Hlukhiv: the most uncompromising battle

The Hlukhiv municipal elections case is momentous and symbolic from any perspective. After descendant of the famous Ukrainian Tereshchenko aristocratic family Michel Terestchenko declared his intention to run for the city’s mayor, one of the most uncompromising stand-offs of the 2015 local elections started. The fight is becoming fiercer by the day, because the very fate of the ancient Hetmanate capital is at stake. Will Hlukhiv stay a fief ruled by a regional oligarch, or will it, among the first in Ukraine, seize a historic chance to achieve clean government and fast development? Of course, the choice is up to the local community, which should decide on its future path. However, another problem is that of private interests of some odious political players who are trying to prevent the city’s residents from making their free choice, because these elections will be important not only for them but for the whole country. The uncompromising stand-off in Hlukhiv has attracted the attention of not only Ukrainian media, but international ones too.

“ALL KEY POSITIONS IN HLUKHIV ARE HELD BY ANDRII DERKACH’S PROTEGES”

To understand the specific nature of Hlukhiv elections, one needs to dig deep into the formal and informal relationships that exist in local politics. Media, civic activists, and almost all sources contacted by The Day call the city’s incumbent mayor Yurii Burlaka a protege of MP and oligarch Andrii Derkach.

Derkach was born in Dnipropetrovsk, graduated from the KGB Higher School, is the son of the former head of the State Customs Service (1995-98) and the Security Service of Ukraine (1998-2001) Leonid Derkach, and a godson of Leonid Kuchma. Volodymyr Lytvyn is his kin too, for their children got married last year. This family relationships between most prominent representatives of the “Kuchma system” have become a factor allowing Derkach Jr. to always keep his fingers in the “government pie.” Under Kuchma, he served as presidential adviser for foreign economic affairs, and then the first assistant to prime minister of Ukraine Valerii Pustovoitenko. Derkach was president of the Enerhoatom state nuclear power corporation and CEO of the Ukratomprom concern in 2006-07. He headed the group of advisers to the Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2011-13. Throughout this time, he served in the Verkhovna Rada, where he has survived for six (!) terms so far, starting in 1998. His commercial interests include energy assets and media businesses, such as Era broadcaster and Era radio.

Derkach is perhaps the most odious and most typical representative of that kind of Ukrainian politicians who are well known for their ability to adapt to new political conditions. His moves from one political force to another are too many to count, as he joined and left the Laboring Ukraine, the Socialist Party, “For a United Ukraine!” coalition, the Party of Regions, and is now a member of the People’s Will faction. In addition, he managed to stand on stage of the Orange Maidan in 2004, vote for the “dictatorial laws” of January 16, 2014, and then become one of the initiators of the collapse of the pro-presidential coalition in February 2014. He is now member of the People’s Will faction in the parliament together with Volodymyr Lytvyn, Oles Dovhy, and Mykhailo Poplavsky.

Derkach’s chief connection to Hlukhiv and Sumy region is single-member constituency No. 159, which he persistently runs in. By the way, local activists emphasize that the MP’s politics center around typical exploitation of Moscow Patriarchate Orthodoxy and veterans of the World War Two. Derkach has actually become the mafia boss of northern Sumy region, where he has succeeded in creating an atmosphere of fear and total loyalty on the part of the authorities, which enables him to put his people in key positions. Because of this danger and his own involvement with the electoral process, a Hlukhiv activist talked to The Day on condition of anonymity, revealing how the region has effectively become Derkach’s fief.

According to our source, Andrii Derkach’s presence in Hlukhiv goes back to March 1998, when local and parliamentary elections were held. He became MP then, while Mykola Derkach was reelected mayor, serving from 1994 through 2003. “The city head made friends with the MP when they both looked for their family roots,” our interlocutor said. “Even though they found out that they were not related, it was the start of ‘fruitful’ cooperation. Andrii Derkach has kept his hold on Hlukhiv ever since. Depending on what party he joins, it is projected on Hlukhiv politicians who run on the same party list then. To this day, he influences all appointments and decisions, first in the northern districts, and now in the whole region.”

The local activist told us that the MP was for some reason opposed to Mykola Derkach’s next bid for the mayoralty, and wished to put into this office his right hand man, director of Polissia trading firm Anatolii Stry. This project having failed, he instead supported Olena Melnyk of the Socialist Party, who served as mayor in 2004-10, after leading the city’s department of culture. Later, she was replaced as well, and now heads the regional department of culture in Sumy. Former mayor Mykola Derkach is a member of the Sumy Oblast Council, representing the People’s Will faction in that body.

“Hlukhiv’s current mayor Burlaka, whose term started in 2010 and ends in 2015, was promoted by Derkach’s close friend Oleh Boiaryntsev, who was Derkach’s child’s godfather,” our interlocutor continued. “As Boiaryntsev was a member of the military-patriotic club Courage, Derkach saw him as a promising figure and later made him his assistant in Kyiv. After a while, Boiaryntsev was elected to the Sumy Oblast Council, where he was the first deputy head, and now heads the body’s largest faction, 24-member-strong People’s Will. Derkach even wanted to make him deputy head of Enerhoatom at some point. Burlaka has been on the city government since the days of Mykola Derkach, became deputy mayor for social affairs, and finally attained the mayoralty. He ran on the Party of Regions’ list. At that time, Derkach was Party of Regions MP. Yurii Chmyr was appointed Sumy oblast governor in 2010. The Party of Regions’ era in the region started then, which saw the MP’s influence spreading throughout it. Meanwhile, after the 2014 presidential election, Derkach got the lease of whole region as a reward for his contribution to Petro Poroshenko’s victory in Sumy.”

MP Oleh Medunytsia also discussed Derkach’s personal links to the president in his interview for The Day: “Derkach attempts to influence President Poroshenko. He played a positive role in the destruction of Viktor Yanukovych’s parliamentary majority, being among the MPs who started undermining it. However, it was not due to any political beliefs, as this man is an ultimate opportunist.”

“All key positions in Hlukhiv are occupied by Derkach’s proteges,” Medunytsia continued. “He has had a vertical power structure built in that part of Sumy region, I mean Hlukhiv single-member constituency, where he always runs in the parliamentary election. For Derkach, this area emphasizes his self-sufficiency and plays to his own vanity. He comes there as the local boss, people come to him with requests to help with some issues, which they have to repay with their votes then. Derkach spends money, both his own and public, in the constituency during every electoral race. The current governor of Sumy region is also dependent on him. Firstly, all Derkach-supported regional councilors voted for Mykola Klochko as chairman of the regional council in March 2014, and secondly, Derkach supported and still supports him as governor. Klochko is accordingly ‘grateful.’ Also, he largest group in the council is that of the People’s Will, which influences the body’s decisions, including money-raising and appointing people from Derkach’s turf to some important positions, such as the office of the State Standards Committee’s branch head in Sumy oblast.”

“Moreover, Derkach owns 60 percent stake of the Akadem TV local channel. Now this resource is used against Michel Terestchenko,” the MP added, who openly supports Terestchenko in his bid for the Hlukhiv mayoralty.

PHOTO "FACEBOOK"-Page MICHEL TERESHCHENKO

Thus, Terestchenko’s main competitor is current mayor of Hlukhiv Burlaka, who is now running on the People’s Will ticket. By the way, most members of the city executive committee and representatives of the city authorities are also running on that ticket. “Links between Derkach and mayor Burlaka are common knowledge, much covered in the local press,” civic activist and human rights advocate Ruslan Pavlenko told us. “These people hold joint meetings at the office of Nedelya newspaper, which is technically independent, but publishes a whole page of Derkach’s propaganda every week, and municipal newspaper Narodna Trybuna covers ‘great deeds’ of Burlaka, Derkach, and their whole team to the exclusion of anything else. Akadem TV channel of Sumy is also totally biased in its coverage in Derkach’s favor.”

The activist told us that Derkach was personally involved in the establishment of the Solidarity-Petro Poroshenko Bloc local branch: “It is full of his proteges, who work at his public relations office and that of Nedelya newspaper. The party’s representatives on the city election commission (CEC) are also in agreement with those of the People’s Will. It appears that a former member of the Party of Regions manages the pro-presidential party’s branch.”

In addition, Pavlenko described the private paramilitary force, formed under the aegis of Derkach. “The MP has even created an illegal paramilitary force called R-7. Having registered it as an NGO, they then clandestinely re-labeled it as a civic self-defense organization, furnished it with cars, traumatic weapons and rifled firearms, and now they go around the city scaring everyone. This organization is headed by Derkach’s assistant Valerii Piatyhor. For a while, I even cooperated with the R-7, and heard them openly saying that they only work for Derkach and do not care about anyone else. The injustice going on in the city is so evident and blatant that we should not suffer it anymore, but have to change the situation.”

“TERESTCHENKO IS NOW FACING TECHNIQUES THAT WERE PREVALENT UNDER KUCHMA AND YANUKOVYCH”

Oligarch Derkach’s influence in the region and in the entire country cannot be overemphasized, so all administrative, financial, and media resources, multiplied by the indifference of the government, are now working against the descendant of a noble Ukrainian family of industrialists and philanthropists. Black propaganda, artificial red tape, dirty tricks, and other creatures of the 24-year-old oligarchic system – Terestchenko faces all of it now, having returned to his homeland after his family’s long exile.

“The electoral law violations occur in several directions,” long-term local election observer from northern Sumy region, member of OPORA observer network Yaroslav Furs told us. “First, we see black propaganda used, as unknown newspaper Xpress is distributed in the city, which lacks any publisher data, but offers obvious falsehoods attacking mayoral candidate Terestchenko. We also have Nedelya newspaper, which is linked to MP Derkach and prints and posts online materials, which attack Terestchenko, for they are related to the criminal cases against his company Linen of Desna. It should be noted that these proceedings were launched at the beginning of the electoral race, once Terestchenko declared his intention to run for mayor.”

Furs revealed that the second direction was the destabilization of the Hlukhiv CEC, aimed at making the commission unable to work: “Most CEC members represent parties that profess democratic principles of elections and support Terestchenko. The present majority makes decisions that are at odds with the position of the representatives of the political forces that support pro-government candidate Burlaka. Accordingly, the rest of the commission, led by its chairwoman and representative of the Opposition Bloc Svitlana Nikolaienko, try to seize the control of the body. She has filed reports with the police accusing her deputy and secretary of stealing her documents and personal items, and then putting psychological pressure on her and making threats. According to the CEC’s deputy and secretary, they are now frequently summoned for interrogations by the police, thus the commission’s work is complicated.”

“The third direction of violations is laid bare by representatives of the Fatherland and Self-Reliance parties, who complain of pressure being put on and threats made against their candidates to the city council, who are being urged to withdraw their bids,” the OPORA representative added. “Another direction is refusal to provide venues for Terestchenko to hold conferences on the prospects for the city’s development. His team held the first conference in the hall of the agronomic institute, which then refused to allow it to be used for the second event. They had to move to the raion House of Culture, but then failed to get permission to hold the third conference there lately. Most recently, representatives of Terestchenko asked the city’s Palace of Culture to host their event, but received yet another refusal. In contrast, the government candidate meets with voters in hospitals, schools and so on. Furthermore, the Terestchenko team has failed to get permission to advertise on municipally-owned billboards. In another episode, people put up a banner in support of Terestchenko outside their apartment. They then got a notice, signed by the department of architecture and urban planning but lacking any stamps, which accused them of alleged violation of the Law ‘On Advertising.’ In fact, it was a case of putting illegal pressure on the people who put up this advertisement.”

Furs summarized the methods used against Terestchenko as follows: “In general, the same dirty tricks that were used in the time of Kuchma and Yanukovych are being used now. There was always pressure on candidates and commission members from opposition political forces in Hlukhiv, while the villages that make up the rest of the constituency witnessed outright lawlessness. This is at odds with international standards for democratic electoral races, and looks particularly brutal after the Revolution of Dignity.”

“The police told me that the number of complaints and violations of the electoral process here is higher than anywhere in Ukraine at the moment,” civic activist and human rights advocate Pavlenko commented for The Day. “I practice law and often find myself confronted with the facts of blatant injustice, so for instance, when we registered Hlukhiv city branch of our human rights organization, we saw huge violations being committed during municipal tenders. I personally appealed to mayor Burlaka via a city councilor asking him to stop corrupt activities of one of the departmental heads, but received no concrete answer. The injustice going on in the city is so evident and blatant that we should not suffer it anymore, but have to change the situation. In the course of my human rights work, I started to talk to representatives of the forces opposing the city government. I know Terestchenko personally and feel that he offers something new for Hlukhiv, is a person with another mentality. His attitude, expressions, activities, communicating with people have impressed me. I am sure I am not alone, for they have impressed 70 to 80 percent of the voters of this city as well. In my capacity as Hlukhiv election commissioner, I am fighting for people’s right to a free choice.”

The developments described above paint a picture of the lawlessness that has plagued Hlukhiv and Sumy region for many years. Still, besides his honest name, high-level connections, a city development program, and a penchant for open communication with voters, Terestchenko has broad public support and rallied around him almost all democratic political forces and civil society activists, not only in Hlukhiv, but around Ukraine. UKROP, Fatherland, Self-Reliance, Radical Party, For Ukraine, and Party of Ordinary People all support his candidacy for the mayor of Hlukhiv. Even local branch of Svoboda sided with him early on, but then the opponents used an insidious and malignant technique, which saw ordinary Hlukhiv Svoboda members, who still support Terestchenko, overruled by the party’s regional leadership, who nominated their candidate for the election. “I wonder why Svoboda is fielding its candidate Mykhailo Podolin, known for having several previous convictions,” Kyiv city councilor Olena Yeskina commented for The Day; like Terestchenko, she is a member of the all-Ukrainian NGO Kyiv Assembly. “It was Podolin who Svoboda put forward as a spoiler candidate to assist Derkach’s election during the latest parliamentary race.”

“It looks like Derkach contacted Svoboda’s regional leaders, who then came to oppose Terestchenko, and the local branch was frankly surprised at their superiors’ stance,” Medunytsia believes.

“Terestchenko’s opponents are deploying the dirtiest techniques and black propaganda against him,” Yeskina continued. “This indicates that they do not have any competitive advantage, and are thus forced to pour dirt on him. Similarly, they have had criminal cases launched against him, but I am sure that they will be closed after the election day, because there are no real evidence behind them, they are just another method of putting administrative pressure on the candidate. All these are outdated methods of electioneering, while modern Ukrainian politics, after all Maidan protests, should be a competition of programs, ideas, and suggestions. Unfortunately, the system and its ways have not changed, despite all the sacrifices incurred by the Ukrainian society. With all the positive trends, they are only superficial, while the informal organizational system that affects the public institutions of power still exists. Therefore, constitutional amendments, including decentralization, will affect only processes unfolding in the formal system of power, without touching the informal power that actually decides the fate of the country and includes oligarchs, criminal world kingpins, and other influential people.”

“I BELIEVE THE UKRAINIAN COMMUNITY WILL NOT STAY SILENT!”

According to the Kyiv city councilor, “should Terestchenko win, he would do well to request, together with citizens of Hlukhiv, the president to prevent further use of the administrative resource, which is commonly used in the election campaigns, including against Terestchenko. After all, without the entrenched rule of law, it will prove difficult for us to change the system. The mayor’s powers are not enough to change the law-enforcement agencies, the courts, the regional state administration, the customs service, which are not under the direct control of the city, so higher authorities will have to act,” the politician summarized.

People serving on Terestchenko’s election headquarters react to all provocations and sabotage with greater restraint: “We do not have the time, resources, and people to respond to the black propaganda targeting our candidate and participate in skirmishes, including those settled by the judiciary. The activities of our opponents aim for this very outcome,” Serhii Shum told The Day. “So, if we do not get the House of Culture as our venue, we will hold the conference in the city garden outside the city hall, and expect to have a few MPs who support us in attendance. Our events are always well attended, so we cannot deny it to people. Should the authorities refuse to provide a venue for us, we will publicly state it during our rally.”

“Today, I see no reason not to support Terestchenko as the single opposition candidate. He is European who returned to his homeland, owns a growing business, and these reasons make for progressive people (and I see myself as one) to support similarly progressive people. Hlukhiv is witnessing a stand-off between this qualitatively new and progressive person and an oligarchic protege of the 1990s vintage,” Medunytsia said when elaborating on his reasons to support Terestchenko.

Other MPs who promised to visit Hlukhiv before the elections have expressed their solidarity as well. They include Pavlo Kyshkar, Olha Bohomolets, Yaroslav Markevych, and Hanna Hopko. “A member of a noble and gentlemanly Ukrainian family – itself a rarity in our crippled history – has returned to his ancestral land,” The Day’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna posted on Facebook. “He has renounced French nationality and taken Ukrainian one instead... Has he done it all only for a descendant of a ‘famed’ Cheka operative to harass him?!... I believe the Ukrainian community will not stay silent!... Well, the president can exercise his powers in this case as well.”

Indeed, the president has made the first right move, both for Ukraine and for Hlukhiv, when he granted citizenship to the descendant of the glorious Tereshchenkos. He must now make a second one to ensure transparent, fair, and democratic elections in Hlukhiv, enabling the locals to finally wrest the city from the clutches of the clan-oligarchic group.

Prepared by Olena SOKOLYNSKA, Kharkiv; Ivan ANTYPENKO, The Day, Kherson; Alla AKIMENKO, Sumy; Larysa OSADCHUK, Ternopil; Olesia SHUTKEVYCH, Vinnytsia; Valerii KOSTIUKEVYCH, Zhytomyr