Land fraud, coal tenders, and connections to Chernovetskyi don't hinder a political career. This has been proven by Sergei Berezenko, reports "Facenews".
Ukrainian politics is full of all sorts of unique individuals. It would seem that the Revolution of Dignity should have changed not only the composition of the Ukrainian government but also elevated its thinking to a new level. This new level implies the elimination of nepotism, the purge of corrupt officials, and the complete removal from office of former fans of "carve-ups." Time passes, and the same old faces remain. Everyone Ukrainian society tried to rid itself of is quietly, without soap, creeping back into the corridors of big politics and big money. Meanwhile, the trendy term "government of technocrats" is merely a catchy slogan in the constant demagoguery of politicians. It's hardly surprising that half of them don't even know what this term means.
True, the reader is unlikely to appreciate journalistic rehashing of well-worn topics, so it's time to get down to business. Serhiy Berezenko is an extraordinarily interesting character. After all, at 31 years old, he has two biographies. But he was born in Vinnytsia—that's a fact. And here it's all simple: the birthplace of our President, the patronage of the former governor of the Vinnytsia region, leader of the Sobor party, Anatoly Matviyenko. No further parallels—it's all clear. At such a young age for a politician, Serhiy has quite a solid track record.
This is how the politician himself presents his biography:
Serhiy Berezenko: "From 2004 to 2005, I was a member of the Ukrainian Republican Party 'Sobor.' In 2005, I became the head of the public organization 'Ukrainian Youth Council,' which I still lead."
Sergey Berezenko
The rest is of little importance. We're talking about political activity. At first glance, nothing criminal or unnatural. But there's another biography of Berezenko, well hidden in the annals of information. It's a little more interesting. Especially considering that in 2014, he served as the head of Poroshenko's presidential elections in Kyiv and deputy chairman of the Solidarity party. He was one of the election leader's closest allies, responsible for developing Poroshenko's entire party network.
So, who is this Sergey Berezenko? Oddly enough, this man has direct connections to Leonid Chernovetsky (Read more about it in the article Leonid Chernovetsky: How "Lenya Kosmos" robbed Kyiv and moved to Georgia) – the same "fugitive mayor" who is now entertaining Georgians with his statements about his plans to run in the Georgian parliamentary elections. However, let's get to the facts.
In 2005, the Ukrainian Youth Council began actively collaborating with the Leonid Chernovetskyi Bloc. On January 1, 2006, Berezenko suddenly became ostensibly non-partisan, but by February of that year, Serhiy had become the head of the youth wing of the Chernovetskyi Bloc, which included several dozen students from various universities. His career then continued to grow. From June 2006, he served as an advisor to the Kyiv Mayor on family, youth, and tourism issues. From September of that year, he became the First Deputy Head of the Main Department for Family and Youth Affairs of the Kyiv City State Administration. This was at 22 years old, mind you. And on April 3, 2007, he received a gift for his twenty-third birthday – he was appointed Head of the Main Department for Family and Youth Affairs of the Kyiv City State Administration.
Serhiy Berezenko was a member of Chernovetskyi's party until 2014. Then, a change of power occurred, and... Berezenko was appointed head of the State Administration. Less than a year later, on July 26, 2015, Serhiy won the by-election for a People's Deputy of Ukraine in Chernihiv with 35,90%. People like him are called "political road warriors"—a term used when someone who has never lived in a region arrives and runs in a single-member constituency. He ran for the BPP "Solidarity" party. His lead over his closest rival, Gennady Korban, was more than 20 percentage points. During and after the election, numerous accusations of vote-buying were leveled against the winner and his main opponent, Korban. Berezenko was accused of direct vote-buying, the use of administrative resources, smear campaigns, and other violations of electoral law. However, neither party was proven guilty in court. Later, Berezenko asked voters for forgiveness for such an election campaign.
Gennady Korban and Sergey Berezenko
Dmitry Dzhangirov, one of Ukraine's most renowned political experts, commented interestingly on his appointment to the State Administration of Affairs and his election victory.
There is a completely realistic version of the events that led to the emergence of the "free" district. Given the poor governance (or, according to another version, the high level of insanity) of the head of the presidential faction of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, Yuriy Lutsenko, and the limited number of personally loyal deputies, the President decided to entrust the faction to one of his few close associates—the current head of the DUS, Serhiy Berezenko. Despite his relative youth (31), Mr. Berezenko possesses the necessary blend of sober views and cynical approaches, laced with a high degree of negotiability. The head of the Department of Family and Youth Affairs experimentally developed the right balance of these qualities as part of the "young Chernovetskyi team": in May 2006 (at the age of 22!), he was elected to the Kyiv City Council on the Leonid Chernovetskyi Bloc list, became an advisor to the mayor of Kyiv in June, and in September of that year, headed the Department of Family and Youth Affairs of the Kyiv City State Administration," Dzhangirov wrote.
It's unclear whether voters forgave Serhiy, but those at the top certainly did—and he was immediately elected to the Verkhovna Rada. At the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, he managed to engage voters in the eastern regions alongside the infamous Ihor Kononenko (well, where would we be without him?). Serhiy Berezenko is now a freelance adviser to the President of Ukraine.
In addition to his political career, the current young MP has also succeeded in business. According to the Ministry of Justice, Serhiy Berezenko, along with Yevhen Sarnatsky, Pavlo Matviyenko (son of Anatoly Matviyenko), Beinars Kraslatovich, and three other individuals, have been co-founders of Ukrainian Construction Investments LLC (ID 33779688) for many years and continue to do so. This same company is credited with several high-profile land frauds in Kyiv. Furthermore, these four are known for their participation in multi-million-dollar joint coal tenders with companies belonging to former Party of Regions member Oleksandr Yefremov and a close associate of the fugitive Viktor Yanukovych.
In 2007, an interesting story unfolded. The Dniprovska Volna Recreation Center LLC, whose existence was limited to the mere presence of letters on the relevant paperwork, acquired land on Zhukov Island. This formally existing company was registered with the Pechersk District State Administration, where Oleksiy Yevlakh, the former head of the Kyiv City Council's standing commission on land issues, served as first deputy. In 2001, Yevlakh was caught in Frankfurt am Main and extradited to Ukraine. There, he confessed to a 10 million hryvnia land fraud, but...was granted amnesty. The founders of the Dniprovska Volna Recreation Center LLC were listed as Maria Podik (who also served as its director) and the Ukrainian Scientific and Production Commercial Enterprise (UNPKP) Atika. The founder of Atika, however, turned out to be Yevhen Sarnatsky, a business partner of Pavlo Matviyenko. This was precisely the time when Berezenko headed the Main Directorate for Family and Youth Affairs of the Kyiv City State Administration.
"Serhiy's closest friend was Oleksiy Zasenko. They both ran for the City Council on the Chernovetskyi Bloc list, joined the Initiative faction together, and worked together on the Kyiv City Council's land commission," a Kyiv City Council member, who declined to be named, previously told INSIDER.
Sergei Berezenko is currently actively promoting himself, especially in the United States. He doesn't shy away from frequent media appearances and official receptions. For example, a trip to a prayer breakfast with Barack Obama, where he has already achieved "fame," looks impressive, as does an interview on the television program "Time, Voice of America," where he was called a representative of the "new generation."
However, this didn't save Berezenko from the NABU's attention. Ukrainian and American investigators are jointly digging into his biography, uncovering land fraud, nepotism, and public spending. Apparently, the politician was overly confident in his impunity, but now it seems that NABU will open a criminal case. Especially since one of his patrons, Igor Kononenko, is already actively testifying there.
In topic: Igor Kononenko, the President's Army Buddy
Ivan Nechupara
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