Eighteen candidates for parliament have registered for single-mandate constituency No. 213 in the Desnyansky district of the capital. Ten of them are running independently, while the rest are nominated by parties. Among the candidates are three independent members of the Udar party, a current and former Kyiv City Council member, a Yarosh aide, a book publisher, a powerlifter, a descendant of Miklouho-Maclay, and, of course, Darth Vader.
Single-mandate constituency No. 213 covers part of Kyiv's Desnyansky district. It includes 76 polling stations. The expected electorate is 166 people.
Eighteen candidates for People's Deputies of Ukraine have registered in the district. Ten of them are running as independent candidates, while the remaining eight are supported by political forces: Volia, the Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko, the Liberal Party, the People's Front, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, Strong Ukraine, the Opposition Bloc, and Batkivshchyna.
Candidates from political forces
Opponent of "Kulinich"
26-year-old businessman Yuriy Andreyev is running for parliament from the Volya party, saying he wants to stop associating Troyeshchyna with "semki" (semitic gangsters) and "gopniks."
According to the party's website, Andreev took an active part in the events on the Maidan in 2014 and was a participant in Automaidan, for which his driver's license was revoked.
Andreev also organized a public watchdog for the Desnyansky district and participated in rallies in support of the law "On the Cleansing of Power."
In addition, the candidate for a parliamentary mandate states that since 2010 he has been fighting against the small architectural forms of the Kulinichi company (owned by people close to former President Yanukovych) in Kyiv, which was attempting to monopolize the bread market in the capital and thus ruin the Kyivkhlib enterprise.
Having entered parliament, Andreev promises to carry out lustration, eliminate oligarchic monopolies, and strengthen the army.
Newly minted radical
The "Radicals" in Troyeshchyna nominated an experienced candidate, Yaroslav Bystrushkin (son of the renowned film actor Oleksandr Bystrushkin, who oversaw the capital's culture during Omelchenko's mayoralty before moving to President Yushchenko's secretariat). In 2012, Yaroslav ran for parliament as an independent candidate in the same constituency but failed to win. (His current rival, Batkishvin candidate Volodymyr Yavorivskyi, won the election.)
Opponents of the radical claim that when he ran for parliament two years ago, Bystrushkin tried to bribe voters with "cheap" rations and invitations to women's cinemas, under the guise of March 8th congratulations.
Without the support of political forces, Bystrushkin also tried to get into the Kyiv City Council from district No. 16 in Troyeshchyna, but he was overtaken by the Udar member Yuriy Bratishchenko.
On his Facebook page, Bystrushkin often criticizes the capital's authorities and also posts his "exploits" as a Troeshchina activist.
In his election program, like other radical majoritarian candidates, Bystrushkin talks about the return of Crimea and the defense of Donbass, local lustration, and "corruption on a pitchfork."
Music lovers may know Bystrushkin as one of the organizers of the rock festival "Chaika," which was held in the capital several times in the early 2000s.
Yulia's defender
Lawyer Vladislav Vergun from Ukrainka is running in the 213th single-member constituency for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as a member of the Liberal Party of Ukraine. He is the head of the judicial department of the Gestors law firm.
In 2010, Vergun ran for the Kyiv Regional Council on the Batkivshchyna party list but was unsuccessful. In 2011, he served as Yulia Tymoshenko's public and legal defense attorney.
The media also reports that Vergun is a member of Batkivshchyna.
"My calling is to serve God and the Ukrainian people," the candidate declared in his election platform, promising in parliament to work on reviving morality and spirituality in Ukraine based on Christian values.
Troyeshchyna utility worker
The People's Front, true to its tradition, nominated a local official in the Desnyansky District. Apparently, the party didn't have a former head of the local district state administration this time, so Mykhailo Ishchenko, first deputy director of the district's "Directorate for Housing Management and Maintenance," ran.
The official had already attempted to run for the Kyiv City Council in 2014. He ran in the 19th constituency in Troyeshchyna as a candidate for the Batkivshchyna party, but lost to his rival, Vasyl Severinenko, from UDAR.
According to the candidate's election platform, he is running for the Verkhovna Rada to improve the lives of residents of Troyeshchyna.
The Unfaithful Kyiv City Council Deputy
The Poroshenko Bloc in district #213 is trying to push Anatoliy Karpenko, the current Kyiv City Council deputy from the UDAR-Solidarity faction, into the Rada.
This year, Karpenko again became a capital deputy for Klitschko and Poroshenko, having run on the party list, in which he occupied 20th place (he had previously been elected from Oleksandr Omelchenko’s Unity party).
On the Central Election Commission website, Karpenko indicated that he is a specialist at Polyus CJSC, although in fact the candidate heads this enterprise, which is engaged in the production and sale of food products and is based in Troyeshchyna.
As KV previously reported, at the last plenary session of the Kyiv City Council, deputies from the "Radical" Party proposed to their colleagues that Anatoliy Karpenko be removed from his position as head of the Kyiv City Council's Trade Committee. However, the request was ignored, and a fight broke out in the hall.
In the Rada, Karpenko, according to his program, intends to work on reforming the political system, the economy, and strengthening the country's defense capability.
Assistant to former Kyiv City Council deputy Lishchenko
Larisa Lebideva, 57, a candidate from "Strong Ukraine," traded San Sanych Omelchenko for Serhiy Tigipko.
In 2002, she ran for the Kyiv City Council on the list of the Unity party of former Kyiv Mayor Omelchenko, but did not win.
In 2004, during the Ukrainian presidential elections, she was a trusted representative of candidate Oleksandr Omelchenko.
Lebideva is currently the deputy head of the Kyiv city branch of the People's Party. Incidentally, Olena Ovramenko, a Kyiv City Council member from UDAR-Solidarity (and in the previous convocation, the Chernovetsky Bloc), is still listed as a member of the organization.
The Central Election Commission website lists the candidate's place of work as the public organization "Desnyanska Sloboda," headed by Oleksandr Lishchenko, a member of the Kyiv City Council of the previous convocation who was previously accused of "protecting" the criminal and unregulated market on Elektrotekhnicheska Street in Troyeshchyna.
Lebideva's election platform states that, under the guise of the Verkhovna Rada, she will work on governance reform so that Kyiv residents can manage their property and most of the money collected in the city, as well as influence the appointment of heads of local law enforcement and regulatory agencies.
Former official of the Desnyansky District State Administration
The Opposition Bloc in Troyeshchyna was represented by Vadym Pereguda, former chief specialist of the Department of Tourism and Cultural Heritage Protection of the Desnyansky District State Administration's Department of Culture. Currently unemployed, he heads the Klio cultural and local history club in Vyshgorod.
If he wins the election, Pereguda promises to advocate for peace in Ukraine and economic reforms in parliament.
The winner of the 2012 Troyeshchyna elections
Batkivshchyna nominated writer Volodymyr Yavorivskyi in the 213th constituency, who won the 2012 elections there. Some experts believe he has a good chance of winning this constituency as well.
It's worth noting that he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada of the first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh convocations (1990-1998; 2002 to the present). In 2012, he won the election, defeating his competitor, Oleksandr Lishchenko, by a margin of two to one (36% of the vote versus 15%).
Until 2005, he was a member of the Our Ukraine party and actively participated in the Orange Revolution. He then joined the Tymoshenko Bloc, now called Batkivshchyna.
In 2001 and 2006, Yavorivsky was elected head of the National Union of Writers.
Upon receiving a parliamentary mandate, the candidate promises to remain with the Batkivshchyna faction until the end of the parliamentary term and to support the party's policies on lustration and transparency of political party funding. Otherwise, Yavorivskyi guarantees he will resign voluntarily.
Self-nominated candidates
Yarosh's assistant
Borislav Bereza, assistant to Right Sector party leader Dmytro Yarosh, is running for people's deputy in the 213th single-mandate constituency without the support of a political party.
On his Facebook page, the candidate stated that he was running for the Rada because the old party elites do not want to revive Ukraine, and this is now necessary.
In his election program, Bereza promises to fight corruption, decentralize power, and achieve equal rights for all people, regardless of social status.
Darth Vasilievich Vader
The 25-year-old unemployed Darth Vasilyevich Vader will pose serious competition to the other candidates in Troyeshchyna.
As KV previously reported, 13 of the 16 parliamentary candidates named Darth Vader across Ukraine are running in Kyiv.
However, the Central Electoral Commission cancelled the registration of one Star Wars character yesterday. Now Moscow residents will be unable to vote for Darth Vader in the 219th district.
As a reminder, the Star Wars franchise first entered the fray against Ukrainian politicians in the 2014 local elections. However, the Vaders lost the battle for the mayoral titles of Kyiv and Odesa.
Former Kyiv City Council deputy from Chernovetsky
Viktor Grushko, a former Kyiv City Council deputy and member of the Leonid Chernovetskyi Bloc, is running for the Rada on his own.
This year, he wanted to remain on the Kyiv City Council and get re-elected in District No. 16 in Troyeshchyna, but it didn’t work out.
As KV previously reported, Grushko's driver, Yuriy Bratishchenko, became the city's deputy instead of his. He was nominated in the district as a technical candidate and was expected to help Grushko gain more votes.
During the 2008 city council elections, Viktor Grushko was caught bribing voters. The former deputy selflessly drove pensioners to polling stations and gave them money so they would vote not for him personally, but for Leonid Chernovetskyi and his bloc.
Grushko is also one of the largest owners of small architectural forms in his area.
While campaigning for his support, the candidate promises residents of Troyeshchyna to improve the parks and squares in the area.
Publisher and bookseller
Book publisher and director of Orpheus Book House LLC, Konstantin Klimashenko, also decided to run for the Verkhovna Rada.
He actively participated in the events on the Maidan from November 2013 to August 2014 and founded the field kitchen “Euroborscht on the Maidan”.
On his Facebook page, Klimashenko spoke of a long-standing "bookish" conflict with his current election rival, Boryslav Bereza, but assured that he had not sought revenge and had no intention of doing so. The candidate also revealed that his opponents in the district had interfered with his registration with the Central Election Commission.
Having won the election, he promises to establish affordable food markets and open a maternity hospital in Troyeshchyna, punish those responsible for the beatings on Maidan, and erect a monument to the "Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred" on Instytutska Street, among other things.
Descendant of Miklouho-Makhlai
Unemployed 60-year-old Anatoly Makhlai also wants to win a parliamentary seat with the votes of Troyeshchyna residents.
"Pedigree: on the paternal side, from the Maklukho-Mahlai clan (Tara-Bulba, Miklukho-Mahlai). On the maternal side, from the clan of Colonel Krivonos," the candidate's Facebook page states.
"The Ukrainian-Russian peace alliance is for the benefit of Ukraine," the candidate stated in his election platform.
Among other things, if he were to receive the status of people's deputy, he promised to submit to the Rada a bill to reinstate the "nationality" column in Ukrainian passports, as it had been in the USSR.
Independent "Udar"
Andriy Pilkevich, deputy director of Global Construction LLC (real estate operations), is also seeking a seat in the Verkhovna Rada from Troyeshchyna. As KV has discovered, Pilkevich is close to Anatoliy Karpenko, the Poroshenko Bloc candidate. Until 2011, members of Mr. Karpenko's family were listed as founders of Global Construction LLC, but the company was subsequently re-registered to a Cyprus offshore company.
According to the Central Election Commission, Pilkevich is a member of the UDAR political party, but is running as an independent candidate.
In his election program, the candidate promises Kyiv residents to reform the city's governance system and public utilities, improve the investment climate, and allocate more taxes to the city's needs.
IMPACT Surgeon
Another "UDAR" member, Oleksiy Syurkha, is running for the Verkhovna Rada without the support of Vitali Klitschko's party, which has teamed up with the Poroshenko Bloc in these elections.
The candidate works as the chief physician and surgeon of the Department of Medical Services and Rehabilitation of the State Joint-Stock Holding Company "Artem".
In addition to strengthening the army and reclaiming Crimea, Syurkha is announcing a reform of the healthcare system, introducing mandatory insurance, creating conditions for attracting investment in the sector, and improving social protection for healthcare workers.
A capital city entrepreneur from Crimea
Simferopol native and Moscow entrepreneur Yuriy Tebenko wanted to run for parliament to defend the interests of entrepreneurs and residents of the Desnyansky district of the capital.
In his election platform, he also stated his desire to regulate private transportation in Kyiv, introducing transparent rules and setting adequate prices.
During the Maidan, Tebenko was a participant in Automaidan, whose rallies he continues to support to this day.
Creative "Udar" No. 3
The third "UDAR" candidate in this district who is running for the Rada as an independent candidate is unemployed Anton Tseshenko.
In 2014, this candidate ran for the Kyiv City Council in district #16 in Troyeshchyna, but did not become a deputy.
Interestingly, the main points of Tseshenko's election platform are completely consistent with the campaigning of his district competitor from the Poroshenko Bloc, Anatoly Karpenko, and other BPP candidates.
"Reforming the political system, modernizing the economy, security above all, building a country of rich people," the duo declared. "A European capital," Tseshenko added.
European strongman
Unemployed Evgeniy Shkuliy, founder and vice president of the Ukrainian Federation of Natural Powerlifting, also wants to become a member of parliament.
In the local elections in Kyiv this year, he tried to get into the Kyiv City Council as a candidate for the European Party of Ukraine in constituency No. 18 in Troyeshchyna, but did not receive enough votes.
The first thing Shkuliy did after receiving his parliamentary credentials was promise voters to create new jobs in the Desnyansky district by developing industry, small and family businesses, and improving labor legislation.
Valeria Samarkina, KyivVlast
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