Where: Biliaivka, Odesa Oblast, District 140
Polling stations: 111
Number of voters:178,320
Number of candidates: 25
A hot race is expected in district 140 in Odesa Oblast, where former Party of Regions lawmaker Davyd Zhvania, elected here in 2012, is running for re-election. This time, however, his chances to win appear to be doubtful, even after front-runner and former Odesa Oblast governor Eduard Matviychuk moved to a different constituency.
Before he changed districts, Matviychuk led in a poll by Sociopolic research agency in September with 29.7 percent support. After him, Viktor Dobriansky, an Odesa Oblast council deputy got 11.3 percent support while Zhvania – 8.6 percent.
Zhvania, 47, was an ally of fugitive ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, but is now nominated by President Petro Poroshenko’s bloc.
Poroshenko’s inclusion of Zhvania has been criticized. Chesno public movement, which has been analyzing candidates since 2011, put him on the list of so-called “dangerous” candidates for voting in favor of the so-called “dictator laws” on Jan.16 that restricted free speech and protests during the waning days of Yanukovych’s administration..
In 2012 Zhvania was accused of violating rules of election campaign. However, even after Odesa Administrative Court held that his charitable activity was direct bribery of voters, his candidacy wasn’t excluded from the election.
If elected, Zhvania plans to focus on achieving peace, order and prosperity, according to his agenda, published on the Central Election Commission website. He wants to develop and improve the national army so it can meet NATO standards and would draw on Israel’s experience to strengthen state borders. He also favors decentralization of power.
Dobriansky, 33, is a self-nominated candidate. Controversy around him is linked to the legal dispute he is involved over the ownership of Seventh Kilometer, Ukraine’s largest commodity market. The market, which now occupies 700,000 square meters near Odesa, was founded in 1989 by his grandfather, who died last year.
Dobriansky’s election goals include fighting corruption and bureaucracy, reducing unemployment level, improving national currency and supporting small business, according to his agenda. He plans to introduce new support program for small and medium businesses, new labor code and affordable mortgage lending, among other.
Dobriansky was running in 140 constituency in 2012 but got just 12 percent of votes while Zhvania received 32 percent.
Kyiv Post staff writer Anastasia Forina can be reached at [email protected]
