“Balohovites,” a “Regional” and Deputies’ Relatives — the First Donors to “Servant of the People” in Zakarpattia

People’s Deputy from “Servant of the People” Mykola Tyshchenko is increasingly becoming associated with the Zakarpattia region entrusted to him. While the deputy used to regularly appear in Kyiv scandals — with the Velur restaurant that operated during quarantine, with the claim about a “festive” Chornobyl tragedy, or with his wife’s lavish birthday party during lockdown — now scandals and odd incidents follow him in Zakarpattia. Here a Kyiv–Uzhhorod flight was delayed because he wanted to shoot a social media video; here he inspected toilets at the local customs office; and here he forced the head of that same customs office to speak in two languages.

In short, the region where the deputy was chosen to head the local branch seems to suit Mykola Tyshchenko. However, recently things have not been very calm. At the end of October, regional council deputies voted for their own chair — Oleksii Petrov of “Servant of the People” — to resign. Tyshchenko called this an attempted coup and on his Facebook page hinted pointedly at a possible beneficiary of the process by asking, “Is there an external contractor in the border region arranging a ‘BalogaN’?”

And while the deputy continued recording videos for Facebook, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy apparently decided to answer Tyshchenko’s question — and appointed an acting head of the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration. That person was Petro Dobromilskyi.

Now a member of the regional council from “Servant of the People,” Dobromilskyi had earlier been a deputy from the Team of Andrii Baloga, the son of the well-known politician Viktor Baloga. The latter appears to have influence not only in the region but also over local “servants.” We found people close to the “Balohovites” in the local branch’s financial report.

First party sponsors

In the third quarter of last year, the party treasury of the Zakarpattia regional branch of “Servant of the People” was replenished in total by 1 428 878,20 hryvnias. The funds came from 10 individuals. Who are they?

Two payments totaling 349 800 were made by Maryana Melkumyan. The woman is the wife of current “Servant of the People” deputy and secretary of the Uzhhorod City Council, Arsen Melkumyan. According to mobile apps that show how a subscriber is saved in other users’ contacts, Melkumyan is saved as “Ihor Kryvosheyev’s person.” A person with that name is now a deputy from the presidential party. During the presidential campaign he was the official Ze-representative in the region.

200 thousand hryvnias in total were donated by Oleh Palinkash. A man with the same name became a deputy of the Tyachiv District Council from the political force, and we assume that this is the same person.

Vasyl Popp did not spare the branch 170 thousand. In the fourth convocation he was an assistant on a public basis to deputy Viktor Baloga. Plus, previously the wives of deputies Vasyl Petiovka, Ivan and Pavlo Baloga received income from Popp for the sale of corporate rights in companies.

Another 168 400 (in two payments) was transferred by Stanislav Hubal. He is the son of the “Servant of the People” deputy and secretary of the Khust City Council, Vasyl Hubal. From 2015 to 2020 Hubal Sr. was a deputy of the Zakarpattia Regional Council from Baloga’s “Yedynyi Tsentr” (Single Center). Earlier, Vasyl Hubal headed the regional state administration.

Vasyl Danylets remains a “dark horse” to us. The man replenished the branch’s party funds by 160 thousand. We could not find any “political connection”; the man is a sole proprietor (FOP) engaged in retail trade in non-specialized stores.

126 500 hryvnias were contributed by Artur Ivashko, who is now a deputy of the Vynohradiv City Council from “Servant of the People.”

Berehove City Council deputy Volodymyr Marhitych transferred 85 thousand. And in that same council his son received a mandate from the “Servants.”

A bit more — 80 thousand hryvnias — was deposited to the branch’s account by Volodymyr Zakurenyi. Previously he was an elected member of the Zakarpattia Regional Council from the Party of Regions (2010–2015 years).

Another 70 thousand hryvnias was transferred by Mariia Subotovska — the wife of Zakarpattia Regional Council deputy Volodymyr Subotovskyi.

And one more payment — for 18 thousand hryvnias — was made by the elected representative of the Onokiv United Territorial Community, Yevhen Leiba.

Sheltering the “Servants”

The Zakarpattia regional branch of “Servant of the People” was established on 17 July last year. From that day the party began renting 65 square meters on Pryslavna Embankment for party needs. That is according to the official report. In reality, supporters of Zelenskyy settled there a year earlier — during the presidential campaign, as indicated on the website.

The owner of the premises is Hanna Shymon from the Khust district. The woman is from the same village as the former first deputy prosecutor of Zakarpattia and now deputy mayor of Uzhhorod, Ivan Shymon (one can suppose they are relatives, but there is no proof). Use of the office, together with utilities, in the third quarter of last year cost the branch almost 90 thousand hryvnias. Monthly rent is 35 thousand hryvnias. Funds were paid to the account of sole proprietor Mykhailo Shymon.

The “Servants” reported about another office in Khust last year. This concerns 140,4 square meters on Dukhnovych Street. September rent with utilities, according to the report, cost 12,5 thousand hryvnias. The premises’ owner is the company “Partner,” whose founder is Maryna Petiovka — the wife of deputy Vasyl Petiovka. In the 9 convocation Petiovka entered the Verkhovna Rada as an independent candidate; he is now a member of the deputy group “Dovira.” Previously Vasyl Petiovka represented Viktor Baloga’s “Yedynyi Tsentr.”

In fact, all this is easily explained by the fact that Petiovka and Baloga are cousins.

In summary, it should be said that “Servant of the People” is noticeably evolving in terms of fundraising. At least this time among the donors of the Zakarpattia branch there are no outright “fake” contributors like a khinkali seller or a lingerie seller. However, there are big questions about the possible influence of certain large and — importantly — long-standing regional business-political groups on branches of the presidential party through financing, sponsorship contributions, or other benefits.

Maryana Sych

This analysis was created with the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of a project implemented by the NGO Kantselyarska Sotnia with support from the USAID “VzaemoDiia” project. The content is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.