2020, Russia included Rudyk in the list of persons subject to special economic measures.[14] Under the leadership of Kira Rudyk, the party successfully took part in the 2020 Ukrainian local elections, securing the election of more than 300 of its representatives to local councils, including in Kyiv, Lviv, Rivne and 50 other cities and communities. More than 50% of deputies elected by Holos are women.

Under the leadership of Kira Rudyk, the Holos political party became the first of the parliamentary parties of Ukraine to receive full membership in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).[15]

On June 4, 2022, she was elected vice-president of the ALDE, for the first time in history from among countries that are not members of the EU. As the vice-president of ALDE, on the eve of the decision to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership, she made a working visit to Brussels, where she held political meetings in support of the historic decision with European parliamentarians.[16]

With the beginning of Russia's full-scale aggression on February 24, 2022, she takes an active part in forming sustainable international support for Ukraine. On the day of the Russian invasion, she was in the Verkhovna Rada, where she supported the introduction of martial law and the adoption of all bills necessary for defense.

From the first days of the war, in communication with European and American politicians and international media, she advocated for the introduction of a no-fly zone over Ukraine,[17] and also for quickly providing Ukraine with the necessary weapons. Advocates for negotiations between Ukraine and its partners with Russia exclusively from a position of strength.[18]

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon meeting Kira Rudyk in May 2022

In May 2022 she was in Scotland meeting the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon. She thanked her for the support of Scotland.[19]

In June 2022, she visited Lithuania and Sweden, had meetings with the Speaker of the Parliament of Lithuania Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius, Swedish and Lithuanian parliamentarians to strengthen support for Ukraine.[20] She was a participant in the 75th Liberal International Congress, where she spoke in a panel discussion on security and the new world order.[21]