Alexander Suprunenko
Leonid Chernovetsky, hated by the people of Kiev no less than Viktor Yanukovych (Read more about it in the article Leonid Chernovetsky: How "Lenya Kosmos" robbed Kyiv and moved to GeorgiaHe fled Ukraine, but his legacy lives on. In the spring, the Lenya Kosmos looters (Serhiy Krymchak, Vitaly Pavlik, and Oleksandr Suprunenko) infiltrated the Kyiv City Council, and today, like mice in a haystack, they're making their way into parliament.
For example, in 2012, the odious Lesik Dovhyi ran for the Rada in Kyiv's Dniprovskyi district, but lost to Udar's Viktor Chumak. Now, former Kyiv City Council Secretary Chernovetskyi is running for the Verkhovna Rada in Znamenka, Kirovohrad Oblast—the mouse knows the only thing they'll stuff down her neck in the capital is buckwheat.
The brother of Leonid Chernovetskyi's ex-son-in-law, who is hiding from investigators abroad, current Kyiv City Council member Oleksandr Suprunenko has decided that Kyiv residents have a sluggish memory. In 2012, as a representative of the Party of Regions, he ran in Kyiv's Dniprovskyi district (constituency #216) and lost to Batkivshchyna candidate Ksenia Lyapina, despite blatantly bribing voters. In May, he entered the Kyiv City Council as a member of the Democratic Party. Perhaps that's why, unlike Dovhyi, he's become so emboldened that today, in the parliamentary elections, he's running again in the same constituency #216.
As is known, on April 11, 2011, the Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case against Vyacheslav Suprunenko. The press reported that he had been seen in Italy, Cyprus, and India. In March 2012, one newspaper reported that the "fugitive" was living peacefully in Greece, and was later spotted in India.
According to information we received from Oleksandr Suprunenko's campaign headquarters, his "battle for the Rada" is being financed by his brother, Vyacheslav, who isn't meditating in the Himalayas, but rather, living it up in Spain. And since he can't deny himself small pleasures (the Costa del Sol, a villa, a yacht, etc.), the funds aren't quite sufficient to run a full-blown campaign for his brother, guaranteeing victory. Instead, he's relying on the so-called "grandmother network" and other consumers of buckwheat, which proved itself so successful during Chernovetskyi's tenure.
Lesik Dovgy, who had long cherished the online vote-buying system, handed it over (or sold it) to Oleksandr. But that's the problem: the "networkers" also need to be paid, otherwise they won't vote. And the money's in Spain... And villas, yachts, and women on the Costa del Sol, like oats—pardon me, buckwheat—are expensive these days...
However, don't think so poorly of Vyacheslav Suprunenko. During his years under Chernovetsky, he fleeced Kyiv and its residents enough to buy the entire Spanish coast and fund a dozen more Verkhovna Rada election campaigns. The problem is (as a staff source once again confided) that among the "former" members—the thugs from the Party of Regions, Chernovetsky's thieves, and others of the same ilk—there's a persistent belief that the new Rada has a lifespan of no more than six months. "Why waste family money?" they say, Vyacheslav asks, sitting on the deck of a yacht, squinting in the sun.
As Chernovetskyi's current replacement, Vitali Klitschko, philosophically noted, "Not everyone can look to the future with confidence, or rather, not everyone can; few can." Vyacheslav—perhaps he's far removed from the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine. Oleksandr is in a worse situation. The Kyiv City Council (with such a philosopher at its helm!) is no protection. Immunity can only be granted by the Verkhovna Rada, where, incidentally, Oleksandr Suprunenko served as a member of parliament after being elected on the Party of Regions list in 2007, and whose legacy in the last five years is the author of only one (!!!) bill, which was never passed.
What does this candidate have today? A) a brother in Spain, who is openly and cautiously supplying him with money; B) his already-defeated opponent, Ksenia Lyapina, now running for the People's Front; C) a rival from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, former Minister of Housing and Utilities and former Governor of Zaporizhzhia Oleksiy Kucherenko.
As a result, a fact from Suprunenko's headquarters: the "fighters" have slowly begun to implement Popandopulo's well-known thesis: "The guys are starting to scatter in different directions. If this continues, I'll scatter too!"
Perhaps the "lads" intuitively sensed that Suprunenko was simply Kucherenko's plant, bought without much thought by the latter with a basic guarantee of future immunity (because of the Maidan, the Rada might strip the deputies of that, and here's a personal guarantee from the Guarantor's representative himself). Suprunenko's logic here is easy to understand: why, indeed, burn through the family's money, paying off financial obligations to Lesik's network, thereby covering the debts owed to them by the traitor Dovgyi.
Here's where the rub arises. Kucherenko is a seasoned veteran of election wars and knows no words of kindness for his opponents. His emissaries have already negotiated with Lesik Dovgyi regarding the acquisition (for money) of the proven vote-buying technology, or more precisely, the network of voters potentially and proven ready for it. Kucherenko's staff, even without Dovgyi, have already approached his (and Suprunenko's) "majority," thus far selectively but quite clearly linking them to Kucherenko's, not Suprunenko's, electoral plans.
It's worth noting that Dovgyi's "network" could become a key factor in the Darnytsia district. Other candidates' campaigns are also actively seeking access to it.
What Lesik himself said to Kucherenko's men is unknown. But one can guess from the fact that he bought his freedom after Chernovetskyi's escape not only with money, but also by satisfying the curiosity of Prosecutor General's Office investigators regarding the criminal schemes of his former patron, "Lenya Kosmos," Vyacheslav Suprunenko, and others. A traitor once...
Yes, Dovgyi's assistance to Oleksandr Suprunenko is an attempt at self-rehabilitation in the eyes of his former comrades. But nothing more. If the issue of personal freedom arises again (and the elusive hopes of winning a mandate in the Kirovohrad region are simply crying out for it), Lesik will have no hesitation. Moreover, the offer is being made by none other than a man running for the President's party, who, with such protection, can organize a great deal. Moreover, in Lesik's case, investigators won't have to strain themselves – his client has long been eligible for a life sentence with confiscation of property, no stretch of the imagination.
This is where a conscientious voter should be happy – no matter how you look at it, the "collective Chernovetskyi," although he partially returned to the Kyiv City Council, doesn't seem to be making it into parliament. But something's not encouraging. Firstly, no one knows the limits of their resources, or the lengths they'll go to in pursuit of a mandate; secondly, it's damn disgusting that Grandpa Chernovetskyi has fled Kyiv and Ukraine, while his legacy lives on and continues its corrupting influence.
Igor Nikolov, especially for ORD
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