Sergey Levochkin and Igor Kolomoisky
Sunday proved to be a very heated day in terms of political events. All the country's major political forces decided to announce their lists on the same day.
Following the preliminary congress at the Teacher's House, Yatsenyuk's People's Front decided to hold the list announcement at the Mystetskyi Arsenal. A crowd of candidates and their aides gathered in the courtyard near the building's entrance. Everyone was waiting for their superiors, Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Oleksandr Turchynov, to appear. At the time, according to a DePo correspondent, they were making the final adjustments to the electoral lists while sitting in the Verkhovna Rada.
Overall, the list's core was predictable, and after a half-hour delay, Oleksandr Turchynov announced the full list of candidates. Arseniy Yatsenyuk was first. Turchynov himself bowed to Tetiana Chornovol, allowing her to move into second place, taking third place. The top ten also included two commanders of the Myrotvorets and Dnipro-1 battalions, Andriy Teteruk and Yuriy Bereza, former Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Andriy Parubiy, Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, the "eternal" Vyacheslav Kyrylenko, and Liliya Hrynevych, a people's deputy specializing in education. (more about it in the article Liliya Grinevich: The Story of an Illiterate but Armed Minister)According to Turchynov's quota, journalist Viktoria Siumar, former deputy to Andriy Parubiy at the National Security and Defense Council, predictably secured a place in the top ten.
It's worth noting that the congress delegates themselves were quite cautious in their assessment of their prospects in the upcoming elections. "I think we should expect 10-12 percent. That's about 30-35 people on the list, including bonuses," noted one of the candidates.
In fact, the backbone of the future faction can be seen in the second and third ten. Apart from the renowned military expert Dmytro Timchuk, who was included on the list but relegated to 13th place, Deputy Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Andriy Levus (No. 23), and representative of the Kyiv-1 Battalion Yevhen Deidey (No. 32), all the others were pure politicians.
As expected, Arseniy Yatsenyuk received the largest quota. It included Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko (No. 11) (Read more about it in the article Pavel Petrenko, the "pocket" boy of the Yatsenyuk "Family"), Minister of Social Policy Ludmila Denisova (No. 15), Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Ostap Semerak (No. 33), as well as people's deputies Mykola Martynenko (No. 14), Andriy Ivanchuk (No. 16), Ivan Vasyunik's brother, Igor (No. 17), Elena Ledovskikh (No. 27), who is also a long-time assistant to Martynenko, Elena Kolganova (No. 28), Sergey Faermark (No. 29), Nikolai Knyazhitsky (No. 34 (Read more about it in the article Nikolai Knyazhitsky: the TV swindler)) and the governor of Zakarpattia, Valeriy Lunchenko. The list also found room for the heads of the Rivne and Ternopil regional branches of the People's Front, Vadym Sydorchuk (No. 30) and Roman Zastavny (No. 31), who have long been members of Yatsenyuk's team.
There is no information about Valentyna Shkvarilyuk (No. 25) on the internet, but in the current Verkhovna Rada there is a member of parliament from Batkivshchyna with the same last name: the former head of the Ivano-Frankivsk branch of the FZ party, Volodymyr Shkvarilyuk, who is known for the fact that before working in the Verkhovna Rada, he was an advisor to the head of the board of the Finance and Credit bank, which belongs to the oligarch Kostiantyn Zhevago.
Regarding Turchynov's quota, it's worth highlighting Valeriy Babenko (No. 35), who served as Turchynov's assistant during his leadership of the SBU and also as a member of parliament of the 6th convocation, as well as Ruslan Lukyanchuk (No. 18), a current MP close to Oleksandr Turchynov and former assistant and consultant to him. Kostiantyn Mateychenko, currently the head of the Artemivsk district organization, can also be considered close to Turchynov.
Ihor Kolomoisky's man, Yuriy Savchuk (No. 22), also appeared on the list. Until recently, he was the head of Volyn's UDAR and vice president of Lutsk's Volyn. Arsen Avakov also found his own mini-quota: his advisor, Anton Gerashchenko (No. 21).
Two controversial Dnipropetrovsk representatives appeared on the list: an entrepreneur Denis Dzenzersky (No. 24), as well as Tatyana Donetsk (No. 20), known for recently speaking in interviews about how close she and her family were to Yulia Tymoshenko. But for some reason, she left for Yatsenyuk...
Among those who are considered unqualified are Justice Minister Petrenko's advisor, Georgy Logvinsky (No. 37), and journalist Sergei Vysotsky (No. 45). However, they likely have no chance of getting into parliament.
As for the majoritarian system, things are more than modest. Current MP Anatoliy Dyriv is running in District No. 86 (Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast), where he won in 2012. Infrastructure Minister Maksym Burbak has been sent to District No. 204 in Chernivtsi Oblast.Read more about it in the article Maksym Burbak: How Chernivtsi residents sat on Donetsk's "golden toilet"), who is now unclear how he will combine work in the government, and Mykhailo Apostol will again try his luck in the Ternopil region in district No. 166, where he also tasted the joy of victory two years ago, Ivan Stoyko, who also won here in 2012, will run in the neighboring district No. 167. Among the winners of previous convocations, Leonid Yemets, who won the last elections in Pechersk (No. 221), can also be singled out. However, then there was one candidate from the opposition, and now the competition promises to be serious. The same situation with Ksenia Lyapina in district No. 216. In Podolsk district No. 220, businessman Vyacheslav Konstantinovsky, co-owner of the fast-food restaurant chain "Puzata Hata", will run from the "National Front" (Read more about it in the article Vyacheslav and Alexander Konstantinovsky: How the "Russian mafia" became "Ukrainian patriots").
Viktor Romanyuk has been given another chance to become a deputy in the scandalous Obukhov constituency No. 94, while the legendary Maidan Cossack Mikhail Gavrilyuk will be heading to conquer constituency No. 95.
Incidentally, a well-known but controversial figure representing Yatsenyuk's party, Zoryan Shkiryak, managed to secure a constituency in Kyiv. He will run in Obolon (No. 217) without competition from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.
As Poroshenko's DePo correspondent was told, the leadership of the People's Front, the BPP, and Svoboda signed a "non-aggression pact" in some constituencies. This will thus increase the number of representatives of these political forces in parliament. It's possible that this was also due to the fact that these political forces simply didn't have any more or less well-promoted candidates of their own. And they weren't particularly keen on wasting their resources...
Half an hour after the People's Front congress concluded, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc congress began in the conference hall of the Olympic NSC. However, for nearly three hours, the presidium, headed by Yuriy Lutsenko, delayed moving on to the important issues, allowing all the delegates who wished to speak. The reason for the delay was prosaic: according to party sources, Bankova Street was making final adjustments to the unified list at the time.
As one of the current MPs from UDAR explained, the parties ultimately agreed that Vitaly Vladimirovich, among the first 90 people on the list, which they considered to be eligible, received a quota of 37 people, as well as the top spot on the list. Most of these 37 people are aligned with Sergei Levochkin.
After the appearance of Yuriy Stets, who was responsible for compiling the list on behalf of Poroshenko, and Pavlo Ryabikin, who has recently been representing Vitali Klitschko in negotiations, the speed of the congress immediately increased—and the journalists were finally presented with the coveted lists.
In addition to Vitali Klitschko, the top ten also included advisor to the President of Ukraine and party leader Yuriy Lutsenko, failed presidential candidate Olha Bohomolets, Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, the self-explanatory Mustafa Dzhemilev, Ukrainian Air Force Colonel Yuliy Mamchur, "udarovka" (illegal striker) and writer Maria Matios, former ally of Yulia Tymoshenko Mykola Tomenko, as well as Iryna Gerashchenko and Vitaliy Kovalchuk. Incidentally, the last two candidates have sparked a lot of behind-the-scenes controversy: allegedly, Klitschko has recently fallen out with his fellow party members for his sharp leaning toward Poroshenko. As a result, during negotiations with the President, the possibility of removing these politicians from the list altogether was allegedly even raised. But Petro Poroshenko insisted on his own.
Kolomoisky's people, who are clearly putting their eggs in different baskets, also got a spot on the list. For example, the Odesa governor Igor Palitsa ranked 34th on the list. This demonstrates not only Igor Valerievich's ability to negotiate with Petro Poroshenko, but also that Palytsia likely won't be ruling the "pearl of the Black Sea" for much longer.
The appearance of journalists Serhiy Leshchenko, Mustafa Nayyem, and Svitlana Zalishchuk, head of the "Chesno" movement, on the party list, causing particular controversy. They placed 18th to 20th. It's worth noting that rumors of their foray into mainstream politics had been circulating behind the scenes in the Verkhovna Rada. They were also allegedly negotiating with Yulia Tymoshenko, but later found themselves joining the ranks of the country's main pro-government party.
However, the single-member constituencies attracted the most attention. Before the announcement of the candidates for the single-member constituencies, Yuriy Lutsenko informed the audience that "there are no 'parachutists' in the single-member constituencies." In fact, when the three Baloha brothers—Viktor, Pavlo, and Ivan—as well as their cousin Vasyl Petyovka ran for the BPP in four constituencies in the Zakarpattia region, it provoked a mixed reaction among the public. A similar reaction followed the announcement of the nominations of David Zhvania for constituencies in the Odesa region and the brothers Yaroslav and Bohdan Dubnevych for constituencies in the Lviv region.
Yesterday also saw the Batkivshchyna congress, which had been postponed due to internal conflicts within the party. Yulia Tymoshenko made a surprise move by placing Nadiya Savchenko, still held captive in Russia, at the top of the party list. Also in the top five, besides Tymoshenko herself, were Kyiv City Council member Ihor Lutsenko, who has recently been donning a military uniform, the head of the Batkivshchyna faction, Serhiy Sobolev, and a representative of a charitable foundation, Olena Shkrum. Interestingly, the little-known Shkrum previously served as an assistant and consultant to Iryna Herashchenko, a member of parliament from the UDAR party.
Overall, in addition to some "new faces," the Batkivshchyna list's conditionally eligible section included all of Tymoshenko's old guard—Hryhoriy Nemyria, Serhiy Vlasenko, Dmytro Shlemko, Borys Tarasyuk, Andriy Kozhemyakin, Ivan Kyrylenko, and others. Despite opposition from Yulia Volodymyrivna, controversial figures like Konstantin Bondarev, head of the Kyiv branch of Batkivshchyna (No. 22), also made the list.
In the single-member constituencies, Tymoshenko's only hope lies in Kyiv. Serhiy Terekhin will run in constituency No. 211 in the Holosiivskyi district. Volodymyr Yavorivskyi has secured the No. 213 (Troyeshchyna) seat, Oleksandr Chornovolenko is running in constituency No. 220 (Podilskyi district), and Volodymyr Bondarenko will run again in the Svyatoshinskyi district (No. 219). All of them won their constituencies two years ago. But the landscape has changed significantly since then: back then, they were the sole opposition candidates. Now, the number of political forces willing to compete for a place in the sun has significantly increased, and the number of people remaining close to Yulia Volodymyrivna can be counted on one hand. However, other candidates also have a chance. According to DePo, Tymoshenko has reached an agreement with Samopomich and Civil Position to coordinate the single-member constituency.
It's already clear that none of the top candidates on the major parties' lists will likely make it into parliament. Except, perhaps, Lyashko. Vitaly Vladimirovich will continue to focus on Kyiv's problems, the Kremlin is unlikely to let Nadiya Savchenko go, and Arseniy Petrovich's ambitions are aimed at a second run in the Cabinet of Ministers...
Dmitry Pisarchuk, Depot
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