For the first time in Ukraine, a mayor was removed from office by a citizens' initiative

Since 8 September, Iryna Pletnyova, who had led the Uman City Council since 2020, has officially ceased to be the city mayor — this is the first case in the history of independent Ukraine of a city leader being recalled at the voters' initiative. The decision regarding Pletnyova was made by the political party "For the Future" at a congress in Kyiv, which was preceded by the collection of signatures from Uman residents and verification of the votes by the territorial election commission. The deputy did not appear at the session where her fate was decided.

The recall of Uman’s mayor was reported to Suspilne in a comment by Member of Parliament Anton Yatsenko, who represents the Uman district. According to him, this is a unique precedent for the country.

"The decision to recall Iryna Pletnyova was approved unanimously. So, as of 8 September she is no longer the mayor of Uman. This is the first time in Ukraine that a mayor has been recalled at the will of the people," Yatsenko said.

He also noted that Pletnyova was properly notified about the session — via a video invitation on the party’s page and through messengers.

"Although she was fully notified properly. We recorded a video invitation and posted it on the party’s page, and also sent it to all possible messengers," Yatsenko said.

Iryna Pletnyova herself said that she did not have time to receive the official documents from the election commission and therefore could not appeal the decision in court.

"I really wasn’t at the session. The CEC could not issue me the decision and the protocol. They did not acquaint me with them, even though I filed a petition. I waited at work for more than four hours... So I cannot file a suit," Pletnyova said.

How Uman residents achieved the mayor's recall

Iryna Pletnyova led Uman for almost six years. In the elections in 2020 she ran from the "For the Future" party and received the support of over 30 percent of voters — 6 074 votes. That is exactly how many signatures needed to be collected to recall her from office — such a provision is written in the Law of Ukraine on the Election of Mayors.

From 29 July to 17 August the initiative group collected 6 710 signatures and submitted them to the territorial election commission for consideration. On 7 September, the chair of the TEC, Olha Usatiuk, announced the result: 6 421 signature sheets were recognized as valid, while 289 were not counted for various reasons.

After the mayor’s powers were terminated, the duties were to be performed by the city council secretary, Suspilne was told by the head of the "Academy of Strategic Studies," Serhii Pasichnyk. During Pletnyova’s term the secretary was her fellow party member Kateryna Tereshchenko, but on 7 September she submitted a resignation letter of her own accord. Now the duties of the mayor are being performed by the new city council secretary, Rostyslav Zavoloka, whose candidacy was proposed by Pletnyova herself and was supported by the deputies the same day.

Rostyslav Zavoloka heads the "Servant of the People" party faction in the Uman City Council. He was born in Uman, graduated from Uman State Agrarian University, and is engaged in entrepreneurial activities. The Uman City Council consists of 38 deputies, 35 of whom are united into five factions: "For the Future", "European Solidarity", All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland", "Servant of the People", and "Strength and Honor", while three are non-affiliated.

Earlier, Informator reported that the family of MP Areshonkov owns a house in Zakarpattia and millions in assets that are difficult to explain by official income, despite the fact that the deputy voted to limit the powers of anti-corruption bodies.

We also wrote that the head of the Shipping Administration, Serhii Hurskyi, became the center of a corruption scandal due to statements by Member of Parliament Anna Skorokhod about unofficial payments on the Danube and questionable official trips to Poland.