Deputy Collections: What Do Members of the Kharkiv City Council Value?

Davtyan and Arih have sable fur coats. The wealthiest Bondarenko keeps a VERTU as a souvenir. He doesn’t use the phone that costs 4 thousand euros because it doesn’t have Facebook. Kernes, Kutsenko, and Davtyan each have 11 wristwatches.

Deputies insist they aren’t in a race for quantity. Shchyrov, who collected gum wrappers as a child, is now a numismatist. The head of the Kholodnogirskyi District Council, Musiyev, showed the CHESNO movement his bell collection.

Under the rules for submitting an electronic declaration, it is necessary to list valuable assets whose value exceeds the threshold of 68 thousand UAH.

Truant and landlord of the city council Stanislav Kosinov declared only 1 painting, and says its fate was difficult:

“It was stolen from me once. Burglars broke into the house and took everything they saw. But thanks to the good work of law enforcement agencies, they returned it to me.”

Leader of the “Solidarity” faction Oleksandr Davtyan declared 40 icons, 182 paintings, 2 sable fur coats, furniture, jewelry, and collections of wine, cognac, and whiskey.

“All the paintings are in different places; they don’t fit in my home. I exhibited a collection of my paintings in a museum so people could come see them. I paid the museum, and the exhibition was free. I printed a catalog and gave it away to people,” Davtyan says.

CHESNO managed to visit Deputy Davtyan’s office: the office and all adjoining rooms look like a museum. But the deputy did not allow photographing.

Antique icons, paintings on all the walls—from young contemporary artists to well-known authors such as Makovskyi, Vyalov, Brodska, Loy, and others.

For the painting “Lovers of Nightingales,” the artist Makovskyi received the title of academician; the original hangs in the Tretyakov Gallery. Oleksandr Davtyan owns an artist’s copy of this painting—one of only three in the world.

The deputy allowed photographing only one painting; it was painted by Kharkiv artist Hanna Akishyna and is titled “Holiday.” It depicts Derzhprom as a symbol of Kharkiv.

I have always been interested in paintings and artists connected with our city. That is why I have many Kharkiv painters in my collection.

The deputy is much more passionate about his painting collection than his alcohol collection: I don’t really like strong drink. When there are events, I treat friends. To collect it, you have to drink it!

The deputy did not want to say which item is the most expensive in his alcohol collection.

The most popular valuable asset among Kharkiv deputies turned out to be wristwatches. Overall, every third deputy owns an expensive watch, and some own more than one.

Watches: deputies favor BREGUET, Ulysse Nardin, and Philippe Patek.

Each has 11 watches among the party colleagues and rich members of the Kharkiv city council—Oleksandr Davtyan and Serhiy Kutsenko. The mayor Hennadiy Kernes’s collection counts the same number. But deputies insist they do not plan to compete with the mayor: I don’t chase Kernes; I’m not an ambitious person, I have as much as I need. God willing—more will appear, comments “Solidarity” leader Deputy Davtyan.

Kutsenko comments: I never set a goal to surpass someone or compete with anyone, especially over watches. If I buy another pair, it won’t be because they are 12, but only if I like them. There are models I prefer and wear more often.

Why does Deputy Musiyev collect bells?

If some deputies collect watches or icons, the member of the “Revival” faction of the Kharkiv city council has his own original hobby. The head of the Kholodnogirskyi District Council, Maksym Musiyev, collects bells.

I’ve been collecting for a long time; I bought some myself, and some were given to me. The bells are not particularly valuable, but they are very diverse. When I return from a business trip I add a small piece to the collection. The point of collecting is the individual relationship to the history of how each item entered the collection. I started collecting about 10 years ago. The first bell was given to me by my godmother for my name day, Musiyev says.

Why does Bondarenko have a VERTU, and Sitienko a costly home theater?

One of the richest city council deputies, Andriy Bondarenko, declared a VERTU mobile phone, but admits he doesn’t use it because it doesn’t have Facebook: I don’t know the price of the phone or how much it costs; this phone is valuable to me as a gift—my beloved woman gave it to me a couple of years ago. It sits in the car; I use another phone because that one has Facebook.

Head of Kharkiv’s “Samopomich,” Taras Sitienko, has a home theater but uses it like a regular television: This is a regular home theater with a screen 42 diagonal. I bought it many years ago. I declared it because it’s an expensive brand. (Bang & Olufsen – ed.)

Deputy Shchyrov first collected gum wrappers.

Deputy from “Revival,” Oleksandr Shchyrov, has a collection of coins, books, and paintings. Collecting coins used to be a popular hobby, but in the city council he is the only numismatist. At least, that’s what the declarations indicate. Since kindergarten I collected keys, gum wrappers, and later—coins. Why I liked collecting coins, I can’t recall now, but probably I felt it was my personal capital that over time would become rare treasures. I never counted how many coins I have, but they are all very dear to me, as most date back to childhood. I couldn’t identify the year on all the coins; some are already 250 years old or more.

Deputy Shchyrov also owns a book collection, which is kept on shelves at home: My favorite book is “Kobzar” by Taras Shevchenko, because I received it from my second cousin grandmother, who was born in 1910, and the book was published long before her birth.

Two Kharkiv deputies from “Revival”—city council secretary Oleksandr Novak and Ihor Arih—declared weapons: a shotgun and a hunting carbine.

Unfortunately, we could not find out whom city council secretary Oleksandr Novak hunts, because upon hearing that the CHESNO public movement was calling, he hung up. We hope he will follow the example of his faction colleagues and understand that being open and accessible to citizens is not scary, and in his responsible position it is also necessary.

CHESNO public movement