The single-member districts are the twilight zone of Ukraine’s parliamentary elections.
Open to anyone and free of media scrutiny, they attract shady candidates seeking an easy way into parliament. Here, they can convert money and connections into a seat on the Verkhovna Rada.
With the national attention focusing on the competition of political parties, the 199 individual races in electoral districts go nearly unnoticed. Yet their winners will fill half of the parliament.
The single-member districts breed corruption. With only up to 170,000 voters in each district, swinging a race with dirty tricks becomes easy. For comparison, a party needs to get at least 5 percent of the general vote — or roughly 1 million votes — to win any seats.
Critics have long been calling to cancel the single-member races. They succeeded, sort of: On July 11, the parliament indeed voted to end the single-member vote. But the law comes into force in December 2023, meaning that at least the next two parliaments — in 2019 and 2023 — will be elected with the single-member votes.
There are 3,084 candidates running in Ukraine’s 199 districts. Most of them are largely unknown. Others are quite famous.
Here are the 10 districts with the most controversial candidates and the fiercest fights.
District 62:
‘Amber’ lawmaker runs in Zhytomyr
Current representative: Boryslav Rozenblat (Poroshenko Bloc)
Main contenders: Boryslav Rozenblat (L) (independent), Ihor Hundych (R) (independent), Ihor Herasymenko (Servant of the People)
Independent lawmaker Boryslav Rozenblat is running for re-election in district No. 62 in Zhytomyr, a city of 260,000 residents some 140 kilometers west of Kyiv. To succeed, he appears to be giving away free food.
Cardboard boxes with pasta, tea, vodka, and a letter from Rozenblat were recently delivered as gifts to pensioners in his district, according to the Opora election watchdog.
The police opened an investigation into alleged vote-buying. Rozenblat denied sending the food to voters and blamed his election competitors for a smear campaign against him.
Earlier this month, Rozenblat also presented 130 first aid kits to be used in public transport in Zhytomyr, according to Opora.
Rozenblat became famous in summer 2017 when the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) charged him with abuse of office. The bureau published a video where he was soliciting a bribe from the agency’s undercover agent to help a foreign company with amber mining.
After that, Rozenblat was expelled from ex-President Petro Poroshenko’s party faction and lost his parliamentary immunity. He was arrested and had to wear an ankle monitor. But in 2018, a court decided that NABU had violated the law when investigating Rozenblat. Now he is suing the agency for Hr 100,000 ($3,800) in moral compensation and pledges to use the money to improve roads in Zhytomyr.
Rozenblat’s main competitors are former Zhytomyr Oblast Governor Ihor Hundych, businessman Oleh Hramotenko, and war hero Ihor Herasymenko, who is campaigning from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party.
District 64. Pashynsky fights for Korosten
Current representative: Volodymyr Areshonkov (Poroshenko Bloc)
Main contenders: Serhiy Pashynsky (L) (independent), Volodymyr Areshonkov (R) (independent)
Another influential and controversial lawmaker, Serhiy Pashynsky, is campaigning in single-member district No. 64 in Korosten, a city of 65,000 some 150 kilometers west of Kyiv. Pashynsky was elected to parliament in 2014 on the ticket of People’s Front, a party led by ex-Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
The party isn’t participating in the 2019 election, and Pashynsky is looking to secure his political future on his own.
Pashynsky was implicated in several scandals.
In 2015, the managers of confectionary factory Zhytomyrsky Lasoshchi accused Pashynsky of attempts to take over their company, which he denied.
The case is still being investigated.
Investigative journalists have called Pashynshy a beneficiary of various corrupt schemes in the defense sector, which he always denied. In July 2018, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said a criminal probe was opened against Pashynsky for alleged threats against the secretary of the parliament’s defense committee, where Pashynsky is the chairman.
Lawmaker Serhiy Pashynsky, a candidate for parliament in district No 64, greets with flowers a district resident Zinayida Kaminska on occasion of her 50th wedding anniversary. (Pashynsky’s charity)
In January 2017, Pashynsky shot a stranger in the leg during an argument about driving. He called it self-defense. The investigation found him innocent.
Pashynsky is using his reputation as a bully in his campaign billboards in Korosten, which say: “Zealous lawmaker for a strong city.”
Pashynsky’s main competitor is another lawmaker, Volodymyr Areshonkov, a member of Poroshenko’s party faction who was elected from this constituency in 2014.
Pashynsky started his campaign in April by sending food packages with wine and buckwheat on behalf of his charity foundation. Pashynsky didn’t answer the Kyiv Post’s request for comment.
District 49. Yanukovych-era minister runs in Druzhkivka
Current representative: Denys Omelyanovych (Opposition Bloc)
Main contenders: Borys Kolesnikov (L) (Opposition Bloc), Valeriy Hnatenko (R) (Opposition Platform), Serhiy Sivokho (Servant of the People)
Borys Kolesnikov, a former loyalist of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, is running in district No. 49 with its center in Druzhkivka, a city of 58,000 people located 630 kilometers southeast of Kyiv and close to the frontline.
He was deputy prime minister and minister of infrastructure under Yanukovych. But after the EuroMaidan Revolution, Kolesnikov, then a member of Yanukovych’s party, kept a low profile in politics.
Though Kolesnikov heads the governing council of the Opposition Bloc party, he isn’t running on the party ticket. In an interview with the Interfax news agency, he explained this decision by saying that he “has been well-known” in this single-member district for the last 20 years.
Businessman and politician Borys Kolesnikov talks to voters in the district No. 49 where he runs for parliament from the Opposition Bloc party. (Facebook/Borys Kolesnikov)
During his recent meeting with voters, Kolesnikov lashed out at one resident after hearing some critical remarks.
“You are a shameless boor. Vote for whoever you want!” he shouted at him, calling another man a “scarecrow in a garden.”
Kolesnikov’s main competitors in this district are Druzhkivka Mayor Valeriy Hnatenko, who campaigns from Opposition Platform — For Life, another pro-Russian party which split from Opposition Bloc. In 2015, the SBU state security service investigated Hnatenko for separatism but didn’t bring any charges. Another strong competitor is a popular showman, Serhiy Sivokho, who runs with Zelensky’s party.
The current lawmaker from this district, Denys Omelyanovych, has business links to Kolesnikov. He is an honorary president of Kolesnikov’s APK-
Invest agrarian company and vice president of Kolesnikov’s Donbas hockey club.
District 131. EuroMaidan opponent campaigns in Mykolaiv Oblast
Current representative: Oleksandr Livik (Poroshenko Bloc)
Main contenders: Olena Bondarenko (L) (Opposition Bloc), Oleksandr Livik (R)(independent)
Olena Bondarenko, a former lawmaker from Yanukovych’s party and a frequent guest on Russian TV, is running for parliament in district No. 131 with its center in Voznesensk, a city of 36,000 people in Mykolaiv Oblast, some 380 kilometers south from Kyiv.
Bondarenko was Kolesnikov’s press secretary in the early 2000s when he headed the Donetsk Oblast Council.
In September 2014, during one of the hottest phases of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Bondarenko echoed Russian propaganda from Ukraine’s parliamentary rostrum, blaming Ukraine’s army for “shelling peaceful cities” in eastern Ukraine.
In 2015, when talking with Russian propaganda TV channel Rossiya 1, Bondarenko blamed her former boss Yanukovych of “cowardice” for not disbanding the EuroMaidan protests in Kyiv. In her interview with the Gordon.ua website in 2016, Bondarenko called Russia’s war a “civil conflict” and claimed she was a defender of her voters from eastern Ukraine.
Yet, surprisingly, Bondarenko isn’t campaigning in the east. She is running in the south as a candidate from the Opposition Bloc party formed of the former Yanukovych loyalists. Her main competitors there are Oleksandr Livik, a current lawmaker from this district and a member of Poroshenko’s party faction who now campaigns as independent, and also war veteran Serhiy Tanasov, who is campaigning from Poroshenko’s party.
District 186. Official named in activist murder campaigns in Oleshky
Current representative: Fedir Negoy (Poroshenko’s Bloc)
Main contenders: Yevhen Ryshchuk (L) (independent), Oleksiy Kovalyov (R)(Servant of the People)
Yevhen Ryshchuk, former deputy governor of Kherson Oblast, is running in district No. 186 with its center in Oleshky, a city of 25,000 people in Kherson Oblast, 550 kilometers south of Kyiv.
Ryshchuk, an influential Kherson businessman, became widely known after friends of slain Kherson city official Kateryna Gandziuk blamed him for ordering her murder. Gandziuk was outspoken about corruption in the city and the region. On July 31, a group of hired thugs attacked her with a liter of sulfuric acid. She died three months later.
In June, a court sentenced four men to from 3 to 6.5 years in prison for attacking Gandziuk after being hired by unnamed people. A group of activists and Gandziuk’s friends say Ryshchuk along with former Kherson Oblast governor Andriy Hordeyev and former head of Kherson Oblast Council Vladyslav Manger ordered her murder. All three deny any involvement in the case. The Prosecutor General’s office brought charges only against Manger.
In June, Ryshchuk said on Facebook that the SBU carried out searches in his house and in an equestrian club he owns. He called it pressure by his political competitors.
Though Ryshchuk campaigns as an independent candidate, he widely uses the green campaign colors of Zelensky and even invited Zelensky’s Kvartal 95 show to perform in the district during the campaign. Activist Roman Sinitsyn, Gandziuk’s friend, in an open address to Zelensky claimed that his real party candidate, local businessman Oleksiy Kovaliov, is running a weak campaign, which may lead to Ryshchuk’s win.
The lawmaker elected in this district in 2014, Fedir Negoy of the Poroshenko Bloc, is also seeking re-election. This time, he is running as an independent candidate.
District 169. Poroshenko’s ‘grey cardinal’ runs in Kharkiv
Current representative: Oleksandr Kirsh (People’s Front)
Main contenders: Oleksandr Hranovsky (L) (independent), Oleksandr Kunitsky (R) (Servant of the People), Oleksandr Kirsh (independent)
Lawmaker Oleksandr Hranovsky was known as a “gray cardinal” under Poroshenko, one who had vast connections to judges, prosecutors and the SBU security service.
With Poroshenko out of power, Hranovsky is running for parliament from single-member district No. 169 in Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million residents, located 460 kilometers east from Kyiv.
Kharkiv mayor Gennady Kernes openly campaigns for Hranovsky. In June, Kernes announced the repair of the local offices of the Ukrposhta state postal service, which would be conducted with the help of Hranovsky’s charity foundation. Local activists and political analysts have suggested that Kernes is repaying a favor for Hranovsky’s help in closing a criminal investigation against Kernes in 2018. Kernes and his allies may also be trying to capitalize on Hranovsky’s remaining connections among the judiciary.
Hranovsky’s main competitors in the district are Oleksandr Kirsh, a current lawmaker from this district, and Oleksandr Kunitsky, a blogger from the city of Zaporizhia backed by Zelensky’s party.
In June, Kharkiv police reported that they received over a dozen citizen reports that Hranovsky’s campaign workers were handing out boxes full of medication to the district residents. Police launched an investigation into the potential crime of voter bribery.
District 94. Poroshenko’s ally competes Kolomoisky’s journalist in Obukhiv
Current representative: Viktor Romaniuk (People’s Front)
Main contenders: Igor Kononenko (L) (independent), Oleksandr Dubinsky (R) (Servant of the People)
One of the fiercest competitions is ongoing in a district No. 94 with its center in Obukhiv, a city of 33,000 residents just 45 kilometers south of Kyiv. The main candidates there are lawmaker Igor Kononenko, Poroshenko’s closest business partner, and Oleksandr Dubinsky, a popular blogger and a TV host at 1+1 channel, which belongs to oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, a rival of Poroshenko.
Kononenko is under investigation in several corruption schemes, including embezzlement at state power company Energomerezha worth millions of dollars. He denies the accusations of wrongdoing.
Dubinsky fiercely criticized Poroshenko and endorsed Zelensky during the 2019 presidential campaign. Now he is running with Zelensky’s party. Critics accuse Dubinsky of working by Kolomoisky’s orders. The oligarch refused to comment on it in a recent interview with Novoe Vremya magazine. Dubinsky didn’t answer an emailed request for comment.
The fight in the district is dirty. Many of the 42 registered candidates are the “clones” of the leading candidates — a popular trick to chop away some of the candidate’s votes. There are three Dubinskys, three Kononenkos, and one Kononko.
The police on July 15 opened a criminal case into alleged vote-buying by Kononenko in the district. Kononenko’s campaign workers allegedly were offering people Hr 2,000 (about $77) for a vote. Kononenko denied the accusations.
The lawmaker Viktor Romaniuk, who won his seat in this district in 2014 as a representative of the then-popular People’s Front, is also running for re-election, this time, independently.
District 51. Fight for the smallest single-member district
Current representative: None.
Main contenders: Andriy Alyosha (L)(Opposition Platform), Nadia Savchenko (R) (independent)
The Donetsk Oblast village of Zaitseve, located 700 kilometers east of Kyiv, is sitting right on the front line of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Due to changes in the electoral district borders, it became the center of district No. 51. Just about 3,000 voters are registered here, but fewer actually reside in the village.
Several notorious candidates are running in this district.
One of them is Nadia Savchenko, an independent lawmaker investigated for planning a terrorist attack in the parliament building. Savchenko spent over a year behind bars awaiting trial, yet was released on April 8. Her trial continues.
Lawmaker Nadiya Savchenko (L) talks in parliament on May 20, the day of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inauguration. Savchenko is under investigation for planning a terrorist attack in Verkhovna Rada. But she runs again for parliament from district No 51. (UNIAN)
Another candidate is Andriy Alyosha, a businessman from Donbas and the owner of the DMS financial group, who is representing the pro-Russian Opposition Platform — For Life.
Alyosha is a well-known Donetsk businessman and a former member of the Donetsk city council. In pre-war Donetsk, he once made headlines for showing up at the city council driving a Rolls Royce Phantom, a car that currently sells for at least $450,000.
In 2014, there were no elections in this district due to the war.
District 105. Medvedchuk’s brother runs in Shchastya
Current representative: None.
Main contenders: Serhiy Medvedchuk (L) (Opposition Platform), Viktoria Hryb (R) (Opposition Bloc)
Serhiy Medvedchuk, the brother of Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian politician and friend of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, is running in district No 105 with its center in Shchastya. This is a town of 13,000 residents, located in the suburbs of Russian-controlled Luhansk, 750 kilometers southeast from Kyiv.
This district has less than 10,000 registered voters and 33 candidates. Medvedchuk’s main competitor is Viktoria Hryb, who represents the Opposition Bloc, the party from which Medvedchuk’s Opposition Platform separated in 2018.
Hryb is a top manager at DTEK, Ukraine’s largest energy company owned by Ukraine’s richest oligarch Rinat Akhmetov. DTEK owns the Luhansk power plant located in Shchastya, the main workplace for the town’s residents. Akhmetov is widely believed to be one of the backers of Opposition Bloc. His business partner Vadym Novinsky is running as No 5 on the party list.
This district has no representative in the current parliament. In 2014, there was no election because of the war.
District 133. Record number of candidates in Odesa
Current representative: Eduard Matviychuk (independent)
Main contenders: Artem Dmytruk (L) (Servant of the People), Viktor Baransky (R) (Opposition Platform)
District No. 133 in the center of Odesa, the Black Sea port city of 1 million people located 450 kilometers south of Kyiv, has a record 45 candidates running there.
Many candidates are “political clones” with identical names to the leading candidates. There are two candidates called Dmytro Tantsiura, two Artem Dmytruks and two candidates with the last name Baransky, Viktor and Vitaliy.
This district also has three clones of Zelensky’s Servant of the People party. There is a candidate representing a private company called Servant of the People LLC, a candidate from a company called Servant of the People.Ze!, and a candidate from Servant of the People-Ze.
Artem Dmytruk, nominated by Zelensky’s party, is the strongest candidate, according to the Chesno election watchdog. He is an athlete, a member of Ukraine’s national team in cross lifting and a manager at several local fitness centers. His main competitor is Viktor Baransky from Opposition Platform.
The current lawmaker from this district is independent Eduard Matviychuk, who decided not to run for parliament this time.
