Maria Yegorovna Gaidar is a Russian and Ukrainian state and public figure and politician. She has been Deputy of the Odessa regional council since 30 May 2015, and external adviser to the President of Ukraine since 28 March 2017 to 17 May 2019. In the past, Advisor to the Chairman of the Odessa regional state administration in social protection and health, then the Deputy head of administration of Odessa region on social issues. The founder of the Fund of social support of population, "Social demand" on 16 July 2015a – head of the Fund,. The Deputy Prime Minister of the Kirov region of Russia.
Gaidar was one of the leaders of The Other Russia organization and Union of Right Forces party. She has been a fierce critic of Putin's government and has been briefly detained for involvement in peaceful dissenters' marches and for placing a propaganda poster under a bridge using mountaineering gear. Commenting on her arrests, she said that "Politics is becoming more dangerous. I think this is a message people want to put across – if you come to such an event, then you are risking your life". During the 2008 Russian presidential election, Gaidar produced numerous video materials in which Vladimir Putin was depicted as the anti-Christ leading the world to a nuclear apocalypse. In February 2009, Gaidar became an advisor to the new governor of Kirov Oblast, Nikita Belykh, and on 23 July she was confirmed as a deputy governor in Kirov Oblast. She had previously stated that Nikita Belykh had "sold his soul to the devil" when he accepted the post as governor from president Dmitry Medvedev. In June 2011, Gaidar announced that she would resign as adviser due to her admission to Harvard University. In December 2012, she became an adviser to Moscow Vice-Major for Social Problems. In November 2013, she left the Government of Moscow to work for the charity Sotsialny Zapros created by her. In 2015, she threatened to renounce her Russian citizenship, planning to become an Israeli citizen under the Law of Return and to move to Israel. However, she subsequently said that she wished to retain her Russian citizenship, and to keep three citizenships – Russian, Ukrainian and Israeli.
In Ukraine
On 17 July 2015, Gaidar accepted an offer from Mikheil Saakashvili and became a vice-governor of Odessa Oblast in Ukraine. Her practical work has been as a fixer combating fraud and ensuring that vital social functions run smoothly. She received Ukrainian citizenship on 4 August 2015. This she described in September 2015 as "It didn't feel good at all....But for me to be here, now, and to be here completely, it's important." A few days after her appointment Gaidar stated she wants to retain her Russian citizenship, adding "In the future I hope that Russia will be a democratic country and it will be possible to go back and work there." Ukrainian law prohibits dual citizenship and only Ukrainian citizens can serve as appointed public officials. Gaidar has indicated she would be willing to serve on Saakashvili's team as an adviser or volunteer. The Russian establishment criticized Gaidar's decision; controversial Russian politician Vitaly Milonov requested an investigation of Maria Gaidar for high treason, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, proposed forbidding Gaidar from returning to Russia, while Russia's Commissioner for Human RightsElla Pamfilova announced that the Russian government would freeze grants to Gaidar's charity Sotsialny Zapros. Sotsialny Zapros itself stated that Gaidar had already stepped down as the organization's head the previous week and that the NGO had voluntarily and formally already refused all government grants. In the October 2015 Odessa regional election Gaidar was elected into the Odessa Oblast parliament for Petro Poroshenko Bloc. Gaidar resigned as deputy governor after a new law barring a regional lawmaker being simultaneously a civil servant took effect on 1 May 2016. Gaidar resigned her seat in Odessa Oblast's legislature on 10 June 2018, the assembly unannounced on June 12 that it had relieved Gaidar of her duties as a lawmaker at her request. On 5 April 2017 Gaidar was appointed an adviser of Ukrainian PresidentPetro Poroshenko.
