He Was Elected to the Verkhovna Rada: What Oleg Blokhin’s Political Career Was Like

Not all fans remember that Ballon d'Or winner Oleg Blokhin, after his sporting triumphs, chose the path of a politician. At the turn of the millennium the former Dynamo player became a people's deputy and over that time changed several parties.

24 The channel recalls which political scandals Blokhin became involved in and how his attempts to be in power ended.

Oleg Blokhin – people's deputy

In 1998 Blokhin was first elected to the Verkhovna Rada. He received his mandate as part of the All-Ukrainian Union "Hromada" – the party of the notorious Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who, after a corruption scandal, fled Ukraine taking with him a large sum of public funds.

Against the backdrop of one of the most high-profile bribery cases in our country’s history, Blokhin left the discredited party and for a time joined Yulia Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna.

In 2001 Blokhin decided to join the Communist Party and a year later was again in parliament. There he for the third — and final — time switched to another political force. The footballer and coach changed his affiliation to the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) — SDPU(o) — of the future turncoat of Ukraine, Viktor Medvedchuk.

In the Rada Blokhin dealt with youth policy, sport, physical education, and tourism matters in the relevant committee.

Blokhin in the scandalous "Ne Tak" bloc advertisement

In the 2006 election Blokhin ran as part of SDPU(o) in the "Ne Tak" bloc, created by pro-Russian forces that sought to oppose the authorities formed after the Orange Revolution.

Blokhin found himself, to put it mildly, in poor company: in addition to Medvedchuk, the bloc included Nestor Shufrych, Yuriy Boyko, Leonid Kravchuk and other politicians who promoted "Russian as a second state language, abandoning the EU and NATO in favor of a Customs Union with Russia, and arrangements with Moscow for cheap gas."

At that time the athlete took part in a well-known political advertisement in which he used his image as a "lucky charm" after being the first to lead the Ukrainian national team to the final stage of the World Cup.

The scandalous ad with Blokhin — watch the video:

Ultimately the "Ne Tak" bloc failed to pass the threshold to the Rada, and Blokhin no longer attempted to enter parliament and ended the political phase of his life.