The war on the territory of the Donetsk region does not deter those wishing to get into parliament from Donbass. Former regionals and people of the Family are opposed by activists and ATO fighters
In all constituencies from Donbass – even those controlled by separatists – candidates for people’s deputies have registered with the Central Election Commission. Some of them seriously hope to get into the future parliament, writes Novoye Vremya.
NV found out who and why is coming to the Rada from the burning Donbass, and what these people are counting on, in some cases having no opportunity to get to their districts.
In general, the Central Election Commission plans to hold elections to the Rada in 16 electoral districts of Donbass.
Donetsk
In Donetsk, most of which is controlled by separatists, characters who are very significant for Ukrainian politics are going to parliament. So, in the 41st district, in the Budenovsky district, there is Igor Kaletnik, a former head of customs, ex-vice speaker of the Verkhovna Rada and people’s deputy from the Communist Party of Ukraine, a native of the Vinnitsa region.
Together with Kaletnik, nine more people registered at the Central Exhibition Commission for this constituency, including one candidate from Svoboda. Boris Vizirov is in the 42nd district, in the Voroshilovsky district of Donetsk. In the past, he was the head of the National Financial Services Commission during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych. In the vertical of the previous blue and white government, he was considered the man of ex-Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaly Zakharchenko. Together with Vizirov, eight more people are trying their hand at this constituency, among whom, again, is a representative of Svoboda, as well as a person from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.
The 43rd and 44th districts are not notable for their big names. Let us only note that their representatives are “led” by the same Svoboda and Batkivshchyna.
The 45th district includes the Kiev district of Donetsk and the adjacent Avdeevka and Yasinovataya. It is this district that includes the Donetsk airport, for which there have been fierce battles recently. It is in this district that there is a ghostly chance that the elections will be held under the control of the Ukrainian authorities – part of it is still controlled by Kiev.
An odious regional deputy, former Prime Minister of Ukraine, honorary chairman of the board of directors of the mine named after. A. Zasyadko Efim Zvyagilsky. Since the beginning of separatist manifestations in the Donbass, a number of Zvyagilsky’s people have entered the governing bodies of the so-called DPR. Donetsk activists and journalists claim that the region itself actively supported the separatists. In particular, according to Donetsk blogger Denis Kazansky, Zvyagilsky’s man Alexander Kalyussky occupies a post in the so-called DPR government.
There are no strong enough figures in this district who could resist Zvyagilsky. He has 11 competitors, including Svoboda member Igor Sabadakha and Vladimir Shilov, one of the commanders of the Dnepr-1 battalion.
Artemovsk
In the city of Artemovsk, the 46th district controlled by the Ukrainian authorities, the brother of the former head of the National Security and Defense Council and the Administrative Office Andrei Klyuev, Sergei Klyuev, is walking. In 2013, Klyuev became the owner of the very Mezhyhirya where Yanukovych lived. It is noteworthy that despite his active involvement in the past government and commercial activities closely associated with the former President of Ukraine, Sergei Klyuev got away unscathed and has been “spudging up” Artemovsk for several months. Local pro-Ukrainian activists say his chances of ending up in Verkhovna Rada again are very high. Klyuev positions himself as a self-nominated candidate and distances himself from the Party of Regions. In addition to Klyuev, several former and current members of the Party of Regions are running in this constituency. Among them is Dmitry Reva. Reva is a former people’s deputy from the Party of Regions, his father is also a member of the Party of Regions, three times mayor of Artemovsk.
Slavyansk
The largest number of candidates for deputies from the Donetsk region are registered in the 47th district, the center of which is Slavyansk. Here, under the protection of the Ukrainian army, as many as 31 people expressed a desire to compete for the deputy seat.
Among them it is worth highlighting Sergei Bilogorodsky, a member of the Party of Regions. Local pro-Ukrainian activists call Bilogorodsky a man of Alexander Yanukovych, the son of the ex-president. Several years ago, the OstroV publication wrote about Bilogorodsky’s role in the seizure of the motor transport enterprise of businessman Alexander Dreger, who had a personal conflict with Alexander Yanukovych.
Also walking around the district is Vladimir Bulankov, a regular at the capital’s social events, businessman, president of Tiger Holding.
Irina Dovgan, who gained fame after her public humiliation in Donetsk, and who was chained to the pillar of shame by the separatists for her pro-Ukrainian position, is also running for Slavyansk. Not long ago she took part in the Batkivshchyna party congress, but she is running for elections as a self-nominated candidate.
The nomination of Natalya Korolevskaya’s husband Yuri Solod, who is marching here under the banner of the Opposition Bloc, in the district from Slavyansk caused a stir. Local pro-Ukrainian activists claim that Solod is being secretly helped in the area by the structures of billionaire Rinat Akhmetov.
The former mayor of Slavyansk, Nelly Shtepa’s predecessor, Valentin Rybakov, is also running for deputy. Rybakov is characterized by the ambiguous attitude of local residents towards him, as well as the fact that he managed to spend several weeks in captivity among supporters of the so-called DPR.
It is noteworthy that open supporters of the pro-Russian vector of Ukraine are also trying to enter the Ukrainian parliament from Donbass. This is, in particular, Yuri Turdyo, who is a contributing author on a number of pro-Russian media resources. At one time, Turdjo headed the press service of the businessman’s Metal Union group of companies Ruslana Tsyplakovawhose name was associated with Viktor Yanukovych Jr.
Kramatorsk, Krasnoarmeysk, Dobropolye
A little less, 25 people, are running for deputies from the 48th district in the city of Kramatorsk. Here, according to local pro-Ukrainian activists, the greatest chance of passing is Sergei Bliznyuk, the son of former minister and head of the Donetsk region, deputy from the Party of Regions Anatoly Bliznyuk.
In the 49th district, there is a high probability of victory for Denis Omelyanovich, the man of ex-Minister of Transport Boris Kolesnikov. Omelyanovich is now a current deputy from the Party of Regions.
The situation in the 50th district, which includes the cities of Krasnoarmeysk, Dobropolye, and Dimitrov, is interesting. Here two people from the Party of Regions clashed: Leonid Baysarov and Evgeniy Geller. The first one heads the Pokrovskoe mine management, the structure of the oligarch Victor Nusenkiswho is called an active supporter of separatism in Donbass. The second one is the head of the budget committee of the Verkhovna Rada and is considered close to the richest man in Ukraine yet, Akhmetov.
Mariupol
Of the Donbass districts where elections can also be expected to take place, it is worth highlighting Mariupol. There are two districts in Mariupol, for one of which, the 58th, the current head of the remnants of the Donetsk region, Sergei Taruta, is going to compete. Local pro-Ukrainian activists believe that Taruta’s real competitor could be the deputy commander of the Azov battalion, Vadim Troyan (Read more about him in Tsikavy facts about the new V.O. Heads of the National Police: who is Vadim Troyan?), which is now supported by local residents. Troyan goes to the polls with the Popular Front.
In the 57th district of Mariupol, the most likely victory is for People’s Deputy Sergei Matvienkov. He is a current deputy who entered parliament under the banner of the Party of Regions. He is considered a person close to Akhmetov.
If the elections in the districts controlled by the Ukrainian authorities are more or less clear, then the reasons why parliamentary candidates are registered in the territories occupied by the separatists are inexplicable. Moreover, representatives of, for example, the pro-presidential Petro Poroshenko Bloc are often registered there, whose chances of simply physically getting closer to their constituencies are zero. The real reason for such actions, according to political scientist Alexey Yakubin, is in Kyiv.
“There will no longer be deputies from Crimea in the new Rada, and the absence of deputies from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in the Rada would be perceived even by the loyal world community as an indicator that Kyiv does not control a significant part of eastern Ukraine. This could lead to a review of programs and the size of loans from the IMF. It is clear that elections in these areas will be held rather opaquely, and in some places they will not take place at all, but appearances are now more important than reality for Kyiv.”
Today, the head of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, Yuriy Lutsenko, said that 420 out of 450 people’s deputies will be elected in the elections on October 26. The remaining seats, according to him, will be empty until “until our flag is over Donetsk, Lugansk and Crimea again.”
ANTIKOR