During 1998-1999 and 2001-2003, Markarova worked as an economic policy advisor and a manager for external and corporate communications at the US direct investment fund Western NIS Enterprise Fund. In 2000 Markarova interned in the US at the World Bank at the group in charge for banking and financial markets in Europe and Middle Asia. She later became the Head of Board (President) of ITT-Invest company, and later the head of board of the Investment Group ITT.[7]
In 2015, Markarova initiated the creation of E-data (e-data.gov.ua), the largest open data portal in the public finance sector, which now includes modules spending.gov.ua, openbudget.gov.ua and proifi.gov.ua.
In addition to her duties as First Deputy Minister of Finance, she was also appointed the Commissioner for Investment on 8 August 2016, a position she held until her dismissal from the role on 10 January 2019.[11] During that time, she managed the creation and operation of the UkraineInvest Investment Attraction and Support Office[12] and initiated the creation of the Ukrainian Startup Fund.
Immediately after her appointment, Markarova said that her main priorities for the new position were expanding "cooperation with the Joseph Biden administration and political dialogue based on their broad bipartisan support"[18] and "maximum assistance to the development of Ukrainian companies in the United States and attracting American companies to Ukraine".[18]
On July 5, 2023, she was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Antigua and Barbuda by the President of Ukraine.[19]
On September 25, 2024, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, demanded that Ukraine remove Marakova as Ambassador to the United States after Zelenskyy visited an ammunition plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and appeared with several notable Democrats. In a letter from Johnson to Zelenskyy calling for her firing, Johnson claimed that the visit represented election interference in favor of the Democratic Party.[20]
Awards
In 2018, Markarova received the Open Data Leader Award.[21]
^Markarova, Oksana (January 9, 2024). "#Параджанов100". Facebook (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Мій тато Сергій, українець вірменського походження називав себе «вірменським сином українського народу». [My dad Sergiy, a Ukrainian of Armenian origin called himself "the Armenian son of the Ukrainian people".]
^"Oksana Markarova steps down as the Government's Commissioner on Investments" (Press release). Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. 2019-01-10. Archived from the original on May 8, 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-01. Today, the Cabinet of Ministers has released Oksana Markarova from her duties as the Government's Commissioner on Investments that she has been executing since August 8, 2016.