Zaporizhzhia remains under the control of Yanukovych's people

Andrey Alyosha

Donetsk businessman Andriy Alesha, who is friendly with Yanukovych's son, continues to control the region's two largest cities, according to Espreso.TV, a correspondent for the Zaporizhzhia. Comments portal reported.

Alyosha's office has been operating for almost two months in the expensive Sheraton Hotel in Zaporizhzhia, where it was located before the Maidan.
Espreso.TV learned from its own sources that Alyosha's interests include Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol. Specifically, the mayor of the regional capital, Oleksandr Sin, makes no decisions without consulting the controversial Donetsk City Council member.
According to a source, Alyosha also oversees former Party of Regions member and current independent candidate Yevhen Balitsky (part of the "For Peace and Stability" parliamentary group), who is seeking a seat in the Verkhovna Rada in single-member constituency No. 80, centered in Melitopol. In 2012, Balitsky won a parliamentary seat in this very constituency. Now, they say, a group of 120 athletes is ready and waiting. Simply put, it's possible they'll attempt to replicate the scandalous story of the athletes-journalists in Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi district. Furthermore, the first deputy governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, Hryhoriy Samardak, has recently become associated with the Donetsk businessman. Local media reports that he was spotted leaving Mr. Alyosha's office.
As a reminder, Alesha, the head of the DMS financial and industrial group, appeared in Zaporizhzhia late last year after the arrest of the region's previous "curator," Yevhen Anisimov. Officially, he became an advisor to former Zaporizhzhia Governor Oleksandr Peklushenko on matters of business relations and investment attraction (although the regional governor never introduced him publicly). In reality, he was tasked with closely monitoring all financial flows. Local media reported at the time that the Party of Regions branch allegedly received instructions from the center to report to Alesha in "leading Zaporizhzhia and the region out of the crisis left by Anisimov." Alesha's role was supposed to be "restoring trust in the country's top leadership in the Zaporizhzhia region." Upon his arrival in the region, a purge of several heads of utility companies that had fallen under Anisimov's influence immediately began.
Andriy Alyosha, who is directly linked to Yanukovych's eldest son, Oleksandr, became a more or less public figure after Viktor Yanukovych's victory in the presidential elections. In 2010, he won a seat on the Donetsk City Council on the Strong Ukraine party list. He then began campaigning for a constituency in Donetsk with an eye on the 2012 parliamentary elections. However, shortly before the start of the campaign, he curtailed his active work. Alyosha is also known for arriving at the first session of the Donetsk City Council in 2010 in a Rolls-Royce Phantom, earning him the title of "respectable deputy."

Comments: Zaporizhzhia

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