Where: Dnipropetrovsk
Polling stations: 87
Voters: 162,017
Candidates: 22
Remarks: Viktor Pinchuk's flagship pipe factory is located in this district
The constituency
covers two bedroom and industrial communities in Dnipropetrovsk:
Industrialny and Samarskiy. This is the only constituency where there
is an open standoff between an oligarch and the ruling Party of
Regions. For eight years starting in 1998, this constituency was the
home base of Viktor Pinchuk, one of Ukraine’s richest men with a
fortune of $4.2 billion, according to Forbes estimates.
His flagship pipe
factory is located in this constituency, and employs 6,477 people.
Pinchuk wanted his
top manager, Yakiv Bezbakh, to run in this constituency, but was told
by the Party of Regions that they will nominate a different
candidate, Anatoliy Krupskiy, who currently serves as first deputy
mayor.
Nevertheless,
Bezbakh decided to run as an independent candidate, despite being a
member of the Party of Regions. His namesake, Ivan Bezbakh, is also
running as an independent candidate. Such candidates are called
“clones” and are often used to confuse voters when a strong
candidate is running in a constituency.
Pinchuk, on the
other hand, is throwing his weight behind Yakiv Bezbakh, who is the
deputy head of the board at the pipe plant in charge of the social
sector.
At a rally to
support Yakiv held earlier this month, Pinchuk told potential voters
that he wants “this constituency to be ours. And now we have a
chance to have our man [in parliament].”
He also said he gave
one condition to Yakiv in early summer: “I only have one request,
and you can consider it my condition: you have to slim down by at
least 10 kilograms because first of all, you need to be liked by
female voters. And secondly, you have to be full of energy and have
good health.”
Perhaps, to sweeten
the pill, Pinchuk said he will vote for the Party of Regions on the
proportional ballot.
“If you want to go
to the opposition, then quit…or sell your business, and join the
opposition. But if you stay in business, you have to cooperate with
the incumbents. That’s why I say this very seriously: I will be
voting for the Party of Regions, and will call on you to do the
same,” he said.
Some reports suggested that the workers at Nyzhnyodniprovskiy pipe plant are being pressured to vote for their manager. Oleksiy Lazko, coordinator of For Fair Election movement, said recently that his organization’s hotline is receiving phone calls reporting threats of dismissal in case they fail to vote for Bezbakh. Neither bezbakh, nor Pinchuk have commented on the accusation so far.
