Her political career began after the 1994 parliamentary election when she was elected to the Verkovna Rada out of the Zaporizhia Oblast. In 1995, president Leonid Kuchma appointed Kuzhel to the National Audit Committee, where she served until her term expired in 1998. Kuzhel did not win re-election in 1998, but was appointed to the State Committee of Ukraine on Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship by Kuchma, a position she served in until 2003. She later held the same position from 2009 to 2010. In 2004, she campaigned for Victor Yanukovych's presidential run, and served as an advisor in the National Bank of Ukraine. Kuzhel was appointed as Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Construction of Ukraine in 2007, but resigned later that year after Yulia Tymoshenko became prime minister, succeeding Yanukovych.