Indispensable Klimenko. Residents of the Pereiaslav Region Prepare for Protests

Indispensable Klimenko. Residents of the Pereiaslav region prepare for protests

Our earlier information about the appointment of former Party of Regions member Yuriy Klimenko to the position of head of the Pereiaslav district state administration has been confirmed. As Resonance has learned, today, 28 March, the Cabinet of Ministers is scheduled to consider the corresponding submission signed by Kyiv region governor Oleksandr Horhan.

The editorial office also obtained the text of an open letter to President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroisman, in which rural council employees together with representatives of political and civic organizations of the Pereiaslav region warn the authorities against allowing such a move.

“We, the undersigned, have learned that the Kyiv regional district administration is being offered the candidacy of Party of Regions member Yuriy Vasylovych Klimenko for the position of head of Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi district state administration. He publicly supported Viktor Yanukovych while serving as head of the Chornobaivka district state administration in Cherkasy region (leading the district organization of the Party of Regions). During the Revolution of Dignity, while serving as first deputy head of the Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi district state administration of Kyiv region, he publicly demanded the suppression of “Maidan democracy.” He was also involved in organizing the transport of people to participate in Antimaidan, paying rally participants’ expenses,” the letter says.

The video shows Klimenko speaking with representatives of the military enlistment office, which the authors of the open letter mentioned.

“During the announcement of the first mobilization wave, Yuriy Vasylovych Klimenko publicly refused to accept a summons for a medical examination from employees of the Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi city-district military enlistment office. In light of the above, we ask you under no circumstances to appoint him as head of the Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi district state administration, because his appointment will provoke mass protest actions and obstruction of his work. ATO participants, participants in the Revolution of Dignity, and residents of the district and city are outraged and reserve the right to take any actions necessary to establish a truly democratic and fair order in favor of our state,” the signatories warn.

Recall that Yuriy Klimenko’s biography is indeed very “eventful” — and not at all in ways one might expect from a candidate for head of the presidential administration in the district. In addition to public threats against Maidan participants, Klimenko distinguished himself by personally organizing a disgraceful rally featuring Tsariov and Zatulin while serving as deputy head of the district administration; that event took place in Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi in 18 January 2014 of that year. Anyone wishing to learn the substance of this “Russian-world” gathering can read Zatulin’s speech text or watch the video.

Interestingly, neither the “titushky leadership” nor the warm welcome Klimenko arranged for the adherents of “union with Russia” became grounds for lustration of such a valuable cadre. Only after angry residents of Pereiaslav themselves blocked the district administration building in March 2014 did the new authorities finally realize something was wrong and quickly moved the regional Party of Regions member away — to the position of head of the Zghurivka district administration.

Klimenko’s exile did not last long: after some time he was returned to Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi to the comfortable post of head of the local district administration apparatus. There, together with the “Donetsk” head of the Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi district state administration Andriy Pryakhyn (who is currently on the run in Crimea), our protagonist was implicated in several scandalous schemes: in particular, “covering up” the raider seizure of villagers’ plots in the village of Svitanok by forging a district council decision, and in the theft of the district administration building itself, carried out in a similar manner.

So it’s no wonder that the authorities’ intention to appoint such an outstanding patriot and citizen as district head provoked strong public disgust. What’s surprising is why the Presidential Administration seems to be deliberately courting a public outcry — despite the fact that Solidarity’s rating is already visibly melting and the elections are not far off. No question, Klimenko has a powerful ace up his sleeve — as Resonance already reported, he is the godfather of Oleksandr Yarema, the brother of former prosecutor general Vitaliy Yarema, whom Solidarity hastily admitted into its friendly ranks just a month ago. The question is whether the brother’s godfather is worth the prospect of facing organized mass protests. Especially since people in the Pereiaslav region know how to protest — recall the blocking of the Boryspil–Kremenchuk national highway arranged last fall by residents of the village of Svitanok.

However, apparently the Presidential Administration believes the matter is worth the risk. Worth so much that the man who avoided lustration four years ago, Klimenko, is now being pushed forward for the head of the district administration even without the special background check to which all candidates for such positions should be subjected. So this certified Party of Regions man is useful to the authorities in some way. Is there any need to guess what for?

P.S.

While this piece was being prepared, Resonance received texts of three more open letters — from the civic formation “Pereiaslav Self-Defense,” the civic formation “Pereiaslav Law-and-Order Guard,” and the volunteer organization “Hearts of Pereiaslav.” Volunteers and participants in the Revolution of Dignity appeal to President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroisman, and NSDC secretary Oleksandr Turchynov with a request not to allow Yuriy Klimenko to be appointed head of the Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi district state administration, warning that otherwise they will be forced to resort to protests and blockading the district administration’s work.

Ivan Kulya, for Resonance