Relatives in Ukrainian Politics: Their Own

Relatives in Ukrainian Politics: Their Own

Ukrainian politics is turning into a family affair.

The pre-election frenzy in Ukraine is always intense, notes Tyzhden. After all, the time when some sow and others quickly harvest and stock up for the future doesn’t last long. It would be a sin not to make full use of it. Cases where people, having worked only during a single election campaign for one of the candidates, earned enough for apartments, cars, and a small business are not isolated. And many would like to try that luck for themselves.

Be that as it may, such a significant pre-election frenzy around local contests is being seen perhaps for the first time in the country’s modern history. It’s as if the country has gone mad. People have started signing up for newly formed, unknown party projects, calling this gathering of random and mutually unfamiliar people “teams,” declaring their loyalty to every possible fraudster and trickster from politics and business and assuring everyone around: “I won’t let you down, you know me…” If previously all the fuss occurred mainly at the regional level and seemed like a temporary scourge to be endured, now the absurdity has spread across the whole country. Many well-known faces have appeared on party lists or among candidates for important positions. Sometimes it seems like people are electing not mayors or village councilors but the president or even parliament...

The race to the trough

Moreover. The percentage of relatives of well-known politicians who want to continue the work of their parents, husbands, or wives and, using the existing starting capital, carve out their path into local government or high politics has grown significantly. Sometimes one can even talk about a real family contract, a family business passed down as an inheritance. Or, even more interestingly, about an attempt by a “family” to appropriate certain towns (or even regions) through a simple combination that involves laying family eggs in different baskets.

It’s not hard to understand why this is happening. The magic word “decentralization” explains a lot. Local authorities recently gained the ability to manage significantly larger resources than before. Many more people are now eager to join the division of the pie because there is something to divide. But there are other reasons too. Citizens have recently substantially reassessed their role in state-building, and politics has ceased to be a matter only for the chosen few. The revolution, the war, and Zelensky’s populist victory contributed to this… Now every “cook” is confident she can manage not only a village or a city but the state itself. Vladimir Oleksandrovych managed to do it...

Finally, a run for office or high politics is the only reliable investment that can pay off manifold. Politics, whatever its form, is primarily about money. And often quite large and rather easy to obtain. That is tempting. To “earn” it, it’s enough to skillfully work your tongue, smile where needed, promise, lie, sometimes tug at people’s pity. Know how to negotiate, not be afraid, not be ashamed, and not be too vulnerable.

Family business

The most famous newly minted politician in the country, of course, is the wife of the fifth president, Petro Poroshenko — Maryna. Even before, she was in one way or another not standing aside from the political process. But only recently did she enter the game directly, heading her husband’s party list, European Solidarity, in the Kyiv City Council elections. Of course, the city council of the capital is not parliament. But, first, you have to start somewhere, and second, it’s the capital, which plays the lead in the state orchestra and sometimes even decides who will lead the country and who will not. So if Maryna Poroshenko’s run for Kyiv is successful, it could trigger a big intrigue, victims of which later (quite realistically) might include the current occupants of Bankova Street.

Joining Maryna Poroshenko on the European Solidarity list for the Kyiv City Council is another interesting politician at number six, Serhiy Taran. He is a fairly well-known media figure. A political technologist, co-founder of the Institute of Mass Information and the Center for Political and Sociological Research “Sociovymir.” During Petro Oleksiyovych’s rule he was a member of the Supervisory Board of the National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine. Serhiy Viktorovych is no newcomer to politics and has been connected to it practically from birth. His father, Viktor Vasylovych Taran-Teren, is a former MP who served five convocations and is a well-known writer.

He was a member of the leadership of the People’s Movement and URP, and was elected to parliament three times from All-Ukrainian Union “Fatherland.” Serhiy’s mother, Alla Chygryn, is the deputy head of the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Human Rights, Deoccupation and Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, national minorities and interethnic relations. And finally, a former sister-in-law (the ex-wife of Viktor’s brother) is current MP Viktoriya Siumar (European Solidarity faction). A fully politically engaged family.

The son of People’s Artist, former MP and former Minister of Culture Oksana Bilozir, Andriy, also wants to get into the Kyiv City Council. He is running on the UDAR list, and this is not his first attempt to enter capital governance—or politics in general. He first ran for the Verkhovna Rada on the lists of the Social-Christian Party, chaired by his mother way back in the 2006 year. However, unsuccessfully: the party failed to overcome the electoral threshold, and accordingly Andriy Bilozir did not become one of the youngest national deputies.

He briefly entered the Kyiv City Council with UDAR in 2014, but in the 2015 election, running with the presidential “Solidarity,” he failed. He became a deputy only by moving up the list in 2019, when luckier colleagues who won parliamentary races moved to the chamber under the dome of the Verkhovna Rada. Andriy’s persistent idea of being a deputy is understandable. It wasn’t only his mother whom fate smiled on to secure a deputy’s pension and lifelong privileges. His wife, Larysa Bilozir, and father-in-law Mykola Kucher, having won seats in the Rada in 2019 as self-nominated candidates, also became owners of the coveted parliamentary mandates.

The Servant of the People faction in the Kyiv City Council may also be rich in relatives of politicians. The party placed the wife of the foreign minister, Yevheniia Kuleba, as its number one. Second on the list is Mykhailo Prysiazhniuk, host of the show “One for All,” and son of the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, Tamara Prysiazhniuk. Closing out the top ten is Zoryana Skaletska, former minister of health in Oleksiy Honcharuk’s government and ex-wife of former BPP MP Oleksandr Chernenko.

Not only the Kyiv City Council

Andriy Zasukha—son of Anatoliy and Tetiana Zasukha, loyal allies of former president Kuchma—decided to run for the Kyiv region council from the Fatherland party. The story is truly sensational, considering that Andriy’s father, the long-time head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration, after the arrival of the orange team to power in 2004, in which Fatherland played one of the leading roles, twice had to flee the country from Ukrainian justice and hide in Russia and Kazakhstan. He was accused of abuse of power and was even declared internationally wanted. Anatoliy Zasukha was able to return to Ukraine only in 2008 after three years of “wanderings” serving as deputy governor of Moscow Region under Borys Gromov.

Well-known TV personality Serhiy Prytula, nominated by Holos, will compete in the mayoral race for the capital. It’s possible that ex-regional MP Vitaliy Khomutynnik, a close relative of Prytula (both are married to biological sisters—Svitlana and Kateryna Sopelnyk), persuaded him to try this new role. After five parliamentary runs, Khomutynnik ended up among the top 100 richest Ukrainians with assets of $478 million (Novoye Vremya 2019). In show business and on television, even a very talented showman is unlikely to achieve such wealth, but in politics miracles happen. So why not try?

Lyudmyla Zubko, the wife of Deputy Prime Minister—Minister for Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services (2014–2019) and effectively the locomotive of decentralization, Hennadiy Zubko, dreams of becoming mayor of Zhytomyr. She is known in Zhytomyr as a businesswoman and philanthropist. She is running from European Solidarity.

Traditionally, Opposition Bloc member Oleksandr Vilkul is aiming for the mayoralty of Dnipro; he is the son of Kryvyi Rih’s leader Yuriy Vilkul. There were rumors that the father was going to “inherit” the city he controlled for many years to his son, but the president apparently did not like such a bold idea concerning his native region, so Vilkul Jr., to avoid trouble, decided not to betray his habit of running in Dnipro, where he essentially has no prospects.

Serhiy Borzov, the current head of Vinnytsia Regional State Administration, will run for mayor of Vinnytsia. At the presidential party congress he was entrusted with this honorable mission with the blessing of Vladimir Oleksandrovych himself. Rumors say his wife, Iryna, who is a People’s Deputy from the Servant faction, helped make this happen. However, it might be the other way around. Perhaps it is due to her husband’s connections that the wife owes her deputy position. In the past Serhiy Borzov’s résumé included not only work as head of the State Administration of Affairs. He was also general director of the KVN team “Vinnytski Perci,” director of the KVN team “Zbirna Ukrayiny,” and an administrator at TV Creative Association “Oleksandr Masliakov and Company.” Such a background is worth a lot these days.

Of course, the Servants are also eyeing mayoralties in other regional centers. For example, Ternopil has a chance to get a leader who is a screenwriter, captain of the local KVN team and winner of the show “Make the Comedian Laugh,” Viktor Hevko. His brother, Volodymyr Hevko, became a deputy from Servant of the People last year, so now it’s time to place a relative.

Unexpectedly, Lieutenant General Petro Lytvyn, the brother of former Verkhovna Rada speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, decided to run for mayor of Novohrad-Volynskyi from the People’s Party. The same man who commanded Sector D forces during the war in Donbas… After the Ilovaisk catastrophe he was accused of leaving the battlefield, as a result of which Ukrainian forces were encircled. Later, the parliamentary temporary investigative commission’s investigation did not confirm those allegations, and Lytvyn was appointed ambassador to Armenia. But he didn’t serve long. Zelensky dismissed the ambassador-general, and he went to his native village to care for his mother, where he simultaneously tried to start a political career, becoming a deputy of Bronyky village territorial community in Novohrad-Volynskyi district. Now he’s set his sights on the mayoralty.

The Baloga family will try to keep picturesque Mukachevo in their hands. For this, current mayor Andriy Baloga, son of the legendary Viktor Baloga, head of President Yushchenko’s Secretariat, resorted to a “unique” campaign technology and transformed his father’s local branch of the Unified Center into the “Andriy Baloga Team.” He promises to make Mukachevo even better than in the past five years. Realizing the town is not very large and there’s not much room to grow, he decided to expand his influence across the rest of Zakarpattia. Branches of the “Andriy Baloga Team” now operate in Uzhhorod, Vynohradiv, Svaliava, Berehove, Irshava, Volovets, Rakhiv, Berezne, Tyachiv and Perechyn.

This year’s elections in Zakarpattia are very family-centered. For example, the number one on Fatherland’s list to the Uzhhorod city council is Andriy Andriiv, brother of the current mayor Bohdan Andriiv. The list to the city council of the party Native Zakarpattia is headed by journalist Vitaliy Hlahola, and his father, Yaroslav Hlahola, whom Zakarpattia journalists claim is a member of the local Holos political council, is running for the city council on the Servant of the People list.

Family ties among candidates have also been found in Kherson. Number three on the list of the mayoral personalized Party of Ihor Kolykhaev “We Live Here” is Mykola, son of Kherson city council executive committee member Serhiy Dmytriiev. He is a newcomer to politics, but he has nothing to fear. If necessary, he can learn parliamentary craft not only from his father but also from his uncle, Andriy Dmytriiev, a city council deputy from Samopomich, who is also running on the “We Live Here” party lists.

Rostyslav Solod, the 19-year-old son of Natalia Korolevska, will try to start a political career. He is running for the Kramatorsk city council. Unlike his mother, who long sought her place at ideological crossroads, the son decided not to hesitate and plunged headfirst into hardcore — OPZZh. Although it’s possible that Korolevska herself pushed him there; while she sincerely rejoices that her son has gotten his act together early and decided to follow in her footsteps, as a mother she apparently prefers to keep him under close supervision.

“Son” versus “father”

And finally, two good and one bad piece of news from Kharkiv. Tetyana Chechetova-Terashvili, deputy mayor of the city and daughter of the late MP Mykhailo Chechetov, is almost guaranteed to become a city council deputy, as she is running at number four on the list of the mayor’s party “Kernes Bloc — Successful Kharkiv.” The woman long decided to follow in the footsteps of her illustrious father, the parliamentary conductor, and with patrons like Hennadiy Kernes she will certainly achieve success.

Hennadiy Adolfovych, in his difficult but colorful life, managed to launch many political careers. Take Mykhailo Dobkin, who early in his career showed no special abilities or promise, but thanks to Kernes’s pedagogical talents eventually made it to mayor, heads of regional state administrations and even people’s deputy. Unfortunately, Dobkin turned out to be a traitor and decided to try to unseat his mentor by running in these elections as a rival candidate.

However, Hennadiy Adolfovych is not the sort to give up easily and hand over a city he painstakingly brought under control to various Misha “with a bored face” to whom “no one will give money.” So Kernes not only nominated himself again for the head of Kharkiv but also personally headed the list to the city council. He also decided to kickstart his son Kyrylo’s political career by placing him first on the list of his own bloc “Successful Kharkiv” in the local elections to the regional council. Maybe he’ll even manage to extend his influence over the entire region?

Roman Malko, published in Tyzhden