Poroshenko was the People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th and 9th convocations (1998-2014, since 2019). He is a founder of the Solidarity Party of Ukraine and one of the co-founders of the Labor Solidarity Party of Ukraine, which later changed its name to the Party of Regions. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (2009-2010) in the second government of Yulia Tymoshenko and Minister of Trade (2012) in the government of Mykola Azarov. He was a member of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine (2007-2014).