Western Ukraine has its share of hot district races:
a mini-oligarch running against an investigative journalist:
an influential family that wants to represent all districts in Zakarpattya Oblast; and
charismatic and controversial Svoboda Party leaders preparing to sweep voters off their feets.
In Lviv’s district 117, the toughest rivals are Ihor Vasiunyk, a brother of former deputy prime minister Ivan Vasiunyk, who is nominated by Batkivshchyna, and Taras Stetskiv, a charismatic opposition lawmaker who nominated himself.
According to the poll conducted by Sociological Group Rating in September, Vasiunyk has a big lead over Stetskiv.
In Lviv’s neighboring district 118, a former convict, self-nominated candidate Bohdan Dubnevych, is competing with Svoboda’s hot-tempered deputy head of party Yuriy Mykhalchyshyn. In Svoboda, known for its radical right-wing positions, Mykhalchyshyn belongs to the radical wing. His victory would make the Verkhovna Rada a lot more exciting, if nothing else. Currently, Mykhalchyshyn is ahead of Dubnevych, according to a poll released by Svoboda.
In yet another Lviv neighboring districts, 116, another ultra right-wing politician from Svoboda, Iryna Farion, is a serious contender. Farion became famous in early 2010, when a video of her visiting kindergarten shocked Ukraine. She told a group of small children to go back to Russia because their names sounded too Russian to her.
A frequent participant of scandal-nurturing national TV shows, Farion is now leading with 29.8 percent of voter support in her constituency, more than twice the rating her closest rival has, according to a recent report on galinfo.com.ua website.
In district 120 of Lviv Oblast, Tetyana Chornovil, a former investigative journalist and Batkivshchyna nominee, is competing with Yaroslav Dubnevych, brother of formerly convicted Bohdan Dubnevych, who is running in district 118. The Dubnevych brothers are local mini-oligarchs whose business exclusively supplies spare parts to the Ukrainian railway.
Chornovil, on the other hand, is famous for her journalistic investigations, including ones involving Mezhyhirya, the luxury estate of President Viktor Yanukovych, and the life of Rodion Kireyev, the young judge of Pecherskiy district court in Kyiv who convicted ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Zakarpattya Oblast has been highlighted for the fact that four relatives are running in four neighboring districts there, BBC Ukraine website reports. They also happen to belong to a rich and well-connected family of Viktor Baloha, Ukraine’s emergency minister and former chief of staff for President Viktor Yushchenko.
Baloha is running in constituency 69 in Mukachevo. His brothers Ivan, head of the Zakarpattya Oblast Council, and Pavlo, deputy of that council, are running in districts 73 in Vynohradov and 71 in Khust, respectively.
Their cousin Vasyl Petyovka, a lawmaker of Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense faction, is competing for a seat in parliament in district 72.
All of them have ties with the United Center Party founded by Viktor Baloha, and with the local business empire Barva which owns real estate, land and other resources in the region. Baloha brothers are running in four out of six districts in the Oblast, while people close to their party are running in the other two districts, BBC Ukraine reports.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Faryna can be reached at [email protected]
