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Myron Wasylyk, 48 #13 Most Influential

It seems Myron Wasylyk’s career has come full circle. He started his career working for former U.S. President George H.W. Bush’s successful 1988 presidential election campaign.

He applied those skills in former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko’s successful run in 2004. But Wasylyk couldn’t work his public relations magic to get Yushchenko re-elected in 2010.

The Clevelander has been The PBN Company’s top man in Kyiv since 1998, when he set up an office for the public relations firm headquartered in Washington D.C. that has extensive interests in Ukraine.

Today he’s senior vice president and managing director.

Raised in a typical Ukrainian diaspora household speaking Ukrainian, he graduated from Kent State University in Ohio in 1984. His entry to Ukraine came in the cold winter months of 1992, when he helped establish the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv as a State Department employee putting his Ukrainian-language skills to use.

After the three-month stint, Wasylyk returned to Kyiv in March 1993, this time as executive secretary in a George Soros-sponsored project that advised Ukraine’s parliament. Economic and legal reform, national security and foreign policy were major advisory areas. Wasylyk coordinated all the project’s operations.

“The first time I met [ex-Ukrainian President Leonid] Kuchma was when he just resigned from the prime minister position. … He is not the type of guy you can chat with … very nice guy, but not open.”

– Myron Wasylyk.

“It was a great job. I got to meet lots of interesting people. The first time I met [ex-Ukrainian President Leonid] Kuchma was when he just resigned from the prime minister position. … He was sitting in the Verkhovna Rada in the gallery. I went up to him and introduced myself and we were chatting. But he is not the type of guy you can chat with … very nice guy, but not open,” he said in an earlier Kyiv Post article.

In 1995, Wasylyk started working for mass privatization programs sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development and worked with various Ukrainian state institutions, including the State Property Fund.

Shortly after that The PBN Company – specializing in public relations, communications and lobbying – took over the programs’ communications duties. Wasylyk went to work for them in 1997 for the Ukraine Market Reform Education Program.

Wasylyk oversees a staff of 20 professionals and numerous special consultants working in Ukraine, Moldova and the Caucasus region. He manages client services, strategic planning, government relations and works extensively with political parties, and their leaders.

He also has been active in civil society, serving on the board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine for 10 years, the supervisory board of the Eurasia Foundation and International Center for Policy Studies.

In all this, Wasylyk has made a mark on Ukraine and continues to do so.