Ivari Padar

Ivari Padar (born 12 March 1965[2]) is an Estonian politician. He is a former Minister of Finance,[3] Minister of Agriculture and chairman of the Estonian Social Democratic Party.[2][4]

Ivari Padar
Member of the European Parliament for Estonia
In office 7 June 2009 – 6 April 2014
In office 6 November 2017 – 3 April 2019
Minister of Agriculture
In office 7 April 2014 – 9 April 2015
Prime Minister	Taavi Rõivas
Preceded by	Helir-Valdor Seeder
Succeeded by	Urmas Kruuse (rural affairs)
Minister of Finance
In office 5 April 2007 – 21 May 2009
Prime Minister	Andrus Ansip
Preceded by	Aivar Sõerd
Succeeded by	Jürgen Ligi
Minister of Agriculture
In office 25 March 1999 – 28 January 2002
Prime Minister	Mart Laar
Preceded by	Andres Varik
Succeeded by	Jaanus Marrandi
Personal details
Born	(1965-03-12) 12 March 1965 Navi, Estonia
Political party	Social Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Kristel Padar [1]
Children	2 (from a previous marriage)
Alma mater	University of Tartu

Padar was born in Navi, Võru Parish, Võru.[3] He was Deputy Mayor of Võru from 1993–94, Executive Chairman of the Võru Farmers Union from 1994–95, and Assistant to the Chancellor at the Finance Ministry from 1995–97.[3][2] He was Minister of Agriculture from 1999–2002,[3][2] Chairman of Võru City Council from 2002–05, and a member of the Riigikogu from 2003–07. In April 2007 he became Minister of Finance.[3] He led the Social Democratic Party from 2003 to 2009.[2]

Padar was a Member of the European Parliament for Estonia from 2009 until 2014 and from 2017 until 2019.[5] In parliament, he served on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (2009-2014) and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (2017-2019).

In addition to his political work, Padar is a member of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group.[6]