Ville Skinnari (born 21 February 1974) is a Finnish politician of the Social Democratic Party who has been serving as Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade in the cabinet of Prime Minister Antti Rinne and then in the cabinet of Prime Minister Sanna Marin from 2019 to 2023.

Ville Skinnari
Skinnari in 2019
Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade
In office
6 June 2019 – 20 June 2023
Prime MinisterAntti Rinne
Sanna Marin
Preceded byAnne-Mari Virolainen
Succeeded byVille Tavio
Personal details
Born (1974-02-21) 21 February 1974 (age 50)
Lahti, Päijänne Tavastia, Finland
Political partySocial Democratic Party

Early career edit

Skinnari is a former professional ice hockey player who played in the Finnish Elite League for the club Reipas Lahti, in the Netherlands for the club Dordrecht Lions, and for the Coventry club Solihull Blaze in the British National League.[1]

From 1995 until 1999, Skinnari worked as a freelance journalist in Japan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Political career edit

Skinnari was elected to the Finnish Parliament for the Social Democratic Party in 2015, from the constituency of Häme (Tavastia).[2] In 2019 he was re-elected to the parliament for the term 2019–2023.[3]

Skinnari was appointed Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade in the cabinet of Prime Minister Antti Rinne in 2019.[2][4] After the collapse of the cabinet in December 2019, Skinnari continued in the same position in the following Marin Cabinet.[5]

Other activities edit

International organizations edit

  • World Bank, Ex-Officio Alternate Member of the Board of Governors (since 2019)[6]
  • OECD/UNDP Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB), Member of the Governing Board (since 2019)[7]

Non-profit organizations edit

  • Finnish Federation for Recreational Fishing, Chair (2017–2019)
  • Hockey Unlimited, Member of the Board (2014–2019)
  • Lahti Energia Oy, Vice-Chair of the Board (2013–2017)

References edit

  1. ^ "Ville Skinnari". eurohockey.com. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Ville Skinnari". www.eduskunta.fi. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Parliamentary Elections 2019". tulospalvelu.vaalit.fi. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Ville Skinnari. Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade". valtioneuvosto.fi. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Tässä ovat Marinin hallituksen ministerit – joukko äänikuningattaria, pikapaluun tekijä, maailman nuorin pääministeri" (in Finnish). Yle. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  6. ^ Board of Governors World Bank.
  7. ^ Governing Board OECD/UNDP Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB).

External links edit