action – and gone over to one of the various pro-presidential factions since the parliamentary elections on March 31. To date no deputies have left pro-presidential factions and joined the opposition.
Many of the defections from Our Ukraine occurred early on, when a group of deputies went over the head of faction leader Viktor Yushchenko and voted for Volodymyr Lytvyn as Rada speaker. Those deputies were subsequently expelled from the faction. Analysts say the bulk of these early defectors were rich businessmen who agreed to help fund Our Ukraine’s election campaign in exchange for a place on the party list. They shared little of the party’s reformist ideology, and their defection after the elections was only a matter of time.
Yushchenko and other opposition leaders have complained that the state uses the tax administration and the prosecutor general’s office to pressure opposition deputies into joining pro-presidential factions. Many defectors from the opposition complained about administrative harassment and pressure in the weeks before their defection. However, it remains difficult to prove the allegations, since few of them repeated the allegations after they jumped ship.
What follows is comprehensive list of all defectors to date:
Name | Faction | Date switched | Career status at time of election | How elected | Comment |
Mykhailo Potebenko | Communist Party | May 29 | Former prosecutor general | No. 20 on party list | Expelled from faction for voting for Volodymyr Lytvyn as speaker |
Oleh Blokhin | Communist Party | Oct. 8 | Former Soviet soccer star | No. 10 on party list | Joined SPDU(u) faction |
Vadym Lytvyn | Communist Party | Oct. 8 | Chief consultant to parliament’s energy committee | No. 51 on party list | Joined faction of Labor Ukraine and Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs |
Vasyl Khara | Communist Party | Nov. 29 | Parliament deputy | No. 16 on party list | Joined Regions of Ukraine faction |
Kyrylo Polishchuk | Our Ukraine | May 15 | General director of Ukraerorukh state air company | Ran as independent in majority district 98, Kyiv Oblast | First deputy to leave Our Ukraine and join a pro-presidential faction |
Serhy Bondarchuk | Our Ukraine | May 29 | Deputy chairman of Energoobladnanya | Ran with Our Ukraine in majority district 20, Volyn Oblast | Expelled from faction after voting for Volodymyr Lytvyn for speaker |
Oleksandr Buryak | Our Ukraine | May 29 | Chairman of Brokbiznesbank | No. 59 on bloc list | Expelled from faction after voting for Volodymyr Lytvyn for speaker; Named by majority to head Banking and Finance Committee, which drafted money laundering legislation |
Ernest Haliev | Our Ukraine | May 29 | Vice president of Ukrsibbank | No. 25 on bloc list | Expelled from faction after voting for Volodymyr Lytvyn for speaker; allegedly one of Yushchenko’s ties to support from Russia |
Taras Dovhy | Our Ukraine | May 29 | General director of Radio Factory | No. 39 on bloc list | Expelled from faction after voting for Volodymyr Lytvyn for speaker |
Dmytro Sandler | Our Ukraine | May 29 | Supervisory chairman at Evropromimpeks | No. 18 on bloc list | Expelled from faction after voting for Volodymyr Lytvyn for speaker |
Volodymr Shcherban | Our Ukraine | May 29 | Former Sumy Oblast governor | No. 44 on bloc list | Long-time Kuchma ally seemed out of place on Our Ukraine list all along; Expelled from faction after voting for Volodymyr Lytvyn for Rada Speaker |
Oleksy Yaroslavsky | Our Ukraine | May 29 | Deputy director of Tekhproekt Ltd. | No. 21 on bloc list | Expelled after voting for Volodymyr Lytvyn for speaker |
Viktor Musiyaka | Our Ukraine | May 30 | Political science professor at Kyiv Mohyla Academy | No. 22 on bloc list | Said he left the faction after disagreeing with Viktor Yushchenko on tactics; currently independent |
Volodymr Plyutynsky | Our Ukraine | July 9 | Parliament deputy | No. 14 on bloc list | Left Nasha Ukraina’s faction to join the Agrarian faction; Yulia Tymoshenko’s bloc later accused him of trying to bribe her deputies to join the pro-presidential camp |
Oleh Oleksenko | Our Ukraine | July 18 | Chairman of Melitopol Oil Extraction Plant | Ran with Our Ukraine in majority district 82, Zaporizhya Oblast | Died |
Volodymyr Maystryshyn | Our Ukraine | Nov. 22 | Director of Tekhnogas Ltd. | Ran with Our Ukraine in district 14, Vinnytsya oblast | Maystryshyn left Our Ukraine days after deputy Oleksandr Zadorozhny, Kuchma’s Rada representative, predicted that more deputies would join the pro-presidential majority in a matter of days |
Petro Dyminsky | Our Ukraine | Nov. 26 | Supervisory chairman of Halychyna Oil Refinery | Ran with Our Ukraine in Majority district 122, Lviv Oblast | Part.org.ua alleges that he left faction after deciding to support Viktor Yanukovych for prime minister; Lviv Oblast tax administration officials in October launched a probe into tax evasion by the refinery management |
Serhy Slabenko | Our Ukraine | Nov. 29 | Director of Continuum Trust company | Ran with Our Ukraine in majority district No. 19, Volyn Oblast | Part.org.ua alleges that he left faction after deciding to support Viktor Yanukovych for prime minister |
Vasyl Bartkiv | Our Ukraine | Dec. 10 | Deputy chairman of Poltavanaftoprodukt | No. 56 on bloc list | Part.org.ua alleges that he left Our Ukraine after deciding to support Viktor Yanukovych for prime minister |
Volodymyr Makeyenko | Our Ukraine | Dec. 10 | Parliament deputy, was chairman of Ukrgasprombank before being elected to the Rada in 1998 | No. 21 on bloc list | Left Our Ukraine for Regions of Ukraine faction |
Ihor Nasalyk | Our Ukraine | Dec. 10 | Parliament deputy, was president of Tekhno-Tsentr Corporation before being elected to the Rada in 1998 | Ran with Our Ukraine in majority district 86, Ivano Frankivsk Oblast | Part.org.ua alleges that he left Our Ukraine after deciding to support Viktor Yanukovych for prime minister |
Oleksandr Rymaruk | Our Ukraine | Dec. 10 | President of Summit-M Ltd. | No. 66 on bloc list | Left Our Ukraine for Regions of Ukraine faction |
Oleksandr Stoyan | Our Ukraine | Dec. 10 | Head of the Federation of Labor Unions | No. 2 on bloc list | In an interview that appeared on Our Ukraine’s Web site days before he defected, Stoyan alleged authorities pressured him to switch factions by supporting a rival candidate for head of the Federation; he recanted those claims after his switch |
Leonid Gadyatsky | Socialist Party | May 21 | Parliament deputy, former director of Pryvatpromservis Ltd. | No. 13 on party list | Part.org.ua reported that Gadyatsky was pressured into leaving the Socialist Party by pro-Kuchma centrist forces |
Serhy Kiroyants | Socialist Party | Nov. 22 | Director of KSG Ltd. | No. 11 on party list | Part.org.ua reported Kiryants was pressured into leaving the party by pro-Kuchma forces, but also stated that he is an example of a businessman who finances a party ahead of the elections to get into the Rada. Once elected, they switch to other factions and parties |
Myhkailo Pavlovsky | Tymoshenko Bloc | Oct. 8 | Parliament deputy | No. 8 on bloc list | Left the faction but is still an active Tymoshenko supporter |
Oleksy Remenyuk | Tymoshenko Bloc | Oct. 8 | Parliament deputy, was director of Simferopol-based Alliance-Holding before being elected to the Rada in 1998 | No. 21 on bloc list | Currently does not belong to any faction |
Petro Tolochko | Tymoshenko Bloc | Oct. 8 | Parliament deputy, was Vice president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences before being elected to the Rada in 1998 | No. 9 on bloc list | Tymoshenko claimed he accepted a bribe and car for leaving her faction; Tolochko said he left the faction because he felt its hard-line opposition to President Kuchma was destructive |
Vasyl Onopenko | Tymoshenko Bloc | Oct. 8 | Parliament deputy | No. 4 on bloc list | Tymoshenko said he left as part of an agreement that foresaw his approval as a supreme court judge |
Serhy Pravdenko | Tymoshenko Bloc | Oct. 8 | Parliament deputy, was chief editor of parliament’s newspaper Holos Ukrainy before being elected to the Rada; continued to run the paper | No. 11 on bloc list | Tymoshenko accused him of abandoning her bloc in return for a television program on state-owned UT-1 television channel |
Serhy Sas | Tymoshenko Bloc | Nov.11 | Parliament deputy | No. 18 on bloc list | Tymoshenko’s bloc alleged Sas was pressured into switching to the pro-presidential majority |
Oleh Yukhnovsky | Tymoshenko Bloc | Nov. 19 | Parliament deputy, was chairman of agricultural firm Samhorodotske before being elected to parliament in 1998 | No. 19 on party list | Currently does not belong to any faction |
