Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KYIV2813
2007-11-13 13:58:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kyiv
Cable title:  

UKRAINE: KYIV MAYOR ONCE AGAIN UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR UP 
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PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHKV #2813/01 3171358
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 131358Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY KYIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4309
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 KYIV 002813 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: KYIV MAYOR ONCE AGAIN UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT


KYIV 00002813 001.2 OF 005


Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4(b,d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 KYIV 002813

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: KYIV MAYOR ONCE AGAIN UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT


KYIV 00002813 001.2 OF 005


Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4(b,d).


1. (C) Summary. Many consider the Mayor of Kyiv to be the
fourth most powerful political post in the country, after the
President, PM, and Speaker of the Parliament. Both the
Yuliya Tymoshenko (BYuT) Bloc and Our Ukraine-People's
Self-Defense (OU-PSD) made the dismissal of Kyiv mayor Leonid
Chernovetskiy a key electoral promise in their September 30
pre-term election campaign in Ukraine's capital.
Chernovetskiy has been an easy target for national-level
politicians, given the land grab scandals, increased utility
rates, and fist fights on the floor of the city council since
Chernovetskiy took office in March 2006. Tymoshenko has been
gunning for Chernovetskiy since fall 2006, when the mayor
convinced a large number of her city council members to
defect to his side. OU-PSD leader Yuriy Lutsenko has also
openly discussed his desire to be mayor of Kyiv since the
beginning of 2007 -- the two opposition leaders' interest in
the post is one reason for the tension between them. The two
have now made holding new mayoral elections in Kyiv part of
the orange coalition agreement. However, a variety of
factors, including legal barriers, a large number of
contenders for the post, and Chernovetskiy's political wiles,
make the outcome far from certain.


2. (C) Comment. Most politicians and analysts agree that the
fixation on the Kyiv mayor's spot stems from the desire to
run the capital ahead of the 2009/2010 presidential
elections. People cite the money to be made, public
exposure, and the party structure that would come from
running Kyiv as a major step in becoming president. The post
could also be a political reward for an ally, such as
Tymoshenko wooing centrist Volodymyr Lytvyn into the orange
coalition. Before her strong showing in the pre-term Rada
elections, Tymoshenko was rumored herself to want to be
mayor, but now it is more likely that she wants to control
the city via a proxy. Lutsenko's focus on becoming mayor,
however, could continue to complicate the relationship
between the two orange leaders. Moreover, despite mounting

discontent with Chernovetskiy's performance and increasing
media speculation about his removal from the post, all talk
about his imminent dismissal may fade unless Tymoshenko
becomes Prime Minister and an orange coalition is formed;
even then, removing the current mayor will be a long, thorny
process. End summary and comment.

Chernovetskiy: An Unexpected Mayor
--------------


3. (C) Eccentric, rich, religious, and openly Protestant in
heavily-orthodox Ukraine, Leonid Chernovetskiy won a
surprising victory in Kyiv's March 2006 mayoral election
thanks to his promise to enact sweeping reforms. He mustered
32 percent of total votes, leaving behind his major rivals --
retired world boxing champion Vitaliy Klychko, who won 24
percent of the vote, and then incumbent mayor Oleksandr
Omelchenko, who got 21 percent. Chernovetskiy was
campaigning long before the mayoral race officially started,
using his affiliation as a member and major sponsor of Kyiv's
Embassy of God Church to present himself as philanthropist.
He distributed gift and food packages to pensioners from all
Kyiv districts. The Ukrainian media reported that he also
spent 1 million USD to provide food and temporary shelter to
homeless and poor residents.

Installs His Own People, Consolidates Control Over Media
-------------- --------------


4. (SBU) Chernovetskiy's electoral rhetoric was a mix of
pragmatic and populist pledges, promising to lower real
estate prices through the transparent sale of Kyiv land and
to use lie detector tests when hiring top local government
officials. However, Chernovetskiy's tenure has been marked
by nepotism and allegations of corruption. After his
election, he appointed as his deputies two close cronies,
Denys Bass and Iryna Kulchitska -- both of whom previously
served as CEOs at Chernovetskiy-owned Pravex Bank.
Chernovetskiy also helped his son Stepan, son-in-law
Vyacheslav Suprunenko, and Vyacheslav's brother Oleksandr
Suprunenko, get elected to the city council on the list of
the Chernovetskiy bloc (not an uncommon practice in Ukraine
where the President's brother and the PM's son are both Rada
deputies on their respective party lists).


5. (SBU) Chernovetskiy undertook a sweeping personnel
reshuffle in order to tighten control over city-owned mass
media companies. On June 14, the Kyiv city council voted to
merge all municipal mass media outlets into a new "Kyiv
media-holding" corporation. The Kyiv authorities argued that
this consolidation was a necessary step for better management
of communal media resources, while the opposition claimed

KYIV 00002813 002.2 OF 005


that Chernovetskiy and his political entourage were preparing
for under-priced privatization of all municipally-owned
media. The heads of TV channel "Kyiv" and four communal
newspapers were replaced by individuals loyal to the Kyiv
mayor and his principal media advisor Kazbek Bektursunov.
Independent media NGO Telekrytyka argued that the new head of
"Kyiv" TV network Dmytro Dzhanhirov could pose a danger to
freedom of speech, because in 2004 he anchored the notorious
program, "Prote," which smeared Yushchenko and Tymoshenko
upon orders from the Kuchma administration. Shortly after
his appointment, Dzhanhirov stopped the "Kyiv" channel's live
broadcasts of city council sessions, arguing that they had a
low popularity rating among viewers.

Tymoshenko Wants Chernovetskiy Out...
--------------


6. (SBU) Although many public and political figures have
criticized Chernovetskiy's decisions at city hall, Tymoshenko
has been at the forefront of efforts to actually unseat the
mayor. Tymoshenko has been fixated on Kyiv politics since
late 2006. Although she had the largest faction in the city
council after the March 2006 election, the defection of 17 of
her 41 deputies to Chernovetskiy's side in fall 2006,
following Yanukovych's appointment as Prime Minister, caused
BYuT to lose its city council majority. A faction led by
Tymoshenko's political ally, Volodymyr Klychko, also lost six
members to Chernovetskiy.


7. (C) In December 2006, BYuT Rada deputy Mykhaylo Volynets
told us that events at the Kyiv municipal council were taking
up so much of Tymoshenko's time that she was becoming
"nervous and aggressive" and not paying enough attention to
what was going on in the Rada. In a June 14 press
conference, Tymoshenko underscored that those politicians who
viewed with skepticism her ability to smash Chernovetskiy
should remember that just six months earlier they had doubted
the possibility of the Rada's dissolution.

... And Goes on the Attack
--------------


8. (SBU) Tensions within the city government peaked back in
late 2006, when Chernovetskiy's unpopular decision to triple
utility tariffs for Kyiv households gave Tymoshenko the
opportunity to promote her image as someone who cared about
ordinary people. Throughout 2006-2007, Tymoshenko's and
Klychko's factions pushed for more transparency in the
financial reasoning behind higher tariffs. They continuously
blocked the Kyiv city council rostrum and impeded plenary
work.


9. (SBU) On December 7, 2006, two BYuT city council deputies,
Viktor Boyko and Oleksandr Bryhynets, were hospitalized with
concussions and spine injuries as a result of clashes in the
council chamber between BYuT deputies and the
pro-Chernovetskiy majority. Our Ukraine and BYuT claimed
that their faction members were beaten up by Chernovetskiy's
bodyguards, and in support of their accusations, showed video
footage of members of Chernovetskiy's security detail,
dressed in civilian clothing and wearing deputy badges,
beating up deputies from the opposition. Chernovetskiy
himself showed up to the Embassy's 2006 Christmas party with
his hand bandaged after an opposition member reportedly bit
him.


10. (SBU) During a December 13, 2006, press conference
Tymoshenko explained that her faction had blocked city
council sessions on December 7 and 12 to protest
Chernovetskiy's attempt to distribute 300 hectares of land
near Zhulyany airport (the small domestic airport) among his
relatives and business partners. According to BYuT, a
transparent sale of this land could mean to 800-900 million
USD for the Kyiv budget. Tymoshenko also ridiculed Deputy
City Council speaker Oles Dovhiy for his attempt to
appropriate land plots on Zhukov island in Kyiv under the
pretext of modernizing existing structures, accusing him of
engaging in a shadow privatization of land.

Initial Attacks on Mayor Unsuccessful
--------------


11. (SBU) According to an opinion poll data from the reliable
Democratic Initiatives Fund in December 2006, almost 78
percent of Kyiv residents supported Chernovetskiy's
dismissal. In mid-December 2006, Tymoshenko announced that
her bloc would try to dismiss Chernovetskiy via a referendum
of no-confidence. Between December 2006 and February 2007,
Tymoshenko's bloc, Klychko's bloc, the Kyiv headquarters of
Our Ukraine, and the smaller Yabluko and the Reforms and
Order parties made at least seven attempts to register

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initiative groups to collect signatures in support of their
referendum. However, the Kyiv Municipal Administration
refused to register all initiative groups, claiming that
signatories provided incorrect passport and address
information on the signature list and that submitted
documents were not "trustworthy."


12. (SBU) Unable to tackle Chernovetskiy at the Kyiv city
council, Tymoshenko used every opportunity to castigate him
at other political venues, including in the Rada. In
February 2007, BYuT members blocked the Rada's central
electricity switchboard, demanding legislators examine
Tymoshenko's bill on the reduction of household utility
tariffs. After being forced to use candles and flashlights
during afternoon plenary sessions, the ruling coalition
finally gave in to Tymoshenko's demands and examined the
legislation.


13. (SBU) The Tymoshenko-Chernovetskiy confrontation
continued through summer 2007. In mid-July, billboards
carrying Chernovetskiy's photograph under the inscription
"Chernovetskiy-mayor of all Kyivites" were mysteriously
"corrected" overnight with a new inscription "Chernovetskiy -
mayor of all Martians." Although there is no direct
evidence, many suspected that the joke was born at
Tymoshenko's headquarters. One month later, in the heat of
the pre-term parliamentary election campaign, Tymoshenko
claimed her bloc's billboards had been removed in several
areas of Kyiv and suggested that the advertising company
controlling the billboards had come under pressure from the
Kyiv mayor. Although the company rejected Tymoshenko's
allegations, it provided no reasons why recently-installed
advertising was suddenly removed.

Lutsenko Also Wants to Be Mayor
--------------


14. (C) OU-PSD leader Lutsenko also has long been taken with
the idea of bringing new leadership to Kyiv. He spent half
of a March 2007 meeting with the Ambassador outlining the
reasons for removing Chernovetskiy. He said that ousting the
Kyiv mayor would be a real show of power and would give him a
position from which he could rally the youth and gather
resources for future (unspecified) national elections. He
also said Tymoshenko was worried that Lutsenko would win a
new mayoral election, which was why she had toned down her
attacks on Chernovetskiy since December 2006.


15. (C) Lutsenko made the issue of Chernovetskiy's ouster one
of the key campaign promises of his bloc in Kyiv. In his
advertisements Lutsenko not simply promised, but "guaranteed"
that Kyiv would get a new mayor after the September 30
elections. Focused on mayor's post, Lutsenko included former
Kyiv mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko, disliked and accused of
corruption when he left office in March 2006, and who is
supported by 20 percent of Kyiv residents, in his quota on
the OU-PSD list, number 13 on the overall list. When asked
in September why he would want to ally himself with someone
with such a disreputable reputation, Lutsenko argued to the
Ambassador that if pre-term mayoral elections are announced,
Omelchenko would publicly campaign for Lutsenko, increasing
his overall votes. According to on-line newsite Ukrainska
Pravda, Lutsenko is also hoping that another OU MP, Mykola
Martynenko, who is in the construction business, will finance
Lutsenko's mayoral campaign.


16. (C) On October 16, Lutsenko told the Ambassador that
Yushchenko had promised him earlier that day that he would
split the elected post of Kyiv mayor and the appointed head
of the Kyiv municipal administration (a presidential
appointment on par with a governor),moving most of the real
power into the appointed position; Lutsenko would then be
named to run the municipal administration once the law making
the change had been passed. Although not specifically
required by law, traditionally one individual has served in
both capacities. Lutsenko stated that whoever controls Kyiv
controls central Ukraine, and OU-PSD really needed it to
fight BYuT. (Embassy Note: Thus far, this has not come to
pass. End Note.)

Shaky Legal Grounds for Pre-term Mayoral Elections
-------------- --------------


17. (C) Although this issue has been much-discussed, to
successfully oust Chernovetskiy, BYuT and OU-PSD would most
likely have to hold a Rada vote of no-confidence in the Kyiv
city council and mayor. Article 78 of the law "on local
self-government" says that the Rada can terminate the powers
of the Kyiv mayor if he violates the constitution or
citizens' rights and freedoms, or does not fulfill his
duties. Prior to the vote, the relevant parliamentary

KYIV 00002813 004.2 OF 005


committee would be required to present its legal opinion on
the mayor's performance to the Rada. However, the law says
that the Rada can only examine the possibility of ousting the
mayor when the mayor's wrongdoings are brought to the Rada's
attention by a majority of city council members, meaning that
Tymoshenko and Lutsenko would first have to wrest control of
the city council back from Chernovetskiy.


18. (C) Comment. Tymoshenko and Lutsenko probably hope that
once there is an orange coalition in the Rada, city council
members elected on Tymoshenko's list will change sides once
again and break-up the pro-Chernovetskiy majority, giving
them enough votes to request that the Rada dismiss
Chernovetskiy. It is important to note that Chernovetskiy's
supporters would not be able to appeal the Rada's decision to
announce pre-term mayoral elections, because in 2000, the
Constitutional Court of Ukraine already ruled that articles
78 and 79 of the local self-governance law, which provides
the basis for pre-term mayoral and city council elections,
fully corresponded to the constitution. A second option
would be that if they cannot wrest the majority away from
Chernovetskiy they could first call new city council
elections in hopes of winning a new majority, then move
against the mayor. One of the 12 laws outlined in the orange
coalition agreement is a new law on early elections for the
Kyiv city council and mayor.

Other Possible Obstacles to Chernovetskiy's Dismissal
-------------- --------------


19. (C) The current pro-Chernovetskiy majority is not the
only impediment to the mayor's dismissal; disunity and
corruption within Tymoshenko's and Our Ukraine's own ranks
may be also hinder changing the Kyiv city government. For
example, the October 1 Kyiv city council session received a
lot of media attention after Chernovetskiy's bloc and Our
Ukraine voted to sell large amounts of Kyiv land for 200
million USD. Independent real estate specialists estimated
to the press that the value of the land plots was actually 10
billion USD. According to news reports, the land grab
scandal involved Chernovetskiy's relatives and members of his
bloc in the city council, as well as some prominent members
of the Our Ukraine and BYuT. For example, the D.I.A.
Development company, which received almost 2.5 hectares, is
owned by OU-PSD deputies David Zhvaniya and Mykola
Martynenko. Regions deputy Vasyl Horbal told Korrespondent
magazine that KyivRybGosp company, which received 64.5
hectares of land, is controlled by oligarch Bohdan Hubskiy,
number 27 on the BYuT list and rumored to be a possible
candidate for Deputy Prime Minister in an orange government.


20. (C) In addition, Tymoshenko and Lutsenko are strongly
divided over who should be in charge of Ukraine's capital.
Regions MP Hanna Herman told poloff on October 26 that during
the pre-term Rada elections campaign Tymoshenko kept alive
Lutsenko's hope of being elected as Kyiv mayor, but that she
had never seriously intended to give up Kyiv to Our Ukraine.
Herman argued that politicians view Kyiv as a bridgehead to
the presidency, which will be contested in 2009/2010. Given
that BYuT won almost 46 percent of the Kyiv vote in the
September 30 elections, Tymoshenko would not cede this
advantage to OU-PSD. Some political analysts argue that in
case she is not appointed Prime Minister, Tymoshenko may
decide to run for Kyiv mayor, as it would give her good media
exposure and financial resources. Oleksandr Turchynov and
Iosyp Vinskiy have also been named as other possible
candidates from BYuT.


21. (SBU) Other political observers have argued that
Tymoshenko may be reluctant to support Lutsenko as mayor,
because she wants to offer the post to the Lytvyn Bloc in
exchange for support for the slim 228-member orange majority
in the Rada. At least two politicians in Lytvyn's entourage,
Viktor Pylypyshyn and Anatoliy Kovalenko, have experience in
the Kyiv municipal government and are considered to be likely
candidates for a future mayoral race.


22. (C) Finally, Chernovetskiy's own political resilience and
shrewdness could save him. He has developed good relations
with city council deputies who have ties to the national
Party of Regions -- Ihor Bohatyrev, son of Rada faction
leader Raisa Bohatyreva, and Oleksandr Rybak, son of
Volodymyr Rybak, Vice Prime Minister for Construction and
Architecture. In addition, Chernovetskiy's deputy at the
Kyiv municipal council is 26-year old Oles Dovhiy, son of
former Our Ukraine MP Stanislav Dovhiy, who actively
sponsored Yushchenko in the 2004 presidential elections.


23. (SBU) Aware of Tymoshenko and Lutsenko's intentions to
oust him, Chernovetskiy has recently started a campaign to
improve his image. Billboard advertisements were installed

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throughout Kyiv recently to inform Kyiv residents about all
the achievements of the Chernovetskiy administration, noting
for example the lower price of bread in Kyiv compared to
other cities. On October 10, acting President of "Kyiv" TV
channel Dzhanhirov announced that at Oles Dovhiy's request,
the channel would resume live broadcasts of city council
sessions. Finally, Chernovetskiy is taking his time in
signing the October 1 decision authorizing the latest land
sale. This allows him to avoid criticism from the opposition
and keep all Kyiv council members who bought this land on a
short lease. As long as they need Chernovetskiy's signature
on the land sale documents to make their money, they will not
depart from the pro-Chernovetskiy majority.


24. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Taylor