Over the past six months, significant changes have occurred in the Zaporizhia region's system of private government. The business group of Berdyansk millionaire Oleksandr Ponomarev and his junior partner, Serhiy Valentinov, is playing an increasingly important role. Two members of parliament are currently experiencing a nadir in their relationship with the regional governor. Konstantin Bryl
It is their unspoken alliance that currently wields key influence over both the region's political landscape and the regional council's budgetary policy. Unfortunately, no one has yet attempted to analyze the benefits of the recent alliance between the governor and two MPs to Zaporizhia Oblast. Meanwhile, this very "friendship" is at the root of many current conflicts and various budget decisions.
Where do the roots of touching friendship grow?
To understand the genesis of Bryl's alliance with Ponomarev and Valentinov, we must recall the last "season of anarchy" in our region. Throughout the winter and spring, when the previous governor, Grigory Samardak, moved to the chair of the regional council, Konstantin Bryl was never confirmed as head of the regional state administration. In the spring, there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for this: the Cabinet of Ministers, which approves governors, had not yet been formed and had not yet "settled down." But what prevented Konstantin Ivanovich from heading the region that winter?
First of all, there was a lack of patronage within the Presidential Administration. At Bankova Street, Bryl was promoted only by First Deputy Chief of Staff Vitaly Kovalchuk, and even then, without much fanaticism. The security official, who had applied for civil service, was given a free pass upon his appointment as First Deputy Chairman of the Regional State Administration to see how he would fare and whether he would cause any mischief in this unfamiliar position.
However, back in the fall, when Bryl had just "landed" in the region, two members of parliament from Berdyansk, Oleksandr Ponomarev and Serhiy Valentirov, had already spotted potential in him. A year earlier, Ponomarev had gained ground by electing his top manager and junior business partner, Serhiy Valentirov, to the Verkhovna Rada in snap elections. Valentirov, having entered parliament as a non-party member, quickly joined the BPP faction, while Ponomarev himself, a former member of the Party of Regions, remained in the Volya Narodu (People's Will). But to truly gain a foothold in the Zaporizhzhia region, they needed more than just parliamentary mandates. Local elections were looming, and they needed to fill the regional and district councils with as many of their own people as possible.
Alexander Ponomarev was offered funding for the regional "Our Region" project, aimed at siphoning votes from the defunct Party of Regions away from the Opposition Bloc. Considering that Kovalchuk oversaw the "Our Region" project on Bankova Street, it seems likely that Bryl became close to the Berdyansk residents somewhere around his office. Or, at least, on his recommendation: "They're smart guys, take a closer look."
Ponomarev and Valentirov saw in Bryl a chance to expand their network and a "protector" in case of any electoral incidents. The two MPs began a thorough recruitment process for the "SBU general"—inviting him hunting, telling jokes, offering help "if necessary." Ultimately, Konstantin Ivanovich bought in and began working together. His assistance was soon in demand.
You give us elections and a budget, we'll give you a seat.
Even before becoming the head of the regional state administration, Bryl provided considerable assistance to Ponomarev and Valentinov during the October local elections. Without his patronage, "Our Land" would have gotten away with far fewer pranks at the district and village council level, like the banal "buckwheat" protests. Not to mention the far greater "pranks" in Ponomarev and Valentinov's native Berdyansk, where they managed to push a local former Party of Regions member, Vladimir Chepurny, into the mayoral race. Rumor has it that on many occasions, when the regional government looked on in amazement at what was happening in the southern districts and considered intervening, their intentions were invariably blocked by Konstantin Ivanovich's quiet voice: "This is a project with Bankova, they're siphoning votes from Akhmetov's men, don't interfere."
Ultimately, it was Bryl who helped Ponomarev establish the "Our Region" faction in the regional council and, more importantly, secure his own mayor in his hometown. But the list of favors doesn't end there. Rumor has it that it was at the instigation of the then acting governor that Ponomarev's man was lobbied for a key position in the regional council. This was Sergei Tkachenko, who headed the budget committee.
The first sign of Berdyansk residents' considerable appetites was a sham auction held at the end of 2015, a month and a half after the elections. Two firms linked to Ponomarev bid against each other for the right to purchase a destroyed children's tuberculosis sanatorium on the spit. The sanatorium's main asset isn't its squalid huts, but the land on which they stand—a 2,5-hectare plot bordering the sea on one side and a therapeutic mud estuary on the other.
Of course, these two MPs weren't just getting all these perks. Even then, after the local elections, Ponomarev and Valentirov began busily knocking on every office in the Presidential Administration, lobbying for their protégé to become the regional governor. Because Vitaly Kovalchuk clearly wasn't enough to fully support Bryl—there were simply too many questions for the "silovik from the office."
And with the beginning of 2016, the kind words of his Berdyansk friends, often backed up by something else, proved very valuable to Konstantin Ivanovich. His conflict with the regional prosecutor, Alexander Shatsky, became widely public, and the standoff became a topic of discussion and publicity. At one point, they were ready to remove Bryl and replace him with a less ambitious official, but Alexander Ponomarev stepped in at the crucial moment. Rumor has it, he spent a considerable amount of money on this assistance.
Then the coalition and Cabinet of Ministers began to reform, and during this time, Konstantin Bryl managed to cultivate an image as an indispensable manager and "frontline general." Thus, the six-month ordeal ended with a long-awaited victory for him and his Berdyansk comrades.
Crusades with a double bottom
Having already become a full-fledged chairman of the Regional State Administration, without the prefix "acting," Konstantin Bryl remained in close collaboration with Ponomarev and Valentinov. Now, Konstantin Bryl's "crusades" are largely inspired by his Berdyansk comrades. Both the great battle for the harvest and the equally great struggle for a clean resort are driven by the interests of the governor's friends.
Take, for example, the much-hyped "Harvest 2016" campaign, in which Konstantin Ivanovich intended to bring semi-legal farmers out of the shadows, uncover plowed land unreported by tax authorities, and combat other agricultural practices. In fact, "Harvest 2016" has two goals. The first is the business of Vadym Krivokhatko, a landowner and landowner. In 2014, Vadym Viktorovich became a member of parliament for the BPP in the 82nd electoral district, which encompasses the northern Zaporizhzhia region. The amount of land leased by Krivokhatko's companies amounts to thousands of hectares.
But it's not so much the land that's at issue, but rather his parliamentary status. Alexander Ponomarev and Sergei Valentirov decided that two mandates are good, but three are even better. And now they're aiming to "free up" the 82nd District for a member of their business group, with an eye on snap elections. And Konstantin Bryl is playing the role of a battering ram, accusing Krivokhatko of tax evasion. And if the farmer-MP promises not to run in the snap elections, or better yet, simply resigns his mandate, then Ponomarev's candidate is already ready to fill his district.
The second target of "Harvest 2016" is the farmers of Sergei Valentinov's 81st District, from Tokmak and other districts in the southwest region. The farmers must be brought to heel and made to understand that Valentinov is now the leader of their district. Konstantin Ivanovich has conveyed the same message to the Tokmak City Council deputies.
Another of Konstantin Ivanovich's high-profile schemes, the fight against illegal resort businesses in Kirillovka, also seems to be driven by the interests of two MPs. The Akimovsky district falls squarely within Valentirov's constituency. Loud claims about illegal cash flows, a devastated environment, and illegal wastewater are easily projected from the Kirillovka resorts to the Berdyansk Spit. Only Bryl knows the difference between Kirillovka and Berdyansk. Meanwhile, the Berdyansk Spit is currently packed, including at Ponomarev's resorts, who, through various companies, owns a good quarter of the recreational facilities along the coast. But Berdyansk is sacred; it has its own guys. Perhaps the governor's zeal in revising Kirillovka is also due to the fact that Sergei Valentirov still has no connection to the millions in illegal cash from visitors to the local resorts?
However, people should have enough legitimate budget funds. Ponomarev's companies receive 12 million from the regional budget for road repairs to the notorious bases. And another 14 million from the regional environmental fund was "supplied" for bank protection work on the street at the beginning of the spit. A construction firm belonging to the same MPs is also vying for this contract. Having firmly relied on the regional budget, Ponomarev is already settling into the Berdyansk coffers, having selected his former managers as Chepurny's deputies. An additional 3 million from local funds was added for the notorious roads of the spit. Essentially, the "Azov Odessa" has been handed over to Ponomarev to feed, with the complete connivance of Bryl.
Is your friendship on the decline?
Now, Oleksandr Ponomarev and Serhiy Valentirov are confident that they have the regional governor practically "under their thumb." "We've got him firmly under our thumb!" they say in private. Rumor has it that Valentirov's assistant, Yulia Savchenko, and a few others have been assigned to Bryl to handle PR matters. With the help of the regional state administration chairman, the two MPs want to become the top officials in the Zaporizhzhia region, taking control of land issues, tenders, and everything else. The two friends want nothing less than to oust the entire Opposition Bloc with their group. One of their main current aspirations is the dismissal of regional prosecutor Oleksandr Shatskyi, Bryl's main public opponent.
Konstantin Ivanovich himself is already beginning to feel a little burdened by such intrusive friends and is slowly considering how to get rid of them. So, as the cold weather approaches, the second part of the Marlezon Ballet—the great battle of sworn enemies—may begin in the Zaporizhzhia region.
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