Grantseva Diana Ivanivna

Candidate for Kyiv mayor from Moldova

Diana Grantseva is a public activist and entrepreneur who in 2020 unexpectedly announced her participation in the capital's mayoral elections for the Kyiv audience. She was born on May 25, 1976, in Bălți, Moldova. She has lived in Kyiv since 1998. She holds a diploma from the Geneva Institute of International Relations. Grantseva's public career is a mix of housing and communal services activism, personal branding, and family legal ties with controversial figures.

Husband is Portnov's lawyer and "raider" reputation

A key context for understanding Grantseva is her husband. Ivan Grantsev is a lawyer and partner at the law firm "Grantsev and Partners," and was an assistant to MPs Andriy Portnov (5th and 6th convocations) and Pylypenko (7th convocation). Media describe Ivan Grantsev as a "raiding and takeover specialist." In 2011, investigators tried to hold two persons accountable for an alleged attack on Ivan Grantsev. The mayoral candidate is the wife of a man linked to Andriy Portnov and raiding schemes.

Housing and communal services association and a "candidacy" without a program

Since 2015, Grantseva has led the National Ukrainian Housing Association and deals with housing and communal services issues. NV noted that no information about her election participation appeared on her social media pages—instead, she invited subscribers to choose the best billboard design. The candidacy was "revealed" in a video where she stopped passersby on the street with the phrase "Можно ли к вам поприставать?" ("May I pester you?")—in Russian, despite being a candidate in Kyiv.