Alexey Goncharenko
A champion of the Russian language, a zealous environmentalist, a Party of Regions activist, a sincere Ukrainian patriot, and a member of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc—that's how MP Oleksiy Honcharenko has positioned himself at various times. The range of qualities he claims to possess is quite extraordinary. However, this isn't the end of the story; it recently became known that he's being considered for the next Minister of Health, and the Petro Poroshenko Bloc has already garnered over 50 votes in favor. It's interesting to see how it could happen that a man who made his political career in the Party of Regions and actively fought for Russian as a second official language has suddenly shifted from an "openly pro-Russian" stance to a "fiercely patriotic" one. And has he truly changed it, or is he continuing to moonlight as a so-called "Kremlin agent"? And, in fact, where did "Leshik" Honcharenko come from?
In the footsteps of an abandoned father
Alexey Alexeyevich was born in 1980 in the glorious city of Odessa. His father, Alexey Kostusev, now the former head of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine and former mayor of Odessa, abandoned the family when Alexey Alexeyevich was just three years old (after his father's departure, he took his mother's surname, Goncharenko). After finishing school, he entered Odessa Medical University on a state-funded scholarship without taking any entrance exams. Rumor has it that Kostusev secretly "paid" for his admission, but Goncharenko himself denies this, claiming he was admitted to the university as a "biology Olympiad winner." Regardless, he graduated with honors, and during his studies, he even became involved in politics (apparently, this was his way of proving to his father that he was capable).
His political career began with the Green Party of Ukraine. Having established himself as an active member, in 2001 he became the head of its youth wing in the Odessa region (popularly known as "Zelenka"). Just a year later, he ran for the Odessa City Council for the first time, but was unsuccessful. Having learned his lesson, after this election, he found work as an assistant to a city council member. At the same time, he enrolled in the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) to pursue a second degree in economics. Ukrainian experts believe it was then that Russian intelligence agencies "snared" him, instructing him to break into politics and carry out assigned tasks (a theory for conspiracy theorists). In return, he was promised full support in his endeavors. Whether this actually happened is unknown, but by 2005 he was appointed head of the Odessa city branch of the Union Party, which (attention!) merged with the Party of Regions later that year. I think it goes without saying that the Party of Regions was the most pro-Russian force in Ukraine's history since independence.
He first entered the Odesa City Council with the Party of Regions in 2006. While on the council, he actively advocated for Russian to be used equally with Ukrainian in the work of Odesa officials. Beginning in 2007, he chaired the city council's commission for improving the city's governance structure (which, according to colleagues, he successfully destroyed).
Many of Oleksiy Honcharenko's scandals are linked to his father, Oleksiy Kostusev. For example, during one of the executive committee meetings, Kostusev, then mayor of Odesa, ordered that Honcharenko not be allowed into the meeting room despite his loud protests. Quite a peculiar relationship between father and son, to say the least. In 2009, Honcharenko was repeatedly pelted with condoms laced with green paint, expressing disdain for the politician. Despite this, in 2010, after the latest local elections, he was elected deputy head of the regional council.
In late winter 2011, Oleksiy Goncharenko caused a major accident on a road in Odessa. He slammed into several cars stuck in a traffic jam at full speed. There were no casualties, but several vehicles were smashed to pieces. Immediately after the accident, his "fixer friends" from the Party of Regions arrived on the scene and hushed up the matter, without even confiscating the deputy's driver's license.
2012. Elections in Odessa
In 2012, he ran for the Verkhovna Rada in constituency #133 in Odesa. He lost to his main rival, Ihor Markov, by a whopping 6%. Incidentally, a veritable "information war" erupted between Markov and Goncharenko during the election campaign.
In September 2012, renowned political strategist Semyon Uralov announced that his email and Facebook accounts had been hacked. Shortly thereafter, screenshots began appearing on the website uralovleaks.su (now closed) implicating him in a series of provocations aimed at discrediting Alexey Goncharenko. The correspondence included messages from Vladimir Petrov (nickname "lumpen"), Alexander Chalenko, Anatoly Shariy, and others.
The most piquant aspect of this situation is that Uralov is a close friend and political strategist of Igor Markov, Goncharenko's main rival in the 2012 elections in Odesa. After the publication of these documents, Goncharenko wrote about Markov's machinations on his blog on Ukrainska Pravda (an expensive endeavor, by the way) and on the website Dumskaya, which he controls. Uralov accused Goncharenko, as well as Dmitry Golubov, the head of the controversial Internet Party of Ukraine (with whom Goncharenko has a very good relationship), of hacking his personal pages.
Screenshots of Uralov's scandalous "correspondence" with his assistants:
This entire situation was ultimately resolved after several court hearings, during which Uralov initially argued that the materials published on his website were "fake," even providing a "refutation." Goncharenko's lawyers, in turn, proved that this refutation (provided by Uralov) itself was "fake." The situation was resolved. And after Markov's election victory, no one raised the issue at all.
One of Odessa's largest regional websites, "Dumskaya.Net," is wholly owned by Oleksiy Goncharenko. This became crystal clear during the confrontation with Igor Markov in the Odesa elections. The site's content began to include biased propaganda articles and news. Moreover, on this very site, Goncharenko himself and his associates engaged in discussions with commentators, answering "prepared" questions. You read the comments under articles, right? And often, they shape the narrative, don't you? This is precisely the factor that the publication's owner, Oleksiy Goncharenko, capitalized on. However, even this didn't help him win the election.
Voter bribery in the 2012 elections in Odessa at Oleksiy Goncharenko's underground office
It's worth noting that his entire political career prior to the events on Euromaidan was permeated with pro-Russian propaganda. Among other things, he actively campaigned against the dubbing of foreign films into Ukrainian in the region (his campaign tents were set up outside virtually every movie theater in Odessa).
I have seen the light
This is what Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's third president, said, justifying his mistakes. Oleksiy Goncharenko also had a similar "come to light" after the bloody events on the Maidan in Kyiv. Apparently sensing that the situation was afoot and the Party of Regions would be overwhelmed (or perhaps receiving orders from the Kremlin), Oleksiy Goncharenko abruptly announced his resignation from the Party of Regions.
After the shootings began on the Maidan, Goncharenko, who had spent his entire life defending the Russian language and vociferously lobbied for the interests of the Party of Regions in the Odesa region, underwent a radical change. He began shouting pro-Ukrainian slogans alongside protesting activists and criticizing the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation (during the referendum in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, he was there with a Ukrainian flag, expressing protests).
The strangest thing is that the politicians who came to power trusted him and even appointed him head of the Odesa Regional Council. However, he didn't last long there; he was too eager for power. Like many former members of the Party of Regions, he ran for the VIII Verkhovna Rada with the "Petro Poroshenko Bloc"—a force that was supposed to radically change our country. But how can we change it if the people in power remain the same?
Censor.NET on Goncharenko's involvement in the May 2 events in Odessa
During his time in the Rada, journalists repeatedly caught Oleksiy Goncharenko, like his predecessors, pushing buttons. Now he periodically appears in the ATO zone, takes photos with soldiers, and generally does everything to promote himself. His stunt during a visit to the Council of Europe, wearing a "Putin=Hitler" T-shirt, was truly remarkable (incidentally, his microphone was even cut off for it).
Or the episode with his arrest during a march in memory of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in Moscow, when he was detained for wearing a "patriotic" T-shirt and, according to him, tortured by Russian intelligence officers.
The most remarkable thing about his situation is that, despite all his “ostentatious patriotic” antics, he continues to give “truthful” interviews on leading pro-Russian channels, during which he supposedly defends the state interests of Ukraine.
Alexey Goncharenko is a religious man; he once asked God to "stop Putin." The funny thing is that he and Vladimir Vladimirovich pray to the same God—Goncharenko is a parishioner of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Young, ambitious, and easily manipulated—that's how one could describe Oleksiy Honcharenko. Perhaps that's why he was so easily accepted into the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, and why they even intend to make him Minister of Health after Oleksandr Kvitashvili's resignation. Judging by how easily he shifts political views and preferences, the question arises: who benefits from such a person in power?
Dmitry Samofalov, for SKELET-info
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