Leonid Chernovetskyi

Leonid Chernovetskyi Леонід Черновецький
Mayor of Kiev
Incumbent
Assumed office April 20, 2006
Preceded by	Oleksandr Omelchenko
Personal details
Born	(1951-11-25) November 25, 1951 Kharkiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukrainian SSR
Nationality	Ukrainian
Political party	Christian Liberal Party of Ukraine

Leonid Chernovetskyi (Ukrainian: Леонід Черновецький; November 25, 1951 in Kharkiv, Ukraine) is the Mayor of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. Before his political career, he was a successful businessman, founder and controlling stakeholder of the "Pravex Bank", one of the largest banks in Ukraine, and the Pravex Group. Chernovetskyi is also a longtime philanthropist of Kiev, concentrated on caring of the city homeless and poor. Prior to being elected Mayor, he was a member of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine, representing one of the Kiev's constituencies. Chernovetskyi is also the leader of the Christian Liberal Party of Ukraine.

Biography

Leonid Chernovestkyi is a qualified lawyer. He started his career as an investigator in the Kiev's Prosecutor Office, but went into private business soon after perestroyka. In this role, Chernovestkyi became one of the "earliest" big businesspeople in Kiev, known as the founder of Pravex Group (Ukrainian: Правекс, abbreviated from Pravo, Economica, Sotsiolohiya ("Law, Economics and Sociology").

Later the banking division of the Pravex Group rose into the Pravex Bank - one of the largest banks in Ukraine, possessing a dense network of offices in Kiev and other regions. In 2001, Chernovestkyi and his bank founded the "Kiev Bank Union" banking association. As of YE2006, the bank is one of the TOP 20 by assets and in the TOP 10 by equity. However, due to his increasing political commitment, it is likely that Chernovestkyi will increasing take distance from his business.

Rumors and controversies

Leonid Chernovestkyi and his businesses are subject to several rumors. The most discussed part of this controversy is the association of some members of his family with the "Embassy of God" - a Kiev-based charismatic Protestant church led by Nigerian immigrant pastor Sunday Adelaja. Chernovestkyi's family is believed to be an important sponsor of the church and occasional participant in its ecstatic religious services. Many speculations are circulating regarding this association.

According to one version, Pravex Bank became one of the most successful bank due to its initial commodities trading. The bank is well-recognized in the silver and gold market. Majority of senior positions are held by members of his family. Chernovestkyi is known to trust very few people.

Political career

In 1998-1999 Chernovestkyi was a co-chair, and in 1999-2000 the chair of the "For Beautiful Ukraine" party. From 1997 to 2001 he was a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the President of Ukraine.

2004 presidential elections

Chernovestkyi was a self-nominated candidate in the 2004 presidential election, believed to be one of the "technical candidates" whose true mission was to assist Viktor Yushchenko's struggle for presidency by placing additional representatives in electoral commissions.

2006 parliamentary and mayor elections

According to the Kiev city election commission, Chernovetskyi garnered 32 percent of the vote to win the election. Vitali Klitschko placed second with 24 percent and incumbent Oleksandr Omelchenko placed third with 21 percent.

It should be noted that Chernovetskyi was also elected to the Verkhovna Rada in the list of the Our Ukraine Bloc. Thus he should reject one of the seats (either mayoral or parliamentary) within months.

References

• Kiev City Council - Biography Template:Uk icon
• 'Kyiv gets first new mayor in decade.', Kyiv Post. 29 March 2006.
• 'Mayoral race results from across country.' 5 Kanal. 31 March 2006.
• Template:Uk icon Kievan Cake with a surprise, Ukrayinska Pravda, March 3, 2006