Alexander Omelchenko
Local elections are just around the corner, and mayoral candidates in Ukraine are already preparing in full force. The most prestigious position, of course, is that of mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. One of the leading candidates for this post is Oleksandr Omelchenko, a former Kyiv mayor with "ten years of experience." Just two years ago, Oleksandr Oleksandrovych could have been considered a political corpse, but political analysts predict that he will become the main competitor to the current Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko. More than nine years have passed since his tenure as mayor, yet Kyiv residents still cannot forgive him for some of his "exploits."
How Omelchenko became "San-Sanych"
Oleksandr Omelchenko was born back in 1938 in the Vinnytsia region. Immediately after graduating from a construction university and serving in the army, he began working at the enterprises of the Main Directorate of Kyiv Mining and Construction (GlavKyivMinskStroy). It was at this state-owned company that Omelchenko rose from an ordinary worker to director of a precast concrete plant and chief engineer of a house-building plant. For his distinguished service, he was eventually promoted to first deputy head of GlavKyivMinskStroy. After returning from Afghanistan in 1989, Oleksandr Oleksandrovych's career rapidly advanced. After working within the Gosstroy (GlavKyivMinskStroy), he became deputy executive committee of the Kyiv City Council of People's Deputies and served as general director of the Kyiv Reconstruction State Enterprise. After 1994, Omelchenko became deputy chairman of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA), and in 1996, its chairman.
Alexander Omelchenko
10 years guarding Kyiv
From his first days in power, Alexander Alexandrovich chose the path of a "business manager," as his arrogant, politicized image held little promise for him in politics. This image helped Omelchenko win the favor of nearly all the ruling parties. When evaluating his performance as mayor, he is often compared to former Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. The official never denied that he looked up to him. And after coming to power, Omelchenko gradually began to create a kind of "subsystem" that, with the help of municipal-bureaucratic businesses and the media, helped him finance various campaign events.
At one time, the "successful builder" Oleksandr Omelchenko was accused of corruption related to the reconstruction of Khreshchatyk and the "Ukraine" Palace. However, it was during his reign that Kyiv began to acquire the characteristics of a "European city," at least according to the media outlets he controlled. Oleksandr Oleksandrovych was frequently accused of abuse of power, both in the socio-economic sphere and in his personal affairs. A striking example of this is Oleksandr Omelchenko's behavior during the 1999 mayoral elections, when, literally, all municipal authorities, down to the lowest level, worked for him.
Igor Surkis
In the 1999 local elections, Omelchenko secured the support of almost all parties. He managed to bring the mayoral election to a winning contest between two candidates: "business executive Omelchenko" and "oligarch Surkis." This ensured his complete victory—76% of the votes went to Omelchenko, while Surkis received 16%. Before the 1999 elections, San-Sanych was positioned as "Kuchma's man," but the presidential elections showed that he was gradually moving away from the "ruling elite." As the 2002 parliamentary elections approached, Omelchenko increasingly began to position himself as an independent politician. Rumor has it that he entered politics at the instigation of President Kuchma's administration. In 2001, he became the leader of the "Unity" party, which "entered politics" to draw votes away from Viktor Yushchenko's "Our Ukraine" bloc, with whom Oleksandr Omelchenko was actively flirting.
As the facts show, Omelchenko owes his rise solely to Leonid Kuchma. It was under his rule that he managed to seize control of all the levers of power, including the Kyiv City Council. For his loyalty to Leonid Kuchma, he received a one-year postponement of the city mayoral elections, which in 1998 could have been held by anyone except Omelchenko, who was unpopular at the time. In that year, which Kuchma encouraged, Omelchenko, with the help of his controlled municipal authorities and media, raised his approval rating from practically zero to the sky.
But all "patrons" sooner or later lose power, and with them, so do their protégés. After Leonid Kuchma stepped down as president, Omelchenko soon followed suit. Although he flirted with other parties, he always remained loyal to his patron. Without the president's support, Oleksandr Omelchenko finished only third in the 2006 elections, behind Leonid Chernovetsky and Vitali Klitschko. The former mayor received the support of 305 residents of the capital. Omelchenko's attempts to challenge the election results in court were unsuccessful.
Omelchenko and the tape scandal
Transcript of conversation between Omelchenko and Yushchenko:
1. Hello?
2. Hello. This is the assistant…
1. Yes...
2. …Yushchenko Viktor Andreevich.
1. Yes, yes. Now.
2. You know…
1. Right now, yes, right now, just a second…(020)
023
O. Hello, hello!
Y. Hello, hello...
O. Good afternoon!
Yu. Alexander Sanych. Good health!
O. Viktor Andreevich?
Yu. Yes.
O. How could you do such a thing, leave... uh... uh... for Vinnytsia on the day when Medvedchuk is being voted on first, and you didn't even say a damn thing, you don't know anything... They took Poroshenko with them. Udovenko doesn't know, Kostenko doesn't know, and Korol doesn't know. How could you do such a thing?!
Yu. Alexander Sanych... They vote. They vote.
O. I'm asking you, Viktor Andreevich, how could you do this!!! I've been working with you... with Plyushch for four hours now. How could you do this?! Why, why didn't you gather your people?!
Yu. They vote, Alexander Sanych.
O. Do they vote?
Yu: What should I collect? I have signatures. What should I collect?
O. Do you know that the King did not surrender?!
Yu. The King will hand over in 15 minutes.
O. Viktor Andreevich... Be afraid...
Yu. Indistinctly, speaks at the same time.
O. Viktor Andreevich, Viktor Andreevich. I congratulate you on the Day of St. Andrew the First-Called, your holy father.
Yu. Thank you.
O. And I ask you, if the King doesn’t bring the wet lists in 15-20 minutes and doesn’t hand them over…
Yu. Alexander Sanych...
O. For God's sake! Please come back!
Yu. No questions...
O. Leave Vinnytsia today. Turn back halfway! I beg you! Return to Kyiv!
Yu. Alexander Sanych, so now… I, I spoke with Poroshenko this morning. There are no questions!
O. I beg you, go back to Kyiv! Or have Poroshenko and Korol come to me in 15 minutes and compile the lists, the wet lists. The wet lists, not a copy!
Yu. Yes, yes... I'll call you in 15, 10 minutes.
Oh, I beg you! Or go back to Kyiv!
Yu. Good.
Oh, do you understand me? Ukraine's fate is being decided! Return to Kyiv!!!
1. Hello!
2. This is Yushchenko's assistant. Could I have Alexander Sanych, please?
1. Yes, right now, just a second, right now.
O. Good afternoon!
Yu. Alexander Sanych?
Oh, yes…
Yu. Good health. Did Solidarity bring the lists?
O. She didn't bring it. The King just announced that Matvienko... Hello...
Yu: Yes...
Oh... and Bondarenko, that Poroshenko's lists are closed. Tell him, the idiot, to go break into the safe. Do you understand?! Morozov failed—20. And Poroshenko—20. Forty votes! Viktor, what have you done?!
Yu. Alexander Sanych...
O. Viktor Andreevich! What have you done?!
Yu. Alexander Sanych...
O. I asked you to come back from the road!!!
Yu. Alexander Sanych... well, I'm on the road... I, I'm in Vinnytsia...
O. But I asked you to turn the car back, Victor?!
Yu. Alexander Sanych... So I'm in Vinnytsia. Well... It's two and a half hours.
O. So Poroshenko is also with you!
Yu. So I'm saying two and a half hours. If you insist, he'll come back. Well, that's two and a half hours, the voting's already over...
O. Why didn't he give the order to the King? Why doesn't he give the order now to the secretariat to open the safe and bring the lists into the King's hall... uh... uh...?! And you... Why did you sell me out?!!! You sold me out!!! You are a traitor!!!
Yu. At the same time, very indistinctly - Alexander Sanych...
San Sanych and football
At one point, Oleksandr Omelchenko became interested in football, or more precisely, the money it could make. During the 2001-2002 football season, the capital's CSKA team was renamed and made a municipal team (the revived CSKA played in the First League with the enormous support of Igor Surkis, Omelchenko's main rival). The rebuilt Arsenal was a grandiose project, budgeted at 40 million hryvnias per year (US$8 million)—a colossal sum at the time, exceeding all of Kyiv's sports expenses combined. Within a few months, it became clear the project was unprofitable; no one wanted the team in Kyiv, and millions of hryvnias continued to fly in the empty "Republican Stadium," where the capital's main "municipal" team played its matches.
https://fr.ill.in.ua/img/forall/a/13477/7.png?1360925765
Fatal accident
In November 2009, former Kyiv mayor and then-member of parliament Oleksandr Omelchenko struck and killed Oleksandr Karpinsky, a 46-year-old construction worker. According to witnesses, Karpinsky was crossing the road at a zebra crossing, legally, but Omelchenko claimed otherwise. According to Oleksandr Oleksandrovich, the pedestrian violated the rules by crossing the road diagonally, not on the zebra crossing. The case was eventually hushed up due to "lack of evidence." The Kyiv police press service claims that after several forensic examinations, it was determined that Karpinsky was struck 12 meters from the zebra crossing.
Alexander Omelchenko after an accident
Oddly enough, his family didn't protest this decision at all, since, according to Alexander's common-law wife, Svetlana Tetyusheva, the former mayor of Kyiv bought the deceased's son and half-brother a two-story house near Kyiv and a new car, and also paid all funeral expenses. Moreover, he personally attended the wake.
Oleksandr Oleksandrovich's biography is filled with contradictory factors, portraying him as a remarkable person, a family man, and a business executive, while casting doubt on everything he achieved during his time in public service. Ukrainian media are already gearing up for the second round of the Kyiv mayoral elections, predicting Omelchenko will be Vitali Klitschko's main competitor. Whether this will be the case is difficult to say, but unfortunately, each of these individuals has their own skeletons in the closet.
See also:
Vitali Klitschko: The Dark Past of the "Looking Tomorrow"
Dmitry Samofalov, for SKELET-info
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