Oleksandr Gerega, the notorious regional leader and director of the Epicenter chain, hasn't stopped there. Euromaidan taught him nothing. He continues to consider people scum and the electorate suckers. Now he's trying to get into the Verkhovna Rada again, this time through a single-member constituency in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast. Will the former regional leader succeed? We'll see... 14 people work for Oleksandr Gerega's well-being. Millions more voluntarily donate hryvnias to the businessman's Epicenter construction hypermarkets. Crisis or no crisis, repairs are on schedule. The chain currently has 22 stores across Ukraine. In 2009, the new Epicenter in Kyiv was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as "the largest DIY (do-it-yourself) construction and hardware hypermarket in the world," with an area of 56 square meters. The opening of the store was blessed by the presence of the then President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko.
However, despite all the records in the country's construction market, Gerega is starting to feel cramped. In 2010, a major European operator, Praktiker, entered Ukraine, and the French chain Leroy Merlin is also preparing to enter. Millionaire Gerega certainly won't be bored. Perhaps that's why the entrepreneur decided that Ukraine alone won't be enough. So Gerega bought a 5,1% stake in Lentex, a local linoleum manufacturer in Poland. It's possible that this isn't the businessman's last window into Europe.
When Alexander Gerega opened another Epicenter construction hypermarket last year, he had plenty of reasons to believe he'd accomplished something big and important. The new Epicenter covers 56,000 square meters, and according to the Ukrainian Book of Records, it's the largest store of its kind in the world. Many would have been temporarily relieved by such a massive undertaking, but not Gerega. This year, he added three more hypermarkets to the chain he founded in 2003 with his wife, Galina, bringing the total to 27. This meteoric expansion is easy to explain: the crisis has forced many Ukrainians to cut costs on contractors and build things themselves.
60% of the laudatory odes in honor of Epicenter were written by managers, hangers-on, and still-satisfied employees, although the latter are fewer and fewer every day.
And for many reasons, the main one is the Epicenter leadership. A bunch of tyrants and hangers-on.
Dear customers, what do you expect from sales consultants who work for themselves and that other guy, with a salary of $500 converted at the exchange rate of "5," from which all sorts of fines (no price tag or sign, stains on work clothes, late merchandise display, constant department reorganization) must be subtracted, resulting in a final cost of $250-300 at the same exchange rate? Epicenter management couldn't care less, to put it bluntly. CHIEF OFFICER Aleksandr Vladimirovich Gerega considers all employees "CATTLE" and makes no secret of it. If he shakes a "mere mortal's" hand while visiting the market, it should be left unwashed for a month and held to the sore spots. But I'll come back to this guy later.
All companies that care about their reputation in the marketplace have training courses for trainees, where they learn the basics of sales. But at Epicenter, you just sign up and go to work selling. It's easier for management; they have someone to blame for missing items, etc. Speaking of missing items, management has figured out a way to combat them. All employees sign a Collective Financial Responsibility Agreement, and the total amount of the entire market's shortage, divided by the number of employees, is deducted from each Epicenter employee's salary. It couldn't be better.
Now about the management. Gerega, Alexander Vladimirovich, a rags-to-riches king. He loves to throw around promises, BUT REMEMBER, HE NEVER KEEPS A SINGLE ONE. When he said the lofty words, "There's no crisis in the Epicenter," he meant himself and his entourage. In January, salaries were paid 10 days late for one simple reason, to paraphrase the lines from the film "The Irony of Fate." "Every winter, my friends and I go to the Alps"—that's right. While the management was off skiing, the people didn't know what to expect; many had loans, families, small children, and "we 'gods' have no time for that." There's a joke going around the markets: A son asks his dad, "What is a financial crisis? Will it affect us?" Dad answers him: You see, Son, a jeep with the license plates OVG 27 (the license plates on A.V. Gerega’s car), so that guy will get into trouble, and we, Son, will be screwed!
A.V. Gerega's promises to build housing for Epicenter workers are pompous words, spoken by a man detached from reality and seeing life only from his office or car window. I doubt he'll tell me how much bread costs. His wife, Galina Fedorovna Gerega, the financial director, is just as effusive, making promises during the State Attestation Commission election campaign, but what's in it for us? The management makes nothing but promises, and someday they'll have to ANSWER for them. They've surrounded themselves with sycophants, bootlickers, and informers. Take the Pole Wojtek Hoffman, for example—he's quite the figurehead; to him, all people are "cattle" (well, that's understandable; you'll pick up a lot of that from whoever you hang out with). This Polish scum knows no other words except "mother whore." He fires people in a second. If anyone has a grudge against him, a car with HOFFMAN license plates is theirs. He thinks everyone is a farmhand and probably thinks he's holding God by the feet. Not so.
Having the Holy Father on staff praying for sins will not save anyone!
And management forgot that these "cattle" are making money for them, not the other way around. If management doesn't show up for work, we won't know, but if people start work two hours late at all Epicenter stores in Ukraine, then MANAGEMENT will feel it.
They, the leaders, are afraid that a trade union will be created and then the lawlessness of GEREG and K. will end.
I may be a former Epicenter employee, but I still have many friends. I SUGGEST that on February 23rd, the holiday for real men, we start work two hours late. Look how everyone is running in! This message is for everyone who works or dreams of working at Epicenter.
Geregs - benefactors behind the rozrakhunka
Without a doubt, the upcoming election campaign in Ukraine is a struggle not for life, but for death, in literal and figurative terms. “New guises” are entering orbit and are ready to claim their legitimacy using “old” technological methods. It’s not anyone’s fault that the province actively, even before the official start of the elections, flared up its hectic sponsorship campaign in new and possible ways.
In Khmelnytskyi region, his benefactor appeared unexpectedly. We know: the main sponsor of Euro 2012, the ruler of the Epicenter hypermarket network and, you will say, a poor Ukrainian (in 2010, he dropped to the rating of the 200 richest people in Ukraine with assets of at least 400 million dollars) Oleksandr Gerega. Oleksandr Volodymyrovych, who comes from the Gorodotsky district of the Khmelnytskyi region, to carry out a massive “attack” with valuable gifts for the upcoming elections in single-mandate election district No. 192 (center - Dunaivtsi metro station, which includes Gorodotsky, Dunaevetsky, Chemerovetsky, Yarmolinetsky districts). Those who are a Hamanian “benefactor” are ready to spend endless amounts of money, judge for yourself.
Imported baling press as a testament to “philanthropy”
“The grain producers of the village of Pravdivka, Yarmolinetsky district, took over the Welger baling press of German production under the ownership of Gerega,” reports the regional newspaper “Podolskie Vesti”. This marvelous technique was bought for the cob of lime tree by the “benefactor” with the help of the local villagers. It would seem that there was a need to splash in the valley and just whine to Oleksandr Volodimirovich for an imported “thing”. In a clumsy way, through the Internet, it is not important to find out the correct quality of the German baling press. The asking price for this is 56 thousand hryvnia. For Gerega, the “dribnichka” is not large, but it is suitable for every thousand-strong village. It is clear that this behavior does not focus on the generosity of the soul.
Giving dear speeches, Gerega, it seems, plans to withdraw dividends from this. And this should not be reduced to the primitive voices of the voters. This is the crotch for reaching the mark.
The immune system of 5 rocks stimulates the most popular candidate among the people's deputies to bathe the whole community with gamuz. So, on the 4th day of the village of Lisovodi, Gorodotsky district, Mr. Gerega received a large amount of free gifts from the Epicenter brand. The villagers were given jars of farbs, brooms, roulettes, buckets, and bowls. All kinds of achievements became the “Tsvyakh” programs, for example, Geregi’s hammers and certificates from the hands of the village head were awarded to the winners.
Before the day of cultural workers, the “philanthropist” presented envelopes containing 400 hryvnia to over 200 cultural workers in this area of the Gorodotsky district. As eyewitnesses revealed, they also organized a holy day for cultural workers at the local cafe “Mriya”, which was celebrated until the fourth anniversary of the morning. Gerega also plans to reconstruct the park near the regional center of Gorodok.
The Gorodotska district administration closely cooperates with the “independent” philanthropist. As the informed dzherel respected, the election headquarters of Gerega was discredited by the first defender of the head of the Gorodotska district administration, Neonil Andriychuk. And the protector of the head of the Khmelnytsky regional organization of the Party of Regions, Mikhailo Voytyuk, stated that the PR is ready to support the businessman as a candidate for the majoritarian constituency according to this force. “And support from the side of the head of the Khmelnytsky regional administration Vasyl Yadukha (at the same time, he also supports regional representatives), so that Oleksandr Gerega ishov in the parliamentary elections,” the regional representative explained.
"Denim" candidate
In addition to valuable gifts and penny “prizes,” Gerega does not skimp on those in order to “finish” the voters through ZMI. Let’s highlight the butt of the received advertising, and specifically, “jeans”, and a series of publications that go out of the way in the most popular publication, the regional newspaper “Podilskie Vesti”. Without the “advertising” or “advertising” sign, the scale of activity of a Polish philanthropist with a Kiev residence permit is revealed from issue to issue. Stand over 300 kilometers from the real place of residence, Oleksandr Gerega, in one of his articles, tried to convey speed with the sacred phrase: “The Rebirth of Khmelnytskyi region is our sleeping place on the right!”
The squad still doesn’t show up
The family’s benevolent team is also complemented by Gerega Galina, who works as secretary of the Kiev Municipality for her sake. Її majoritarian district No. 215 in the Desnyansky district of Kiev. This is where the upcoming candidate’s activity among the People’s Deputies has become concentrated - the distribution of food packages is in full swing.
The food kit includes 1 kg of zucchini, round grain rice, wheat borosch, 1 can of condensed milk and sprouts, one package of “Maria” oven, one “Chocolate Castle” biscuit, a pen with the inscription “Galina Gerega” and a notepad with a magnet for the refrigerator. Included with the food kit is a magazine in which it is revealed that Gerega “senses the skin” and about the work she has already done. As confirmation, photos are illustrated.
In addition, Galina Gerega took up the improvement of her district. In the courtyards of budynkas in Troyeshchyna, benches and basketball hoops appeared with the inscription: “Be kind to the people. Galina Gerega."
Such a family “consecutive” Gereg is time to prove that the work of the Verkhovna Rada is inexorable - in short, the capital’s ongoing communal problems and business without a mandate cover.
Where to settle down
The owners of Epicenter have already renounced the previous government, but haven't yet made friends with the new one.
Alexander and Galina Gerega are perhaps the most secretive family among Ukrainian politicians and businessmen. They rarely give interviews and go to great lengths to minimize the leakage of any "unnecessary" information about themselves, especially about their business—Epicenter K, the largest hypermarket chain in Eastern Europe. However, this is understandable: journalists have plenty of uncomfortable questions for the couple, related to land allocation for development, political decisions, and many other facts that could add blemishes to their reputations.
In politics, Gerega's defining characteristic is their shared talent for cooperating with any government. In December 2009, then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko attended the opening of another "Epicenter" in Kyiv's Svyatoshensky district. Two years later, the controversial mayor, Leonid Chernovetskyi, nominated Kyiv City Council member Halyna Gerega for the position of secretary of that body. In this position, one of Ukraine's richest women played along with the Party of Regions, which blocked elections in Kyiv until the end of the revolution (directly targeting the head of the Administration, Serhiy Lyovochkin).
However, this is far from all that Ms. Gerega has been remembered for as secretary of the Kyiv City Council. For example, under her leadership, the Kyiv City Council held a session that was dubious in terms of legality and unprecedented in its speed: ten minutes were enough for the deputies to vote on five resolutions and leave the meeting hall. All this occurred during a storming of the building by members of parliament and ordinary activists.
The stronger half of the Gereg family, her husband, Oleksandr Volodymyrovych, also demonstrated loyalty to the ruling party for a long time. Having won the 2012 parliamentary elections in a single-mandate constituency in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast as an independent candidate, the co-owner of Epicenter joined the Party of Regions faction. There, the businessman conducted himself in an exemplary manner: he maintained discipline, voting for everything that came down from above, including the "dictatorial laws" of January 16.
The couple only began to shed their "white-blue" image when the collapse of the fugitive president's team became irreversible: Oleksandr left the Party of Regions faction on February 21, and Halyna resigned from her position as Kyiv City Council Secretary on February 24. Around the same time, the Geregas, on behalf of their company, Epicenter K, announced that they were "with the people." However, as early as early February, the business family had been planning to combat the boycott of their hypermarkets, which had become particularly widespread in the country's western regions, using entirely different methods. Thus, Oleksandr Gerega registered a bill proposing to amend Article 161 of the Criminal Code with a provision on "inciting inter-party hatred," which would be punishable by a fine of 200 to 500 non-taxable minimums or a prison sentence of two to five years. Defending his project, Gerega argued that refusing to accept goods and services produced by representatives of the Party of Regions contradicts the spirit and letter of the Constitution: "They are artificially trying to divide us into members of one party or another, but we are all Ukrainian people!"
These two representatives of the people spent 10 years building their retail chain. Last October, the Geregs acquired their closest competitor, Novaya Liniya, previously owned by the investment company Dragon Capital. Thus, the couple's empire grew to include 16 more hypermarkets. Today, Epicenter K comprises 42 stores: 36 in the regions and six in the capital. The combined hypermarket space is 1 million square meters, and revenue is approaching $2 billion. The businessmen have no intention of stopping there: the Geregs are even opening their stores in regional centers, albeit in much smaller spaces. The number of these "mini-epicenters" continues to grow across the country. To truly succeed, they need only find a new, stable "roof" in this changed Ukraine.
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Galina Gerega: "I often feel ashamed when Kyiv City Council members are associated solely with property grabs. I've never done that, and I know many other members who haven't either."
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