How the Gereg family successfully manages to "pull" all Kyiv residents

How the Gerega family successfully manages to "pull" all Kyiv residents

The names of Oleksandr and Halyna Gerega are familiar to anyone even slightly connected to the construction business. They amassed their vast fortune from the Epicenter construction hypermarkets, which are now found in virtually every major city. This married couple is known for their ability to use politics to their advantage. Therefore, they spend generously during election time. The 2015 local elections were no exception. This time, having renounced their "regional" roots, the Geregas created their own political party, "For Specific Achievements." Its official leader is Lyudmila Koval, but there's no doubt that it's the Gerega family's party.

How the Gerega family built their business

Halyna Fedorivna was born in the Lviv region in 1959. She studied at the Lviv Cooperative College, after which she moved to Kyiv. In 1978, she entered the Kyiv Institute of Trade and Economics and graduated with honors. Her husband, Oleksandr Vladimirovich, was born in 1976. In the 90s, he began working in business as a merchant. At the time, his future wife worked at the Kyiv Culinary School. She later became chief engineer at the company "Obyedinenie 906," which operated under the Higher Party School. In 1994, Halyna became deputy director of the company "Glibochitsa," and four years later, she became financial director at the company "Cermet AGS."

UPDATE as of December 8, 2022: Alexander and Galina Gerega. Portrait of an oligarch

The Geregs began their business in 2003, opening a company called "Epicenter," which initially sold only construction materials. Galina Fedorovna herself served as the company's CFO. According to her, after the opening of their first store, business was so good that they decided to expand. When they approached Kyiv's chief architect, Sergey Babushkin, with their first hypermarket project, they somehow believed it would be approved. Incidentally, it was approved at the instigation of then-Mayor of Kyiv, Oleksandr Omelchenko. Rumor has it that Omelchenko received a huge kickback for opening their first construction hypermarket.

Epicenter at 20 Polyarnaya Street

Galina Fedorivna first entered politics in 2006. She managed to gain a seat on the Kyiv City Council list of the Kyiv Civic Asset Committee (KCC). This project was implemented by political strategist Oleksandr Korotenko (Kyiv, Omsk, and Bishkek Strategy Workshop). The executor was the current "political strategist," Sergei Gaidai, who built on Korotenko's work. (He joined Korotenko in the Duma elections to promote Khakamada. After a dispute with Korotenko over the KCC, Gaidai, forgetting to share funds, failed to implement a single successful project. He has now been hired by Gennady Korban for the UKROP party.) The main sponsor was the oligarch Vasyl Khmelnytsky. (read more about it in the article Vasyl Khmelnytsky: the planted oligarch), however, the Geregs also added money to the project.

Their business weathered the 2008 crisis relatively smoothly thanks to the assets they had accumulated earlier. Moreover, in 2009, they opened the world's largest DIY hypermarket, and a year later, three more opened. In 2010, Epicenter became a sponsor of Euro 2012 in Ukraine. At the same time, Gerega became head of the Kyiv City Council at the instigation of Leonid Chernovetskyi (Read more about it in the article Leonid Chernovetsky: How "Lenya Kosmos" robbed Kyiv and moved to Georgia). In the 2012 parliamentary elections, Oleksandr Gerega became a people's deputy of Ukraine in the 192nd majoritarian district, but his wife did not succeed; in the 215th district, in which she ran, she lost To Andrey IlienkoIn 2013, experts estimated the Gereg family's fortune at $794 million (ranking them 24th among the richest Ukrainians).

Galina Gerega: All is fair in the fight for voters.

Having gained experience working in the Verkhovna Rada as part of the Party of Regions faction, Oleksandr Gerega has clearly grasped that all is fair in the struggle for power. While politicians like Gennady Korban hand out buckwheat, he has gone much further. He's willing to buy voters' votes with building materials from his stores. For ordinary voters, paint or a hammer are enough, while for more demanding voters, he provides agricultural machinery and tractors. This is precisely how, in the last parliamentary elections, he appointed Andriy Shinkovych, a previously unknown figure, to the position of People's Deputy in the 189th single-mandate constituency.

During Euromaidan, Automaidan activists led by Sergei Poyarkov came to picket Gereg supermarkets. However, they quickly "bunkered," and now Poyarkov is part of Gereg's "For Concrete Deeds" party. Rumor has it that ending the picketing of their supermarket cost Gereg six figures. Considering the love of "patriots" like Poyarkov for greenbacks, this isn't hard to believe.

For specific information, ask Gereg

In the upcoming local elections, Gerega has gone even further. In the Khmelnytskyi region, he has created his own political force, "For Specific Causes," which is vying for a majority of votes in 20 districts and six cities across the region (Belogorsky, Izyaslavsky, Krasylivsky, Teofilsky, Gorodotsky, Dunayevetsky, Chemerovetsky, and Yarmolynetsky districts, as well as the city of Netishyn). Gerega's party is currently aggressively promoting itself through social media and billboards. Gerega is also sparing no expense in cultivating voters through hidden advertising. The most striking example of this is a series of publications regularly appearing in one of the Khmelnytskyi regional publications, "Podilsky Visti." Without any advertising, they regularly publish articles about the Gerega family's "exploits" in the field of charity.

Alexander Vladimirovich isn't shy about using his hypermarket employees, of whom there are about 15, in his PR campaign. But it's clear they're doing it voluntarily, as only a few are satisfied with the management, and even those are merely hostages to the situation.

A review from an Epicenter employee about the Gereg family

Politics as a way to solve your own business problems

The Gerega family is adept at currying favor with any current government; they have a real talent for it. For example, in 2009, then-President Viktor Yushchenko personally opened one of the "Epicenters" in Kyiv. Two years later, the infamous Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi appointed Halyna Gerega as Secretary of the Kyiv City Council. In this position, at the instigation of the "gray cardinal" of the Yanukovych government, Serhiy Lyovochkin, she actively lobbied for the interests of the Party of Regions until the end of the Ukrainian revolution. Furthermore, Halyna Fedorivna managed to distinguish herself in this position during the scandalous "speed session" of the Kyiv City Council, which passed five resolutions in 10 minutes and then fled the meeting room. It looked almost like a vote for "dictatorial laws"—"235 in favor. The decision has been adopted." The reason all this happened so quickly was because activists stormed the building during the session. Vladimir Gerega has also always been loyal to the Party of Regions. This is evidenced by the fact that after being elected in the single-mandate constituency, he joined the Party of Regions faction. Incidentally, Alexander Vladimirovich was one of those who voted for the "dictatorial laws" on January 16.

As secretary of the Kyiv City Council, Halyna Gerega actively abused her position. Due to her influence within the City Council, she conspired with officials from Kyivpastrans and the Kyiv City Council's Department of Economy and Investment. Gerega entered into an investment agreement under which a huge plot of land (almost 10 hectares) at 20 Polyarna Street was ultimately transferred to the private enterprise Epicenter. Given that Galina Fedorivna's family owns Epicenter, the prosecutor's office raised numerous questions about the legality of these actions. An investigation revealed that the transfer of this plot violated Ukrainian land legislation. According to the prosecutor's office, there was no official permission from the Kyiv City Council to transfer the plot. Furthermore, the property complex, owned by Kyivpastrans, was also located there and serves as a gathering point for mobilization resources for the Obolonskyi district. In fact, the military personnel and the equipment intended for them lost their deployment location before being sent to the ATO.

Judging by the comments of political scientists and sociologists, the Gerehs will finally get their way in the local elections, finally taking control of the Khmelnytskyi region. However, there is hope that if voters recall some of the episodes in the biographies of these "figures," they will come to their senses, and no amount of paint or hammers from Epicenter will convince them otherwise.

Dmitry Samofalov, for Skelet.Org

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