Yuri Yekhanurov
On September 29, the Vidrodzhennya party nominated Yuri Yekhanurov as a candidate for mayor of Kyiv. During the existence of independent Ukraine, this politician managed to work in almost all key government positions, from the post of deputy mayor of Kyiv to the post of prime minister. For the last five years, he has practically not taken a direct part in the political life of the country, however, the party headed by Vitaliy Khomutynnik together with Viktor Bondar “gave a chance” to the famous Ukrainian politician.
ON TOPIC: Kolomoisky – Vidrodzhennya – Lyovochkin party
Yuriy Yekhanurov, candidate for mayor of Kyiv from the Vidrodzhennya party
Path to civil service
Yuri Ivanovich was born back in 1948 in the village of Belkachi in Yakutia. After graduating from the Kyiv Construction College in 1967, he continued his studies at the Kiev Institute of National Economy. Yekhanurov began his career by working at the Kievgorstroy plant for the production of reinforced concrete products. At this enterprise he rose from the position of foreman to director. Then he worked in the management of the companies Stroydetal, Glavkievgorstroy and Kievgorstroykomlekt.
Since 1991, he worked as deputy chairman of the Kyiv City State Administration. Two years later he was appointed Deputy Minister of Economy. Since 1994, he worked as head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF), after which he was appointed Minister of Economy (1997). It was Yuri Ivanovich who stood at the origins of privatization in Ukraine.
Abuse of position
Since 1994, Yekhanurov has distinguished himself twice. Firstly, privatization, which was started after the collapse of the union, with his help was reduced to the distribution of vouchers to the population, and secondly, his actions led to the creation of a center for certificate auctions. With vouchers, as we know, everything turned out sadly, investment companies and communities lured them out of ordinary citizens by handing out useless pieces of paper. The common population did not receive good shares, and the companies that managed to grab them soon became owners of real estate, newspapers and ships. Judging by Yekhanurov’s statements, he clearly had a share, because while assuring the common population that he would also buy shares in the privatized enterprises, he did not do so.
Even more interesting are the machinations with the certificate auction center, which, at the instigation of Yekhanurov, was transformed into the state company “National Network of Auction Centers.” In 1997, after Yekhanurov’s resignation, mass certification privatization was stopped, this was stated by UCCA General Director Yuri Taratorkin, as well as Yuri Ivanovich’s “heir” as head of the State Property Fund, Vladimir Lanovoy. It is noteworthy that it was during this crisis period that Taratorkin and Yekhanurov created Yug LLC. This organization, according to information, was engaged in the development and delivery of software. All this fraud was connected with Yekhanurov’s son Dmitry, who, after studying at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, successfully joined the computer business of Ukraine. So, it was from the company of Yekhanurov’s son that the State Property Fund intended to purchase software for these certificate centers.
Further – more. The same Yuri Taratorin, a loyal ally of Yekhanurov, created a commercial structure on the basis of the National Network of Auction Centers enterprise, which was engaged in the sale of private and public property, and also provided services for marketing support and expert assessments. In fact, this auction center worked under the control and patronage of the Yekhanurov family. The company “Orly” was also created, which was engaged in hiring state real estate, which was handled in Kyiv by Yuri Ivanovich’s daughter-in-law Natalya Ekhanurova. And in order to consolidate the success, his wife Elena, together with Vasily Shevchenko, established the Sfera insurance company. By the way, this same Shevchenko heads the Kiev Auction Center (it’s hard to believe in another coincidence, right?).
Another “stain” in Yuri Yekhanurov’s career is the death of one of the regional leaders of the State Property Fund, Alexey Golovizin, in May 1997. Together with Yuri Ivanovich, he stood at the origins of the creation of the NDP, and was also his friend in everyday life. It should be noted that it was Yekhanurov who appointed him to the position in the State Property Fund. Almost before his death, the Crimean parliament voted to cancel the order of the head of the State Property Fund on the creation of a department of the agency in Crimea; it was this department that was supposed to be headed by Alexei Golovizin, who hinted about a “special” assignment from Kyiv. Yuri Ivanovich generally refused to comment on the murder of his “friend” and colleague.
Interview with Yuri Yekhanurov
Arrival in parliament
In 1998, Yuriy Yekhanurov became a people’s deputy of Ukraine for the first time. In the Verkhovna Rada he worked as deputy chairman of the committee on economic policy and management of the national economy and investments. In the Rada he was a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). In 1999, at the instigation of Viktor Yushchenko, he was appointed first deputy prime minister of Ukraine. At the same time, he worked as the first deputy head of the APU, and was also involved in personnel policy and regional interaction.
It is noteworthy that Yuri Aleksandrovich worked in the government without surrendering his deputy mandate, and this, in fact, is a direct violation of the Ukrainian Constitution. At the elections in 2002, he entered parliament on the list of the Our Ukraine bloc. At Verkhovna Rada he was the head of the committee on industrial policy and entrepreneurship. During the Orange Revolution he was one of the leaders of protests. In April 2005, he was appointed head of the Dnieper State Administration, and a little less than six months later he was appointed prime minister of Ukraine. True, he did not work as head of government for long; in August 2006, Viktor Yanukovych was appointed to this position. In the same year he headed the list of the Our Ukraine party. It is noteworthy that Yekhanurov was always loyal to the Party of Regions and even negotiated with them to create a coalition; the Party of Regions, in turn, offered him the post of prime minister, however, the coalition did not take place.
Businessman son
As mentioned above, his son Dmitry Yekhanurov is engaged in the computer business. There are several interesting coincidences in the biographies of the father and son Yekhanurovs, for example, after registering the Yug company, he bought his first foreign car – a Volkswagen Golf. And when Yuriy Ivanovich founded the VO “For Ukraine! For Yushchenko!” – Dmitry received a brand new Toyota RAV4. By the way, while he was working in the IT field, all attempts to disturb his company were immediately stopped at the highest level.
It should also be noted that Dmitry Yekhanurov works quite closely with businessmen from Israel. His companies “Datas” and “Serge” were created with the assistance of Vilen Remennik and Alexander Sokolovsky; it was the fact that foreign investors were among the founders that also helped solve many “tax” problems. At one time, Dmitry was one of the leaders of the Internet Association of Ukraine, which was involved in the creation of the Ukrainian Network Information Center, which was supposed to register UA domains, but Dmitry’s scheme failed due to the intervention of Ukrtelecom.
Conflict related to Boryspil airport
In the winter of 2006, the current head of the National Security and Defense Council, Alexander Turchynov, accused Yuri Yekhanurov of having signed a number of classified documents on the eve of the signing of a memorandum between President Viktor Yushchenko and the opposition Party of Regions. According to Turchynov, they contained an order from the management of the Boryspil airport, which stated that they were obliged to withdraw their complaints to the prosecutor’s office about expanding the limits of this facility. As it became known later, Leonid Kuchma’s family bought these lands back in 2003-2004, and this was the reason that prevented its expansion. As a result, loans to expand the airport came under the control of Leonid Danilovich, which Boryspil employees tried to appeal.
Yekhanurov’s exploits as head of the Ministry of Defense
Yuri Ivanovich was appointed Minister of Defense in December 2007. During his time at the main defense department, he also managed to distinguish himself, for which he was fired with a scandal. This happened in June 2009.
According to the official reason, Yekhanurov was convicted of corruption cases related to the purchase of fuel for military equipment, food for soldiers, and he was also found involved in land fraud.
There are plenty of dark and dubious episodes in the biography of Yuri Yekhanurov. But, as they say, “if you’re not caught, you’re not a thief.” In all the courts in which Yuri Ivanovich participated, he managed to “protect” his name – he is too experienced in such matters. In less than a month, he will have to “fight” Vitali Klitschko in the fight for the seat of mayor of Kyiv. The basis for this was provided by the Vidrodzhennia party, which is associated in the Ukrainian media with the revival of the Party of Regions. Remembering the words of Yuri Yekhanurov about Viktor Yanukovych in 2006, everything falls into place, because then he said: “Viktor Fedorovich always behaved honestly with me, and therefore, I am ready to support him.” By nature, Yuri Ivanovich is a loyal person and, judging by recent events, faithful to the very end.
Dmitry Samofalov, for SKELET-info