Zoryan Shkiryak
Ukrainians started talking about such a character in the political arena as Zoryan Shkiryak last year, when he, in the position of acting. head of the State Emergency Service, flew to evacuate compatriots from Nepal after the earthquake. True, 5 days after the disaster and with his common-law wife Ekaterina Khramova on board a military aircraft, who does not work for the State Emergency Service. Shkiryak himself explained that Khramova’s presence was due to her knowledge of “eastern practices” and “civic position.” The “business trip” lasted 7 days instead of the prescribed 1.5 days and cost the state 6 million hryvnia. After the “Indian vacation,” as the rescue operation was popularly called, Shkiryak resigned.
Today Zoryan Shkiryak is at the center of events: he has become an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov (Read more about him in the article Arsen Avakov: the criminal past of the Minister of Internal Affairs) for the second time, actively participates in high-profile political affairs, and is an ardent supporter of a healthy lifestyle.
Family history
Zoryan Nestorovich Shkiryak looks older than his years, although he is quite young – he was born on November 14, 1970 in Uzhgorod into a family of doctors. Father – Shkiryak Nestor Nikolaevich was a phthisiatrician, worked at the Institute of Phthisiology and Pulmonology named after. F.G. Yanovsky and in the clinics of the All-Union Scientific Center for Radiation Medicine of Ukraine. Died in 1989. Mother – Shkiryak-Nizhnik Zoreslava Antonovna Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Medical and Psychosocial Problems of Family Health, State Institution “Institute of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Professor of NMAPE named after. P.L. Shupika, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Bioethics under the Presidium of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, member of the Steering Committee on Bioethics of the Council of Europe, member of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhumane Treatment and Punishment (ECPT). In 2003, she received the Gratitude of the President of Ukraine “For significant personal contribution to the development of the Ukrainian state.” Zoreslava Antonovna is a hereditary doctor. She was born into the legendary Braschaikiv dynasty. Her parents, Maria and Anton Braschaikiv, received medical degrees at the Sorbonne University. Returning to Ukraine, Anton Braschaikiv became the chief physician of the Uzhgorod Patient Insurance Fund, and his wife Maria worked as a pediatrician.
The Shkiryaks have no less outstanding relatives. Brothers on the grandfather’s side, Mikhail and Yuliy Braschaikiv, are well-known socio-political figures of Transcarpathia of the last century, were members of the government of Augustin Voloshin in Carpathian Ukraine. One of the central streets of Uzhgorod is named after them. Brothers on the grandmother’s side, Ostap and Roman Selyansky, were doctors. Ostap Selyansky is a surgeon by profession, for a long time he was the personal physician of Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky, lived and worked in Lvov and Dresden, and Roman is a cardiologist, lived in Poland.
Zoryan Nestorovich has a brother, Anton Shkiryak, a military engineer by training, a major in the anti-aircraft missile forces, currently living in Uzhgorod, an entrepreneur, a representative of the company “Wellstar” (Germany-Hungary).
By the way, the family of Zoryan Shkiryak has the coat of arms “Amicus” (“buddy”) and was awarded the title of count. The awards were received thanks to the knight Miroslav Volansky (line of Maria Braszczajkiv), who carried the dying brother of the king Boleslav from the battlefield. By decree of the king, the whole family was honored.
Golden Youth, Europe, director
Zoryan Shkiryak did not live long in Uzhgorod. When the boy was 3 years old, the whole family moved to Kyiv. The young man graduated from school in the city of Lyuboml, Volyn region. There he got a job at the Central Regional Hospital as an orderly, while simultaneously entering medical school. After working and studying for several months, the young man joins the Soviet army. This is a strange act for a representative of the golden youth, which Shkiryak was.
A year after demobilization, he gets a job at the Ukrainian Language and Information Center as a manager, and 2 years later he moves to a similar position at the Silex MP. Next comes a series of private companies where Zoryan Nestorovich holds senior positions and receives a good salary: from 1994 to 2000 – Deputy General Director for Marketing of the ATM company, from 2000 to 2003 – Deputy General Director of Tiras LLC. In 2003, he opened his own business – the Svitlozir pharmacy chain (he was the general director), which he successfully sold in the name of a political career. From 2006 to 2010 – executive director of Till-2002 LLC.
It is worth noting that Shkiryak joined the army at the age of 18, began working as a manager at 21, and became a deputy at 24. general director, so a logical question arises: when did he receive higher education? But Zoryan Nestorovich is brilliant: the young man graduated from several educational institutions in turn. The first on the list of educational institutions is the Commercial College in Kyiv, where he received his education as a lawyer; then Shkiryak goes to Austria (Graz) to the Business School, where he graduates from insurance business management; Afterwards he enters the European University. He did not stay in Europe, although brilliant career prospects opened up there, but returns to his homeland.
Most likely, Zoryan Nestorovich studied and worked at the same time. Fortunately, director positions allowed. By the way, Shkiryak graduated from his last alma mater, the Kiev Institute of Political Sciences, in 2010. He graduated from the university with a master’s degree in political science.
There is one very interesting fact in the biography of Zoryan Nestorovich, which is not widely known. A certain Shkiryak Zoryan Nestorovich, born in 1970, appeared in court twice in 1986 – the first time for hooliganism, the second for robbery. Moreover, in the database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a person with this last name is listed as a criminal authority associated with the leadership of the Levoberezhnaya organized crime group. This gang was credited with control over several markets in the capital, in particular the Troeshina market. It is not known whether 16-year-old Zoryan Shkiryan could have been part of an organized crime group. However, judging by the dizzying and fast career, nothing can be ruled out.
The path to big politics
Shkiryak’s political career as an economist and lawyer started quite by accident. In 2002, he took the post of deputy of the Shevchenkovsky District Council of Kyiv. The position is small, rather necessary solely for the mandate.
The Orange Revolution turned everything upside down. Shkiryak quickly found his bearings and in 2005 joined the People’s Union “Our Ukraine”. By the way, in the same year he sold his business – a chain of pharmacies. After this, he is entrusted with the leadership of the executive committee of the Shevchenko district organization of this political party in the capital. In the 2006 early elections, Shkiryak was elected to the Kiev City Council on party lists, where he worked until 2008. He combined his political career with entrepreneurial activity, but no one paid attention to this.
In 2007, Zoryan Nestorovich was beaten by unknown persons. Three thugs attacked the deputy when he was returning from a business meeting. They began to insult him, and then they used fists and brass knuckles. According to the official, unknown persons waved in front of him the documents of prosecutors and deputy IDs. The reason for the incident, as they said then, was Shkiryak’s political views, namely opposition to the mayor of Kyiv Chernovetsky (Read more about him in the article Leonid Chernovetsky: how “Lenya Cosmos” robbed Kyiv and moved to Georgia) and the desire to take his position.
Zoryan Nestorovich’s political views changed dramatically in 2009. This happened just after the New Year’s congress of the Our Ukraine party. Then changes were made to the charter in order to legalize Yushchenko’s leadership in the party. For example, Our Ukrainians introduced the position of “head of the party council,” who was supposed to be elected not by the congress, but by the party council, and it would be he who would exercise the current leadership of “Our Ukraine.” Zoryan Nestorovich was categorically against it. He began to speak critically of the actions of President Viktor Yushchenko. He even stated that the President personally destroyed the party with his spineless policy of double standards and illogical steps. In addition, Shkiryak was also outraged by the fact that, on Yushchenko’s personal instructions, members of the Kyiv branch of “Our Ukraine” began to be summoned for questioning to the Prosecutor General’s Office in the notorious “poisoning” case. From all this it becomes clear that Zoryan Nestorovich did not become the leader of the party and could not come to terms with it. Disagreements led to Shkiryak leaving the ranks of the Our Ukraine party in the same year.
“New Kyiv”, new party and corruption
However, Zoryan Nestorovich did not remain idle for long and in 2009 he founded the civil association “New Kyiv”. He decided to fight the authorities in this way. Shkiryak distinguished himself with original actions and statements that brought absolutely nothing.
Lunges towards Chernovetsky. The first thing the politician did was to closely monitor the activities of his long-time “friend” Leonid Chernovetsky. Together with Alexander Briginets, a former deputy of the Kyiv Rada from BYuT, he organized an unsuccessful fight against the developers of Andreevsky Descent.
Losing the pink elephant. The most fun was the protest against the Tax Code in 2010. Then entrepreneurs protested the law, which, in their opinion, would destroy small and medium-sized businesses. People created a tent city on the Maidan. They were joined by the GO “New Kyiv” and, of course, Zoryan Shkiryak. The protest lasted a week, then the tents were dismantled by court order. And then it turned out that the Civil Defense had lost the inflatable pink elephant. Activists of “New Kyiv” launched this toy during a protest, as the personification of the unfulfilled promises of the authorities. They hoped to use this tool of political influence more than once, but someone stole it. Shkiryak contacted law enforcement agencies with a request to find the elephant.
In 2010, Zoryan Nestorovich was elected chairman of the Social-Christian Party of Ukraine. The political force did not particularly distinguish itself in anything, and its head was more engaged in social activities in his GO “New Kyiv”.
In 2011, Shkiryak decided to take revenge on his former boss Yushchenko and support the sufferer Yulia Tymoshenko, who was under investigation in the “gas case.” Zoryan Nestorovich turned to the Prosecutor General’s Office, in particular to Viktor Pshonka, with a request to initiate a criminal case against Viktor Yushchenko for giving false testimony in the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv against ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Then the ex-president said that it was Tymoshenko who thwarted the signing of lucrative contracts with Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). Viktor Andreevich said that he had no authority and did not recall the Ukrainian delegation from negotiations with Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) on gas supplies to Ukraine, which took place in Moscow at the end of 2008. According to Shkiryak, Yushchenko, who is a secret ally of the Party of Regions and President Viktor Yanukovych, should sit in the dock. The prosecutor’s office accepted the statement, but did not find any evidence of a crime.
The judge of the “gas trial” Rodion Kireev also fell under the hot hand of Zoryan Nestorovich. After a representative of Themis removed Shkiryak from the conference room allegedly for thunderous applause for Tymoshenko’s new lawyer, he decided to sue the offender.
By the way, in 2016, the politician lost interest in Yulia Vladimirovna and said that she was under the direct influence of the Kremlin, which clearly indicated her tasks in Ukraine. Most likely, this is due to the new political direction in the activities of Zoryan Nestorovich.
In 2011, Shkiryak became a member of the Council of Entrepreneurs of Ukraine.
In 2012, the Social Christian Party dared to take a decisive step – they joined the united Ukrainian opposition under the leadership of Alexander Turchynov (Read more about him in the article by Alexander Turchinov. Skeletons in the closet of the “bloody pastor” of Ukraine), which included “Fatherland” by Yulia Tymoshenko (at that time she was in a colony), “Front of Change” by Arseniy Yatsenyuk. The goal is to fight the Yanukovych regime. However, the efforts were not crowned with success, Viktor Fedorovich remained President, and Shkiryak dropped out of political life – he stopped attending the show, and the promotions from “New Kyiv” came to naught.
Zoryan Shkiryak could have continued to play the role of a crystal-honest politician if not for the incident that occurred in 2013. At that time, the politician was a confidant of people’s deputy Dmitry Iosifovich Andrievsky from the Batkivshchyna faction. Zoryan Nestorovich knew Andrievsky from the People’s Union “Our Ukraine”, only Dmitry Iosifovich left the political force a year before Shkiryak, in 2008.
So, Zoryan Nestorovich did not pass the honesty test from the Groshi program. Journalists decided to find out whether it is possible to “promote” the law in Parliament and how much it costs. They asked public figure Tatyana Montyan to lobby Shkiryak for a bill on housing and communal services. The politician turned out to be experienced in this matter and agreed, naming the price at $5,000 (40 thousand hryvnia in 2013). By the way, an interesting fact: a hotel room in Paris, where Dmitry Andrievsky likes to relax, coincidentally, also costs $5,000 per night. Apparently, Shkiryak worked so that his “employer” could rest.
After an uncomfortable situation, the politician went underground. We haven’t heard from him for about six months.
Maidan and career growth
Euromaidan brought many politicians to power: some corrupt officials replaced others. And Zoryan Shkiryak is no exception.
After the bloody dispersal of students on the Maidan by Berkut, Zoryan Nestorovich realized that a momentous time had come and immediately became an activist. He called on all citizens to come to Euromaidan and protect young people. Shkiryak was emotional as always. “Guys, who have balls, come to the square,” the politician shouted on the online broadcast of Svoboda activist Alexander Aronets.
According to the old tradition, where a civil association is planned, in this case, a parliamentary one, Zoryan Nestorovich is there. So, when they announced the creation of the people’s association “Maidan”, Shkiryak immediately became its active member. The self-proclaimed organizing committee, hastily put together on the basis of ambition, did not allow those “not on the list” to the microphones. Deputies arrived by the hour for their own speeches and paid a fee for their speech.
After Yanukovych’s escape, Shkiryak was offered a position in the State Migration Service, but he refused. Of course, Zoryan Nestorovich was thinking about the future – the 2014 elections were just around the corner. The politician submitted documents to the CEC as a candidate for the President of Ukraine, as a self-nominated candidate. In them, Shkiryak indicated that he was temporarily unemployed, a member of the Maidan, and lived in Kyiv (unhealthy ambitions!). And then there’s a sensation! Shkiryak turned out to be the poorest presidential candidate. His asset declaration for 2013 was published. According to it, the politician and his family members did not earn a penny in a year. At the same time, he spent 16.2 thousand UAH. to repay the loan and more than 5 thousand for interest on the loan, and also contributed 75.7 thousand UAH of authorized capital to the organization. In addition, Shkiryak indicated that he owns an apartment with an area of 74 square meters. m, and two cars – a 2005 Toyota Camry XLE and a 2003 Nissan Primera. Voters had a question: with such a meager income as for a deputy, where did Shkiryak get the money to pay for the registration fee as a presidential candidate?
Moreover, the political struggle for the presidency reached its climax when Zoryan Shkiryak was sued by the Communist Party of Ukraine and his opponent Petro Symonenko. The lawsuit was drawn up on the basis of Shkiryak’s statements addressed to the Communist Party during the Shuster LIVE program. On live television, the presidential candidate called the Communists the mouthpiece of the Kremlin. The politician did not come to court and the case was hushed up.
A week and a half after submitting the documents to the CEC, Zoryan Shkiryak changed his mind and took them back… However, an incident occurred during the Presidential elections. The name of Zoryan Nestorovich was on the ballot, and 0.02% of Ukrainians voted for him.
In the summer of 2014, a new position awaited Zoryan Shkiryak. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Arsen Avakov, appointed him as his adviser. The scope of his competence included organizing the safe removal of people from the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, where armed clashes took place between the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the DPR, LPR.
Apparently Shkiryak liked the position so much that he withdrew his candidacy as a majoritarian candidate in constituency No. 217 in the city of Kyiv as part of the early parliamentary elections in 2014. He gave the “seat” to the commander of the Azov volunteer battalion, the head of the Patriot of Ukraine organization, Andrei Biletsky, who ran in the same district as a self-nominated candidate. In addition, the politician became Biletsky’s confidant.
Zoryan Shkiryak and Andrey Biletsky
After all this, Zoryan Shkiryak left for the ATO zone. He regularly updated his Twitter and posted photos, and also sent news from the fields. The most striking one was that Putin (*criminal) ordered the capture of Shkiryak. At the height of the conflict in Donbass, Zoryan Nestorovich said that the militants intended to capture several high-ranking security officials or civil servants in the ATO zone, clearly hinting at themselves. It is unknown where such information was obtained.
Extraordinary and unfortunate cases
On March 25, 2015, the Cabinet of Ministers appoints Zoryan Nestorovich acting. Head of the State Service for Emergency Situations. The politician “obliges” the new position to the corrupt leadership of this department, Sergei Bochkovsky and his deputy Vasily Stoetsky, who were detained on suspicion of embezzling budget funds on an especially large scale. They were arrested (lustrated) right in front of the cameras live, as it became fashionable to do after the Maidan. The officials were accused of organizing non-transparent tenders and purchasing fuel for the needs of the Ministry of Emergency Situations at an inflated cost. The kickbacks went to the Cypriot accounts of Bochkovsky and Stoetsky. Later the charges were changed because there was not enough evidence. Sergei Bochkovsky was accused of extortion. Allegedly, he demanded a monthly tribute from the heads of the regional departments of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the amount of 50 to 150 thousand hryvnia. And Vasily Stoetsky was completely released.
Of course, after such a resonance, the department should have been headed by a politician with a crystal reputation and an ardent Maidan activist. Shkiryak still has at least a little something to do with the latter, but according to the first criterion, in the light of his activities, nothing at all. However, Zoryan Nestorovich, a man without a specialized education who has never worked as a rescuer, a lawyer and political scientist, begins to work in the Civil Service. Let us note the “zrada” – after the demonstrative and open detention of senior officials in the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the appointment of an acting department took place behind closed doors, even without the presence of journalists. The day after Zoryan Shkiryak’s appointment, he announced total lustration and signed 300 notices of dismissal. True, a month later it turned out that only 50 people had been removed from their positions, and only some minor officials.
The fact that Zoryan Nestorovich was far from the profession of rescuer became clear when a large-scale fire occurred at Chernobyl. The fire covered 320 hectares and spread towards the Chernobyl power plant and Kyiv. Everyone was afraid of a radiation release, but fortunately this did not happen. The fire took 4 days to extinguish.
Before the fires in the exclusion zone had completely subsided, a new disaster occurred – an earthquake in Nepal. The President signed a decree sending a plane to Kathmandu to evacuate Ukrainians from the disaster zone. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were about 200 Ukrainian citizens there. Chief rescuer Shkiryak led the operation, taking with him journalists and his beloved woman.
And then the epic began, which all Ukrainians watched live. Rescuers flew out 5 days after the incident. On the way to Kathmandu the plane broke down. The necessary part was urgently delivered from Kyiv by special flight, which also turned out to be faulty. I had to send another parcel. Then the team could not get permission to land in Kathmandu, so they landed in Delhi. The journey dragged on. Shkiryak decided to fly to Kathmandu on a regular scheduled plane. Already in the capital of Nepal, it turned out that the journalists had run out of money, and they, as citizens of Ukraine, wrote statements asking for help. A group of rescuers had to spend the night on the territory of the residence of the Ukrainian consul along with citizens awaiting evacuation. On the way back, again at Delhi airport, the plane’s tire blew out, and people spent hours waiting, lying on the asphalt close to the runway.
The operation lasted a week. Fortunately, the “star” landing, as Zoryan Nestorovich’s team was nicknamed, returned to Ukraine.
The result of the operation was that it would have been much cheaper to save everyone by regular planes. And most importantly, a week later the Cabinet of Ministers dismissed Zoryan Shkiryak from his position as chairman of the State Emergency Service and appointed Nikolai Chechetkin as chairman. Before leaving, the politician distributed certificates and awards to all rescuers.
However, Zoryan Nestorovich was not left without work. Arsen Avakov made a fuss. He offered Shkiryak the position of his adviser. “Zoryan Shkiryak is our flesh and blood… and he will work in the department if he has such a desire,” Avakov said.
Yes, by the way, he never managed to learn how to be an “EmCheEsnik”. Watch the following video. In it, the ex-Minister of Emergency Situations, Mr. Shkiryak, throws his cigarette butt into the dry grass behind his back. During fire safety and fire extinguishing exercises!
Income, love and hobbies
Zoryan Nestorovich’s new income declaration for 2015 is no longer as sad as the one for 2013. Last year the politician earned 1 million 149 thousand UAH. The official has one apartment (117 sq.m.) and drives a 2008 Mistubishi Pajero SUV.
Zoryan Nestorovich was married for 19 years; he divorced several years ago. He has two daughters: Zoreslava-Maria and Christina-Sofia. The ex-wife went abroad and got married there for the second time. Her youngest daughter, Christina-Sofia, left with her. Zoreslav’s eldest daughter-Maria remained with Shkiryak.
Today Shkiryak has a new love – yoga instructor Ekaterina Khramova.
Zoryan Shkiryak and Ekaterina Khramova
Zoryan Shkiryak is a long-time fan of fitness and judo, and periodically boasts of photos from the gym on social networks. As it turned out, back in 2007 his weight was 105 kg, but in seven months he lost 30 kg. From that time to this day, Zoryan Nestorovich goes to the gym, eats only healthy foods, consumes more proteins, low-fat dairy products, and gives up bread, potatoes and fried foods.
Moreover, under the influence of his beloved woman, Shkiryak became interested in yoga.
Arina Dmitrieva, for SKELET-info
