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 "And I want to support this faction in its attempts to spur democracy in Ukraine. I connect Our Ukraine with my hopes to improve life in the nation by implementing liberalization and principles of Christian supremacy." � Leonid Chernovetsky. (Post photo by Natalia Kravchuk) |
In a bizarre swap of allegiances, Viktor Yushchenko�s Our Ukraine bloc added one of the Verkhovna Rada�s more controversial representatives to its member rolls last week. By accepting Leonid Chernovetsky, Honorary Chairman of Pravex-Bank, into its parliamentary faction on Feb. 3, the oppositionist Our Ukraine bloc may get access to the banker�s deep pockets. But it has also fueled protest from within its own base. The faction�s acceptance of Chernovetsky triggered one deputy to announce his decision to leave the faction in protest. |
And by wagering on Yushchenko�s chances of becoming Ukraine�s next president, Chernovetsky risks drawing closer attention to his businesses from the prying eyes of Ukrainian law enforcement officials and regulators.
Oleksandr Omelchenko, Jr., son of Kyiv�s mayor, hasn�t yet left Our Ukraine, but announced his departure from the faction days after Chernovetsky was accepted into it. Omelchenko�s disapproval is linked to a campaign spearheaded by Chernovetsky to have Omelchenko�s father removed as mayor.
Chernovetsky, educated as a lawyer, has made headlines recently both for trying to unseat the senior Omelchenko using the courts � an attempt which proved unsuccessful � and for his links to the deaths of two Kyiv pedestrians near his residence in the upscale Koncha Zaspa region outside Kyiv.
Chernovetsky, a self-proclaimed Christian activist and a member of the Kyiv-based evangelical Embassy of God Church, says his decision to join the Our Ukraine faction was a matter of principle, not of politics or business.
�I believe that [Our Ukraine] is the most progressive bloc in Parliament,� he said in a statement issued by Pravex-Bank.
�And I want to support this faction in its attempts to spur democracy in Ukraine. I connect Our Ukraine with my hopes to improve life in the nation by implementing liberalization and principles of Christian supremacy. My choice has been well thought out. And importantly, I don�t consider Viktor Yushchenko, who inspires me, as an enemy of [President Leonid] Kuchma,� the statement reads.
Yushchenko may not be an enemy of Kuchma, but he is a political foe of Presidential Administration Chief Viktor Medvedchuk, as well as of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who is expected to challenge Yushchenko for the presidency in the elections this fall.
By adopting Chernovetsky, Our Ukraine appears eager to accept his financial support. Chernovetsky�s Pravex-Bank is ranked eleventh in size among Ukraine�s 150-plus banks with about $300 million in net assets as of December, 2003, according to figures provided by the Association of Ukrainian Banks.
Iryna Herashchenko, Yushchenko�s press secretary, said the bloc does not set conditions requiring well-to-do deputies like Chernovetsky to donate to the party in return for faction membership. However, she could neither confirm nor deny whether Chernovetsky would fund political parties within the Our Ukraine bloc.
Apart from Chernovetsky, the Our Ukraine faction has only a limited number of upper-echelon Ukrainian businessmen. One of them is Petro Poroshenko, co-owner of the industrial holding Ukrprominvest, Mriya bank and the oppositionist television channel NBM, also known as Channel 5.
Joining an oppositionist faction in parliament can be risky, judging by past examples; many businesses in the Our Ukraine faction have cried foul in recent years, alleging they have been unfairly harassed by the State Tax Administration and government regulators.
Some businesspeople, such as Petro Dyminsky, elected on the Our Ukraine ticket while supervisory board chairman of Halychyna Oil Refinery, have left the faction in order to save their businesses from alleged politically motivated attacks � attacks which have often been linked to government administrative resources.
As an independent, Chernovetsky was previously safe from scrutiny, but now he may come under added scrutiny, and not just for his business interests.
Investigations are still open into the deaths of two Kyiv pedestrians, both of whom died on separate occasions in incidents on the road leading to Chernovetsky�s mansion in Koncha Zaspa, and charges have yet to be laid. Both pedestrians were run over last year at high speeds by cars linked to Chernovetsky, who happens to be a collector of expensive souped-up automobiles. He was behind the wheel in the second incident; his wife was a passenger in the first.
His joining Our Ukraine took many experts by surprise.
Volodymyr Malinkovich, director of the International Institute of Humanitarian and Political Studies, said Chernovetsky�s decision to ally himself with Yushchenko is risky, but could prove successful.
�I think there are certain risks associated with his joining an oppositionist political group, as big business is largely dependent on the powers that be in government, such as on the tax administration, and other authorities,� Malinkovich said. �Chernovetsky is taking a risk, but Yushchenko has a good chance of becoming the next president of Ukraine.�
Separately, the Our Ukraine faction is set to lose two other deputies, Taras Chornovil and Yury Artemenko. Both announced their intention to leave the party, stating they did not understand the strategies of the bloc in parliament.
�It has recurrently led us to defeats,� Chornovil told Radio Kontynent. �We missed the opportunity of a Georgian scenario in 2001, and we missed the opportunities we had after the parliamentary election victory [in 2002]. Now we are, in fact, losing the opportunity to win the presidential election...and the possibility to change something.�
But both added that they would continue to vote in league with Our Ukraine.
Herashchenko said the Our Ukraine bloc will try to keep �emotions� within their 103-member faction under control, adding that ongoing negotiations should convince Omelchenko, Artemenko and Chornovil to remain with the faction.