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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
In May 2020 the deputies from the Verkhovna Rada deputy group “For the Future” announced the creation of a party of the same name. This group includes representatives of various political forces – from former members of the Party of Regions, members of the parties Revival, UKROP and Our Land to former members of BPP and Narodnyi Front. Until then the party had been called “Ukraine of the Future” and had existed on the political scene since 2008.
The party is headed by former head of the Odesa Regional State Administration (2014–2015) and of the Volyn Regional Council (2015–2019) Ihor Palytsia. In Odesa the party is represented by former heads of the Odesa Regional Council Anatoliy Urbansky (2015–2019) and Serhiy Parashchenko (2019–2020).
Over the year the branch collected 7,7 million UAH and spent 6,6 million UAH. Journalists investigated who donated to the organization and what the Odesa branch of “For the Future” spent the money on.
According to the financial report for 2019, the Odesa branch of the political force, like the party overall, had no employees and no supporters – since there were no incomes or expenditures that year. They also had no premises – neither owned nor rented.
In the report for 2020 everything changes sharply: sponsors appear, the branch holds various events: conferences, meetings, congresses. During this period 174 people transferred 5,9 million UAH to the Odesa organization of the party “For the Future,” 1 million UAH – territorial election commissions returned monetary deposits to them, and the party “For the Future” itself provided the branch with 685,2 thousand UAH.
Donations from individuals, mostly candidates for local councils from this political force, arrived in September–October of 20. One-time contribution amounts ranged from 15 thousand UAH to 139 thousand UAH. There are also contributions of 600 UAH and 5 thousand UAH, but such donations are rather exceptions.
The most active sponsor of the Odesa organization was “For the Future” candidate to the Bolhrad District Council Khrystyna Mladinova. She transferred 400,5 thousand UAH to the branch.
The woman runs a farming enterprise; in 2020 she declared 1,1 million UAH in income from entrepreneurial activity. So she gave the party slightly less than half of her income. However, Mladinova was not left without funds, because according to her declaration she had saved 950 thousand UAH, 40 thousand US dollars and 9 thousand euros. Khrystyna Mladinova was indeed elected as a district council deputy.
In second place by donations is the dual candidate from “For the Future” to the Kuyalnyk village council and the Odesa Regional Council Ruslan Hrekov. The man heads several firms of Serhiy Parashchenko – the son of former regional council head Serhiy Parashchenko.
In 2020 he declared 385,6 thousand UAH. At the same time he transferred 239,7 thousand UAH to the regional organization. However, like his party colleague, he was not left penniless – he had 830 thousand UAH in savings. Hrekov himself also became a regional council deputy.
Oleksandr Salosin financed the party with 139 thousand UAH. The man works at the Odesa Regional Communal Enterprise “Ostrivne.” According to the declaration of his wife Olena Tochansky, who works in the Department of Health of the Odesa RSA, his annual income in 2020 was 20,5 thousand UAH. Together with his wife they had saved 195 thousand UAH.
The candidate for regional council deputy from this party Svitlana Dimova transferred 134,6 thousand UAH to the branch’s account. Her annual income in 2020 was 114,5 thousand UAH. According to the declaration, the woman had no savings. Moreover, she did not become a deputy.
Interestingly, the leading figures of the Odesa regional organization of the party “For the Future,” Anatoliy Urbansky and Serhiy Parashchenko, did not contribute to the branch.
Almost all the received funds were spent on the elections. The Odesa “For the Future” contributed 2,1 million UAH to the campaign fund of candidate for Odesa mayor Serhiy Kalynchuk. They paid 1,9 million UAH in deposits to local territorial election commissions and transferred another 1,9 million UAH to the branch’s campaign fund.
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In total in 2020 the branch spent 6,6 million UAH. The regional organization’s account retained 1 million UAH. Moreover, almost all expenditures occurred in Q3, which preceded the elections.
It is still impossible to find out how and on what the branch spent that million and who donated to the organization in 2021 because in March 2020 the Verkhovna Rada, citing the fight against the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, effectively allowed parties not to submit financial reports, making them non-mandatory for the quarantine period. And parties have been taking advantage of this. Meanwhile parliamentary forces continue to receive money both from the state budget, that is from our taxes, and directly from supporters. However, due to the absence of reports it is impossible to control either the procedure of funds’ receipt or how parties manage these funds.
Olesya Lantsman
This analysis was created thanks to 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 Sotnya with support from the USAID VzaemoDiya project. The content is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
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