In single-mandate constituency No. 90 (Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast), 24 candidates have registered for the snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada on October 26, 2014. The constituency is considered one of the most promising in the Kyiv region. Those who were left out in the 2012 parliamentary elections are once again trying their hand here, as are figures whose names are known not only in the Kyiv region but throughout Ukraine.
Constituency No. 90 covers the city of Bila Tserkva, where the Central Election Commission counted approximately 162,732 potential voters. Twenty-four candidates for parliament have registered here. Competing for voters' favor will be representatives of Lyashko's Radical Party, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, Svoboda, the All-Ukrainian Union "Batkivshchyna," the Opposition Bloc, the Right Sector, the Communist Party, and independent candidates.
LIST OF CANDIDATES FOR PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES IN THE 90ND DISTRICT
Seasoned
Among the prominent figures in the 90th constituency's single-mandate district is Oleksandr Marchenko, head of the Kyiv regional branch of the Svoboda party. He also ran in this district in the 2012 parliamentary elections. His main competitor then was Yulia Tymoshenko's "bodyguard," former BYuT member and now ardent Poroshenko supporter Vitaliy Chudnovsky, also known in the media for his ties to 90s crime boss Viktor Rybka.
The city still remembers the legal battles between the "white and fluffy" Marchenko and Chudnovsky. Despite the multitude of evidence of election fraud, the district election commission's decision was not finally appealed, and Vitaliy Chudnovsky was elected to the 7th Verkhovna Rada.
Oleksandr Marchenko's constituency currently boasts numerous young and ambitious candidates, but he will certainly not face a competitor in Chudnovsky. In the 2014 single-mandate election, Chudnovsky was nominated by the Petro Poroshenko Bloc in the 200th district of Cherkasy Oblast.
Oleksandr Kostelnyuk, a chiropractor and healthcare professional, is also running in District No. 90. In the 2012 parliamentary elections, he placed a modest ninth, garnering approximately 700 votes from residents of Bila Tserkva. He runs his own business in the capital, a private medical facility. In 2012, he was remembered by city residents for his modest political advertising and numerous publicized testimonials from satisfied clients.
Lyudmila Drygalo, the "femme fatale" of the Bila Tserkva region, is also running in this constituency. In 2012, she failed to secure a seat in parliament. She is currently a member of the Bila Tserkva City Council representing the People's Party. She also previously ran for mayor of Bila Tserkva. Lyudmila Drygalo is better known for her Drygalo brand, created back in the turbulent 90s. Today, this brand's semi-finished products are sold throughout Ukraine, but few people know that Lyudmila Drygalo has had no connection with the company since 2012, having been forced to sell Drygalo LLC, which went bankrupt.
Along with Marchenko and Drygalo, who lost in 2012, Oleksandr Linevich, head of the Kyiv regional public organization "Ridne Misto," has decided to retake the 90th district. Two years ago, as an independent candidate, he finished sixth in the race. Linevich is now running for Lyashko's Radical Party and is counting on the political force's popularity for his own personal PR.
Businessmen, city dwellers and the "impassable"
Seventeen of the 24 candidates in the Bila Tserkva district are running independently. Remarkably, almost all of them are successful businessmen. However, in the current political climate, they have been deemed unwinnable, despite the electorate's strong demand for new faces in parliament.
Among the wealthy, but not particularly well-known candidates are businessman Andrey Ishchenko from the Obukhiv region (Avant LLC), director of BC-Energoaudit LLC Viktor Matyushko, head of Torgkomplektservis LLC Sergey Yarmolchuk, owner of the firm Mangust Yuri Felonenko, individual entrepreneurs Anna Kulinich and Yevgeny Bezkryly, son of the former mayor of Bila Tserkva Vyacheslav Shulipa (Clark Private Enterprise), and Bohdan Zborovsky (Optima-Contrast LLC).
The insidious "no-go" list also secretly includes Petro Molotsky, an engineer at the Bila Tserkva House-Building Plant; self-nominated pensioners Viktor Matviychuk and Volodymyr Shevchenko; two people with the same last name—Anna Oliynyk, a legal consultant for the Bila Tserkva Teploset municipal enterprise, and Taras Oliynyk, a communist; Ivan Shcheritsya, director of the Bila Tserkva branch of the Kyiv Institute of Business and Technology; and Vasyl Dolhy, deputy chief physician of the city's Primary Health Care Center No. 1 in Bila Tserkva. Platoon commander Mykola Porfimovych of the special forces battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine, nominated by the Right Sector, was also dubbed "no-go."
The only candidate with a party card among the independent candidates is Bohdan Yaremenko, a member of the UDAR party, director of the BLITZ Information and Advertising Agency, and editor-in-chief of the local publications Maidan-Brok and Nash Gorodok. He has already managed to get creative with his campaign advertising. His political party nominated another candidate, but he hasn't given up hope. Mr. Yaremenko's main slogan for this election is "Not from the party, but from the people!"
Yuriy Petryk, nominated by Batkivshchyna in the 90th district, is also considered a strong competitor. Yuriy Fedorovich is the head of the education department in Bila Tserkva. Picky residents of Bila Tserkva recall Mr. Petryk's repeated financial fraud in the education sector. For example, not long ago, the department headed by Yuriy Petryk issued orders for additional payments to employees of city educational institutions without conducting workplace assessments.
Regional Council
The highlight of the 90th constituency is the head of the Kyiv Regional Council, Mykola Babenko, a member of the Udar party, nominated by the presidential Poroshenko Bloc. According to local residents, the head of the Kyiv Regional Council hasn't managed to earn much notoriety for either good or bad deeds. However, his approval rating in Bila Tserkva is quite high, as is that of Petro Poroshenko himself.
Nikolai Babenko himself is a popular figure in Bila Tserkva. An orphan raised in a boarding school, Mr. Babenko has earned a reputation in the Kyiv region and the capital as a self-made man. Meanwhile, rumor has it that his name is connected to the company that built a helipad for Viktor Yanukovych himself.
During the election campaign, candidate Nikolai Babenko went on vacation and plunged headlong into an active election campaign.
"Babenko never acted like a 'petty' politician, and during his time as head of the regional council, he repeatedly demonstrated that he wasn't concerned with the problems of the babushkas, public sector workers, and disabled people of the Kyiv region. Moreover, he had already made his way into the Verkhovna Rada... He would feel much more comfortable there," one of the regional council's "UDAR" members told KV anonymously.
Another candidate from the regional council is Stanislav Polischuk, who ran for the regional council in 2010 as a representative of the Party of Regions. In the current single-member constituency, he is nominated by the Opposition Bloc. Mr. Polischuk has been associated with being one of the most influential members of the regional council since Oleksandr Kachny, who led the Kyiv Regional Council. Kachny currently heads the regional branch of the Party of Development of Ukraine, while Stanislav Polischuk leads the parliamentary group on the regional council (though he is reportedly considering resigning due to personal reasons).
"The next elections are just around the corner, but most city residents still haven't made up their minds. Or they're hiding it, embarrassed by their chosen candidate. This is a very difficult district, challenging for both party candidates and independents. There's no extensive campaigning in the 90th district (except perhaps the huge number of Babenko billboards). Bila Tserkva isn't on the same level as Kyiv, but it's no longer a typical district center. In any case, the current elections are viewed calmly and even with understanding—this parliament will last a year at most, anyway, and people don't understand what they're actually voting for," a source from the local city council, who wished to remain anonymous, concluded to KV.
Oksana Melnik, KyivVlast
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