Olena Serhijivna Sotnyk (born 21 December 1982, Kyiv) is a Ukrainian lawyer and politician, former Member of the Parliament of Ukraine (VIII convocation) from Samopomich ("Self-Reliance") Party. She was the secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on European integration; Sotnyk served as a Head of the Sub-committee on Approximation of Ukrainian Legislation to the EU Law. Shed co-chaired the Inter-Parliamentary Relations Unit with Belgium. She was Chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights at the PACE, a member of the Bureau of Women's Parliamentarians in the Inter-Parliamentary Union and a vice-president of political group the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the PACE. Sotnyk was the first female to represent Ukraine in the Yale World Fellows Program. She was one of the most successful women of Ukraine in 2019 according to the "New Time" and "Legal Newspaper".
Education
• 2005 – graduated from the National Academy of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, having received a diploma in jurisprudence. In the same year she graduated from the Academy of Municipal Management, having received a diploma of "Manager-Economist" and diploma in "Local Self-Government".
• 2011–2012 – studied at the Ukrainian School of Political Studies (project of Council of Europe in Ukraine).
• 2012 – graduated from the National Pedagogical University named after Drahomanov, having received a diploma in psychology.
• 2013 – participant in the 7th "Responsible Leadership" Seminar with the support of the Aspen Ukraine Initiative Alumni Association.
• 2016 – participant of the seminar for top-management of Ukraine at the invitation of the Governments of the US, (Germany) and the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies.
• 2017 – participant in the Council of Europe workshop on the exchange of best practices in legislation between the Parliaments of Ukraine and Sweden in Stockholm; member of the Aspen program "Order Amid Chaos: Major Trends Shaping the Future Technologies, Business, Culture and Society"; graduated from the training program for global democratic leaders of the Stanford Center for Democracy, Development and Rule of Law (the Draper Hills Summer Fellows Program);
• 2018 – graduated from the Stanford Center for Democracy, Development and Rule of Law on the Leadership Academy for Development.
• 2019 – Yale World Fellows Program.
• 2023 – Master's Degree in Conflict, Security, and Development at King's College London, traveling between London and war-torn Ukraine.
Career
• 1999–2001 – freelance correspondent of the Ukrainian newspaper "Fakty i Kommentarii", the Department of Social Policy and Education.
• 2004 – began to work as the chief legal counsel at the company "Svema" in Shostka, Sumy region.
• 2005 – Head of legal department of the company PC JV"SD Ltd".
• 2006 – Executive Director of the Bar Association "Advocate Group Solodko & Partners".
• 31 May 2007 – passed the qualification exam in Kyiv City Qualification-Disciplinary Bar commission and obtained the certificate of attorney (No. 2945).
• Since 2008 – Partner of the Bar Association "Advocate Group Solodko & Partners".
• 2009 – licensed trustee in the issues of bankruptcy.
• Since 2014 – Member of the Parliament of Ukraine. Secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on European Integration. Head of the Sub-committee on Approximation of Ukrainian Legislation to the EU Law.
• 2015 – Member of the Parliamentary Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Vice-President of political group the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in PACE. Member of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, Sub-committee on External Relations, Sub-committee on Implementation of the Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. An Alternate Member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, the Sub-committee on Criminal Problems and the Fight against Terrorism, Sub-committee on relations with the OECD and the EBRD.
Member of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Association (the Parliamentary Association Committee between the European Union and Ukraine), which is a forum for the members of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the European Parliament to hold meetings and exchange views.
• 2017 – Chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights in the PACE.
• 2018 – Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights in the PACE. Elected member of the Bureau of Women's Parliamentarians in the Inter-Parliamentary Union.