Alexandra Kuzhel
“Queen of market traders”, “Ukrainian Thatcher”, “woman-scandal” – they called Alexandra Vladimirovna Kuzhel in various ways. For 22 years in power, her reputation, to put it mildly, is unpleasant: she is known as a lover of quarrels, clashes and showdowns with strong words, but on the other hand, like any woman, Kuzhel loves expensive resorts, branded clothing, fashion shows and social events. We are telling a story about a provincial girl who rose to prominence.
From the market to politics
Alexandra Kuzhel was born in 1953 in the city of Konstantinovka, Donetsk region, into a family of engineers. She has two higher educations – the Dnepropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute with a degree in metallurgical engineering and the Zaporozhye Industrial Institute – engineer-economist.
Alexandra Vladimirovna’s business career began in 1990. She became the chief accountant at the Vostok Joint Stock Center enterprise in the city of Zaporozhye. The structure is quite “glorified”. The main area of its activity is ensuring trade in products of Zaporozhye factories. The company has developed barter schemes that allow the sale of goods abroad. Kuzhel at JSC Vostok carried out settlement operations. Under her patronage, loans were taken from the Ukraina Bank, whose first deputy chairman was Viktor Yushchenko. Naturally, the loans immediately depreciated due to hyperinflation in the 90s, but money appeared in the accounts of Kuzhel and her associates. Alexandra Vladimirovna has an entrepreneurial spirit, so she invests the money received from credit fraud in a share of the rent at the Central Market of Zaporozhye. At this time, he was completely controlled by the Crimean criminal group “Bashmaki”, which traded in the racketeering of entrepreneurs and the liquidation of undesirables. Kuzhel found a common language with the guys and was able to set her own rules at Central – for example, she took a “tribute” from each budding entrepreneur for a place in the market. True, she quickly became bored with such work, and she decided to realize her economic talents as chairman of the board of the Canadian-Ukrainian “audit” company “Independence”. Almost nothing is known about this company; most likely, it is a fiction created for illegal payments to withdraw money from the country. After working in the company for a year, Kuzhel decides to conquer big politics.
Career as a political defector
In 1994, Kuzhel entered the Rada for the first time and immediately received the post of deputy chairman of the parliamentary commission on economic policy and economic management. Let us note that in those years there was an acute shortage of economists in the country. So this is exactly what played into Alexandra Vladimirovna’s hands, especially considering her experience in the Zaporozhye market. Kuzhel did not want to join the non-party members, so, without hesitation, she joins the most lucrative parliamentary grouping – the “Donetsk”. Its “face” was the Liberal Party of Ukraine (LPU), led by Vladimir Shcherban. Alexandra Vladimirovna makes friends with fellow party member General Yevgeny Marchuk, who expected to become president in the elections in 1994 with the support of the LPU. But this did not happen: the “moneybag” of the party, Yevgeny Shcherban, who supported Marchuk, was killed on the eve of the elections, and the official leader of the LPU disowned him and supported the then Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma. After this incident, the “fan” of General Kuzhel was asked to leave the ranks of the party, she resisted for a long time, but Vladimir Shcherban simply expelled her.
In the 1994 elections, Leonid Kuchma becomes president. By the way, many accused him of the murder of Yevgeny Shcherban, but this did not go further than speculation. And just then Alexandra Vladimirovna remembers that Leonid Danilovich is her old friend. Kuzhel met the Kuchma family through Ruslan Korotich, an active member of the Bashmaki group. Of course, she begins to actively support the policies of the new President. A year later, Kuzhel receives an award – she becomes the head of the newly formed National Audit Committee of Ukraine. The main purpose of the organization is control over the use of public financial resources, i.e. checking the movement of budget funds at the highest level – the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. And who can definitely cope with this is Alexandra Vladimirovna. Three years later, Kuchma transfers Kuzhel to a new position – she heads the State Committee of Ukraine, which deals with issues of entrepreneurship development. Over the 5 years of work, everything passed without visible achievements both for the state and for ordinary entrepreneurs. A few years later, the committee was reorganized and Kuzhel was reappointed to the post of head of the newly formed State Committee of Ukraine on Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship.
Tandem with Tigipko
In 2000, a new political figure loomed in the vastness of Ukraine – the young and promising ex-secretary of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Komsomol Committee, banker Sergei Leonidovich Tigipko. Alexandra Kuzhel, who felt cramped in the chair of the head of the State Committee, organizes the Labor Ukraine party with him. The unspoken leader is Tigipko, Kuzhel is the deputy head. The party immediately entered the pro-presidential majority. In the 2002 elections, “Labor Ukraine” entered parliament as part of the “For a United Ukraine!” bloc. And in the same year, Sergei Tigipko became the head of the National Bank, and his faithful companion Kuzhel became his adviser. By the way, Alexandra Vladimirovna had to leave the post of deputy head of the party, because “regulatory” levies, which were at the center of corruption scandals, played against her.
In 2004, Tigipko and Kuzhel decide to support Viktor Yanukovych in the presidential elections: Sergei Leonidovich heads the election headquarters, and Alexandra Vladimirovna is engaged in campaigning. The campaigning looked strange: at a rally of visitors from Donbass on November 26, 2004 near the Kyiv-Passazhirsky railway station, Kuzhel hysterically called on Yanukovych “Viktor Fedorovich, take power and restore order!” They all lost. By the way, many experts expressed the opinion that Yanukovych lost the elections precisely because of his headquarters, whose team, led by Tigipko, was allegedly imposed on the candidate by coalition agreements. After this, Sergei Leonidovich goes into the shadows, or rather into the big banking business, and Kuzhel is left with nothing.
But fate smiles again on Alexandra Vladimirovna. She changes positions at the speed of light – in 2005 she was the president of the Academy analytical center, a member of the Council of Entrepreneurs of Ukraine under the government, in 2006 an adviser to the mayor of Kyiv Leonid Chernovetsky (Read more about him in the article Leonid Chernovetsky: how “Lenya Cosmos” robbed Kyiv and moved to Georgia) on entrepreneurship issues, 2007, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Construction Vladimir Yatsuba, in 2008, Advisor to the Minister of Regional Development and Construction Vasily Kuibida, Vice President of the Ukrainian National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce. In 2009, Kuzhel was expelled from the ranks of the Party of Regions for “treason” – she began working with Yulia Tymoshenko, who became prime minister. It was Yulia Vladimirovna who “gave” her the position of head of the newly formed State Committee, and also appointed her as her adviser.
When Viktor Yanukovych came to power in 2010, Kuzhel decided to defect to the powers that be, but the Party of Regions did not accept the “traitor.” Moreover, the new Prime Minister Mykola Azarov dismisses her from the post of Chairman of the State Committee of Ukraine on Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship.
But Kuzhel did not grieve for long. She remembered that Sergei Tigipko returned to the political arena and headed the Strong Ukraine party. Of course, Alexandra Kuzhel becomes his deputy. Together they are going to the elections of deputies of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea as number one on the list of the Crimean Republican Organization of this political party. Having received two seats, Alexandra Vladimirovna becomes a deputy of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan. And here it’s worth remembering Kuzhel’s “friendship” with the Crimean group “Bashmaki” in the dashing 90s. So the thieves’ red thread runs through the entire biography of the politician.
In 2011, Tigipko presented a new surprise, announcing the merger of Strong Ukraine with the Party of Regions. Kuzhel is against it and even talks about his resignation. She is trying to save the situation and publishes a list of “carcass deputies” who “betrayed their voters.” But no one believes her, because Alexandra Vladimirovna’s reputation is far from ideal.
By the way, before leaving Strong Ukraine, Kuzhel made the last step, saying that Tigipko paid party members salaries in envelopes. Sergei Leonidovich equated his colleague to the poor, saying that he did not pay a salary, but to help Alexandra Vladimirovna.
On this note, the Kuzhel-Tigipko tandem came to an end.
Two “girlfriends”
The story of the “friendship” of Alexandra Kuzhel and Yulia Tymoshenko officially began in 2009. Although there were rumors about their common affairs even earlier. It seems that it was Tymoshenko who considered the “promising” Tigipko, and advised Kuzhel to bring him into the political arena of Ukraine. However, this is just speculation because, as you know, there was constantly open confrontation between Tigipko and Yulia Vladimirovna.
The “friendship” of the political ladies reached its apogee in 2011, when President Viktor Yanukovych opened a number of criminal cases against Tymoshenko. When Yulia Vladimirovna was under arrest, Kuzhel was the first of the female politicians to achieve a meeting with her at the Central Clinical Hospital of Ukrzaliznytsia. She organized a visit to the prisoner with people’s deputies Lyudmila Denisova and Tatyana Slyuz, under an act of civil disobedience, and spent the night there. Alexandra Vladimirovna, naturally, turned the visit into a farce. She stated that in addition to open cameras (3 cameras installed by the penitentiary service in the ward, as well as 2 cameras “installed by an unknown person” in the corridor and 1 at the checkpoint), there are hidden cameras. They, according to the people’s deputy, are installed in the shower, toilet and room for meetings with Tymoshenko’s defenders. Kuzhel argued that the male guards are perverts, because they watch videos from these cameras. Moreover, she locked herself in the toilet and demanded that all male escorts be changed to women. The action made people laugh, but was not successful.
True, something happened that night – Tymoshenko announced her last will to Alexandra Vladimirovna. All this happened in the toilet to the sound of water. Yulia Vladimirovna said that Kuzhel should hand over to the people, if she is not released before 2015, then her political heir should be none other than Arseniy Petrovich Yatsenyuk. But, fortunately, Yulia Vladimirovna unexpectedly came out.
Tymoshenko could not leave her friend without a party number, even while behind bars. In 2012, at the party congress of the All-Ukrainian Association “Batkivshchyna”, Kuzhel became number 22 on the lists. Since that time, the name of Alexandra Vladimirovna has been associated exclusively with this political party. For 4 years, Kuzhel, to everyone’s surprise, did not want to change her beliefs. Today she is at the beck and call of the Kozhemyakin-Turchinov tandem.
(Read more about Andrey Kozhemyakin in the article ANDREY KOZHEMYAKIN. SECRETS OF AN OFFICER
Read more about Alexander Turchinov in the article Alexander Turchinov. Skeletons in the closet of the “bloody pastor” of Ukraine)
Criminal and scandalous cases
Alexandra Kuzhel is an odious lady. Her biography includes criminal cases and simply scandalous incidents.
Market scheme. In Odessa, there are legends about Alexandra Vladimirovna regarding smuggling schemes and the raider takeover of the 7 Kilometer wholesale market. It all started with the fact that in 2009, the State Committee for Entrepreneurship, headed by Kuzhel, initiated the transfer under its control of the state-owned enterprise Pivden (which actually controlled part of the market) from the balance sheet of the Ministry of Defense. This happened after the Ministry of Defense wanted to sell part of the land. Kuzhel even went to Odessa to investigate on the spot. Moreover, she collected 40 thousand dollars from entrepreneurs to “leave” the land. However, the Pivdnya team appealed to President Viktor Yushchenko with a statement about the threat of a raider takeover. And then, like a bolt from the blue, the name of the “savior” Alexandra Vladimirovna sounds. In general, before this incident, the politician did not reveal her participation in smuggling schemes. She was “burned” by the desire to hide her shady affairs. Naturally, Kuzhel said that these were the machinations of caught businessmen, and the State Enterprise Committee caught the smugglers. And everything would have grown together if not for one “But”. Kuzhel appoints Daniil Mizin to the position of director of Pivdnya. As it turned out, this is a classmate of Alexandra Vladimirovna’s son. In addition, Daniil Mazin’s father, Alexander, is a famous Zaporozhye trader of non-ferrous metals. By the way, Kuzhel also placed Mazin Sr. at the “feeding trough”. He became a freelance adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Pustovoitenko government, Anatoly Golubchenko. The deputy’s certificate allowed Alexander Mazin to conduct business freely, opening access to Odessa customs. Increased attention to the raider takeover led to Yushchenko vetoing the Pivdnya program.
Since 2010, illegal schemes have finally stopped working. Southern Customs opened a criminal case regarding the transportation of goods with concealment from customs control by the company International Trade Center LLC, a company affiliated with Kuzhel. The total value of smuggling items in this case amounted to more than 6 million hryvnia.
In 2014, they again started talking about the raider takeover of the 7th Kilometer Industrial Market, where “black” extortions from entrepreneurs flourished. But Kuzhel called this a check by law enforcement agencies of the current market administration.
Sink for my niece. As the head of State Enterprise, Kuzhel rented out space on the ground floor for a car wash to her niece. Nearby there was a tire shop, which also belonged to a relative of the politician. For a minute, the building is located in the center of Kyiv in Pechersk. Rental price – 3.5 thousand hryvnia per month. Mikhail Brodsky was the first to talk about this (Read more about Mikhail Brodsky in the article MIKHAIL BRODSKY – PROFESSIONAL “SCAM”), her successor as head. However, there were no facts that would prove that the sink belonged to a relative of Alexandra Vladimirovna.
Eviction situation. This story happened in 2012. The plot of land in Pechersk, where Kiev teacher Nina Moskalenko lived with her son and sick mother, attracted the attention of a deputy from the Party of Regions. Presumably Vasily Gritsak. The woman turned to Alexandra Kuzhel for help, but received only multiple promises to rectify the situation and an answer that she was very busy.
Bargain purchases. Good investment is Kuzhel’s strong point. In 2013, Alexandra Vladimirovna confidentially agreed with Evgeniy Geller (Party of Regions) about the purchase from the JSC Ukrsplav, which he controls, of a fairly large batch of rolled metal at cost for the needs of a construction company, the owner of which is her son, Dmitry. The fact that Geller was a representative of the “enemy” party did not even play a role in this deal. As they say, politics is politics, but business must be done.
By the way, Dmitry Kuzhel and his friend Daniil Mazin carried out a number of dubious operations. Because of them, the state missed tens of millions of hryvnia in taxes. As a result, in the period 2010-2011, criminal cases were initiated on the facts of embezzlement of funds (Part 5, Article 191 of the Criminal Code) and tax evasion (Part 3, Article 212 of the Criminal Code). True, the kind mother Kuzhel got rid of both guys.
“Gromadyansky Opera”. This organization is a classic scam from Alexandra Vladimirovna. “Gromadyansky Opera” was created with the goal of “giving power to the people,” of course, under the control of Kuzhel. Only the State Registration Service refused to legalize Kuzhel’s project, arguing that the type of activity of the organization contradicted Article 3 of the Law “On the Association of Citizens.” Then the politician created the organization’s website and began asking Ukrainians for money for development. She indicated her personal bank account to transfer funds.
Money from the casino. One day, Alexandra Vladimirovna’s son lost a large sum of money in an elite casino. In one night, the major lost 28 thousand hryvnia. What would any mother do – scold? No, Alexandra Kuzhel used her contacts to contact the owner of the casino and… asked for a refund. She was refunded the entire amount.
Fight in the Rada. Last November, a “resonant” fight took place in the Rada. The deputy head of the Popular Front faction, Andrei Teteruk, was hit on the head with a Kuzhel glass bottle. The conflict was provoked by the Popular Front spreading unpleasant rumors about the Batkvshchyna party. In addition, during the battalion commander’s speech from the podium, the politician tried in every possible way to push him aside and take a place at the microphone. The conflict went behind the scenes. There Teteruk called Kuzhel “an old fool,” and she began to hit him with a handbag. The battalion commander wanted to cool the passions and pour water from a bottle on the woman, but he miscalculated and hit her. Alexandra Vladimirovna was diagnosed with a concussion. After this, she suffered a hypertensive crisis. Kuzhel wanted to sue, she even wrote a statement, but then withdrew it.
Read more: The Popular Front is trying to “hush up” the incident of beating Kuzhel by Teteruk + VIDEO
Women’s weaknesses
Alexandra Kuzhel’s style has always raised a lot of questions and was a reason for ridicule from both political comrades and journalists. Once at a social party she appeared in a red dress, red shoes, red tights with a white mink coat on her shoulders.
To go to work in 2009 at the State Committee for Entrepreneurship, where Kuzhel held a leadership position, she bought an “Escada” suit at a 70% discount. The politician prefers shopping abroad. She tries to purchase things in New York, where there is often a discount on past collections. Kuzhel does not hide the fact that one of her business suits costs around $600. Among domestic designers, Alexandra Vladimirovna chooses Sergei Ermakov.
Alexandra Kuzhel and Sergey Ermakov
A year later, Alexandra Vladimirovna’s financial situation improved: at the Ukrainian Fashion Week in 2010, the politician looked at glass and leather beads from Irina Karavay worth $300. Kuzhel generally loves bright and expensive jewelry. For example, in 2013 in the Parliament it could be found in a set of a bracelet, earrings, pendant, ring and scarf from the same collection of the Viennese company Frey Wille. According to rough estimates, a bracelet from this manufacturer in those years cost around 5-12 thousand hryvnia, a pendant – 34-62 thousand hryvnia, a ring – 32-42 thousand hryvnia, earrings – 48-75 thousand hryvnia (depending on quality of materials used). So a set with photos costs around 20-33 thousand hryvnia.
Today Kuzhel is quite restrained in style, however, despite the crisis, she does not deny herself expensive accessories. This year in the Verkhovna Rada she appeared in scarves from luxury brands – Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Their cost is about 3 thousand hryvnia and 15 thousand, respectively. By the way, the politician also loves branded glasses frames. At one of the meetings she wore glasses with the Chanel logo.
About income
Based on his income statement for last year, Kuzhel lives on one salary. The people’s deputy earned a little more than 76 thousand hryvnia in 2015. Her husband, according to the published document, does not work at all. Alexandra Vladimirovna has a foreign currency account at the Bank, although it only contains $360. The family has 4 cars: Lexus RX, Toyota Prado, Mercedes Vito, DEO Lanos.
It is noteworthy that in 2014 the politician earned four times more. In 2014, her income amounted to 384 thousand UAH, of which 181 thousand UAH was salary, and more than 200 thousand UAH were “other types of income.”
It is also known that Kuzhel supported raider Alexander Dubovoy in an attempt to seize the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI). Read more about Dubovoy in the article by Alexander Dubovoy. Turchinov’s comrade and professional raider)
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If you want to live, know how to spin. It seems that this very saying, originally from the 90s, is about Alexandra Kuzhel.
Arina Dmitrieva, for SKELET-info
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