Georgiy Mazurashu: Pavlyuk’s “number six”. PART 1
About two-thirds of Ukraine's population lowers their gaze when asked, "Who did you vote for in the last parliamentary elections?" And for good reason. Hoping for some positive change after the "Army-Mova-Vira" chaos, the country's citizens hoped that by overthrowing this government, they would gain something more palatable and attractive. A government that at least wouldn't interfere with their lives and earnings.
But it didn't work out. The population voted for some misunderstandings, like wedding photographers and face-sellers. But all of them were promoted by old, corrupt officials. It's one of these that we'll be talking about today: Gheorghe Mazurash, who doesn't allow himself to take a single step without his boss's approval. Ilya Pavlyuk. Remember Petrushka from the puppet theater? This is what Mazurasha looks like if you remove all the props against which he tries to present himself as a respectable… deputy? No, not even a “sports commentator.”
Gheorghe Mazurashu, a "historic" athlete
His official biography indicates that Georgiy Georgievich Mazurash was born on April 17, 1971, in the village of Krupianske (Ukrainian: Крю'янське) in the Chernivtsi region. In his youth, he was actively involved in sports, particularly football and track and field. In 1988, he even competed for the Ukrainian SSR youth team, and in 1992, he won bronze in track and field for the Ukrainian SSR. This didn't stop him from enrolling in the Chernivtsi Mechanical and Technological College, and then earning a degree in history from Chernivtsi National University in 1995. It's difficult to imagine how his athletic mentality meshed with history. Judging by his subsequent biography and public statements, this was simply a way to avoid military service. True, after university, he worked for several years as a lieutenant in the criminal police, dealing with minors. But then, apparently, he realized it wasn't for him.
But at least his "presence" in the history department bore fruit (after all, the teaching staff at the time was mostly "old school"), and Georgy began writing! No, not books, but articles for sports media outlets like "Ukrainian Football," "Sports Newspaper," and so on. He was also the publisher of the sports and entertainment magazine "Super!", which speaks to both an entrepreneurial spirit and certain connections. Moreover, in 2004, he won the "Olympic Ukraine" competition for sports journalists.
And then things started to look up for Georgiy Mazurash! Until the fall of 2008, he worked as the Head of the Physical Culture Department at the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration, where he got a glimpse of the high life of Bukovinian officials, having decided in 2009 to organize an all-Ukrainian beauty contest for female athletes. That's when he caught the eye of sports officials: he became a member of the executive committee of the Chernivtsi Regional Office of the Olympic Committee, and in 2011, he was appointed director of the Chernivtsi Physical Health Center. And he was ready for it! Back in 2009, he had earned a master's degree in Public Administration from the same Yury Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University.
As you may have noticed, Skelet.Org He seemed to have broken with tradition and not disclosed Georgiy Mazurash's parents. The reason is simple: such information is not publicly available, and it is impossible to obtain from classified sources. It is only known that he has a brother, Mikhail, who, we quote, "It had a significant impact on his development as a person."It was impossible not to mention him, since Mazurašu the deputy immediately appointed his "blood" as his assistant. But what about his parents? One can only assume his father's name was the same—Georgiy. In short, there's clearly something wrong with the family's imagination.
Georgy is currently married to Olga Mazurashu, a sports instructor and preschool teacher. He also has three sons: Yuri, Vasily, and Stepan, born in 2001, 2005, and 2016, respectively.
Political athlete
So, having "matured" by 2015, as Georgiy Mazurashu himself believed, he decided to go into politics. First, a "small" one, so to speak, and then to become a deputy from the Samopomich Union in the Chernivtsi Regional Council. But, as they say, it didn't work out, even though he had already founded a website with the straightforward name fakty.cv.ua in 2013 and was engaged in self-promotion there. As Mazurashu himself later stated, "He was simply persuaded, and he didn't engage in self-promotion—just..." handed out calendars a couple of days before the elections" In short, he was a modest fellow! He was... After all, he did become a "servant".
Luck only smiled in 2019, when Mazurash was favorably steered into the Servant of the People party (more on that below) in the 203rd single-mandate constituency in Chernivtsi Oblast, and he immediately became a people's deputy! This isn't surprising, though—in those elections, voters were willing to vote for anyone, as long as they bore the Zelenskyy Yeltsin team's brand.
So, Gheorghe Mazurashu became a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Youth and Sports. He also joined the interparliamentary relations groups with, mind you, Montenegro, Belgium, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, and the Netherlands. Of course—where else would a historian with a background in history go?!
Gheorghe Mazurashu. Unsportsmanlike conduct.
Georgiy Georgievich, while not immediately at ease, eventually got his bearings in Ukrainian politics and realized why people actually enter it. On July 15, 2021, Petro Stratiychuk, an assistant to MP Mazurash, was arrested in Chernivtsi for accepting a $5000 bribe (Mazurash promptly deleted the page claiming Stratiychuk was his assistant—https://www.gp.gov.ua/ua/news?_m=publications&_t=rec&id=299784). According to investigators, Stratiychuk, in keeping with the good Ukrainian tradition—"practically free of charge"—facilitated the allocation of land plots to ATO veterans.
As revealed by an online comment from a certain Olga, the bribe scheme was shockingly simple: bags of cash were left in the car:
Mazuraş himself did not elaborate much on this incident, he really hoped for a prompt and fair investigation, and said that Stratiychuk was short of funds, because needs medication and has a disabilityWell, as they say, "Thank you all! You're free to go!" But it wasn't to be. The story continued, and Georgiy Mazurash was forced to suggest that the alleged reason for Stratiychuk's "setup" was the conflict surrounding the Olypiya sports and recreation center in Chernivtsi. There, "archers" and "patriots," represented by the local authorities, clashed. The former wanted a shooting range there, the latter a flagpole. The management of Zhovtnevy Park and a small church were also involved in the standoff. Moreover, all the participants in the conflict were wearing embroidered shirts, so it wasn't always clear which of them was the "patriot"... Why Mazurash would implicate Stratiychuk in a "bribe" and this long-running conflict isn't entirely clear. Skelet.Org suggests that Georgiy Mazurash has his own interests in the disputed territory, while simultaneously diverting attention from his protégé, portraying him as a sick person, an athlete, and a patriot. Something will definitely go off.
Political achievements
Unfortunately, the Verkhovna Rada website, as usual, is functioning with huge problems, therefore Skelet.Org At the time of publication, it was not possible to determine how Mr. Mazurasu voted while he or his card were present in the chamber. However, a number of facts about his political activities have surfaced in the media, even without the efforts of the "professional" administrators of the parliamentary website.
Let's start with the fact that Mazuraşu submitted about three hundred bills. Of these, About ten percent were accepted. Moreover, the range of his interests is surprisingly broad – from road construction, amnesty, and dumping to anti-Semitism, higher education, the Ukrainian language, and so on. That's what a love of sports combined with a university degree in history gives you! However, one suspects that Grigoriy Mazurashu didn't even carefully read 99,9% of his bills. He signed whatever his aides brought him, or for a "small bribe."
The same applies to his parliamentary inquiries. There are not many of them. At the time of publication, there are only 24. But even these raise serious doubts about their origins in the hands of a people's deputy. For example, Georgiy Mazurashu is very concerned with the restoration of Igor Sikorsky's estate in Kyiv, the power grid of the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant, the activities of Kherson functionary Oleksandr Babich, regional gas companies, and so on. This broad range of interests is further complemented by the geographic reach of Mazurashu's interests. Although, who doesn't know that there's a whole market for parliamentary inquiries? We can only hope that Georgiy Mazurashu isn't being too cheap.
As usual, not only the VR website is not working properly, but also website with declarationsThe latest information on Georgiy Mazurashi is his 2019 income declaration. He earned UAH 245,303 during that period, while his family earned UAH 110,723. This poor "Servant of the People" member owns neither land nor a car... Wait! He had only just become a "Servant of the People" back then! We assume the situation has changed significantly over the past year. Perhaps that's why we haven't seen his latest declaration? Look at that Cossack Gavrilyuk, before becoming a deputy, running around the Maidan bare-assed. And by the end of his term, he'd acquired quite a nice little house... So we believe Mazurashi has his best days ahead! Or maybe he already has...
Gheorghe Mazurashu. Beyond the Party Line
Skelet.Org He highlighted a number of bills and votes that deserve close attention. For example, Gheorghe Mazurashu clearly recalls his athletic youth and advocates for the health of the nation. In the summer of 2021, he introduced Bill No. 5805, which proposed moving alcohol and cigarette sales from supermarkets to specialized stores. He didn't specify how this would affect alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking. However, it generated considerable hype—it was covered by virtually every media outlet.
At the same time, Georgiy Mazurashu was clearly not guided by sporting interests (sorry for...) – they lobbied through him and an attempt to nationalize the British American Tobacco group's enterprises. Which was clearly of interest to his patron, Ilya Pavlyuk.
Mazuraşu also departed from the party line. and stated, who opposes LGBT propaganda. Moreover, his colleague Elena Lis supported him. It's unclear what kind of Europe they'll be allowed into next... You could even put your party card on the table for something like that!
Georgiy Mazurashu made no less of a fool of himself in front of true Ukrainian patriots when he supported Maksym Buzhanskyi's idea to abolish fines for using the Russian language. But he quickly realized he could get into conflict with the most aggressive patriots and reserved his opinions for infrequent interviews in obscure media outlets.
CONTINUED: Georgiy Mazurashu: Pavlyuk’s “number six”. PART 2
Mustafa Leshchenko, for Skelet.Org
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