Yevhen Kushnaryov

Infobox Politician (general)
name= Yevhen Kushnaryov
Євген Кушнарьов


image_width= 250
title= Mayor of Kharkiv
term_start= 1994
term_end= 1996
predecessor=
successor=
title2= Chief of Staff to the
President of Ukraine
term_start2= 1996
term_end2= 1998
predecessor2=
successor2=
title3= Governor of the Kharkiv Oblast
term_start3= 2000
term_end3= 2004
predecessor3=
successor3=
title4= Deputy to the Verkhovna Rada
_{(Party of Regions)}
term_start4= 2006
term_end4= 2007
predecessor4=
successor4=
birth_date= birth date|1951|1|29
birth_place= Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
death_date= death date and age|2007|1|17|1951|1|29
death_place= Izium, Ukraine
party=
residence=
spouse=
profession=
religion=
footnotes=

Yevhen Petrovych Kushnaryov ( _uk. Євген Петрович Кушнарьов, "Jevhen Petrovyč Kušnar'ov"; _ru. Евгений Петрович Кушнарёв, "Evgenij Petrovič Kušnarëv") (January 29, 1951 - January 17, 2007) was a prominent Ukrainian politician of the post-Soviet era. Kushnaryov was considered one of the chief ideologues of the Party of Regions and a key ally of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

Early life

Yevhen Kushnaryov was born in Kharkiv to migrants from Russia in 1951. [ [http://www.kushnaryov.com/ukr/about/ Kushnaryov.com "Biography" uk icon] ] He graduated from the Kharkiv Engineering-Construction Institute in 1973, and for several years thereafter worked at a local factory of concrete and steel manufacturing. [Ibid]

Political career

Kushnaryov became a member of the Communist Party in 1981. In 1989, during the Glasnost era, he joined the pro-democracy movement in the Ukrainian SSR. In 1990 Kushnaryov was elected to both the Kharkiv city council and the Verkhovna Rada, where he took part in formulating the fledgling country's constitution, and in 1994 he became mayor of the city of Kharkiv. [Ibid]

Afterwards, Kushnaryov served as Leonid Kuchma's chief of staff from 1996 to 1998, and as governor of the Kharkiv Oblast from 2000 to 2004.

During the election crisis of 2004, Kushnaryov agitated for the creation of an independent southeastern Ukrainian state in the case of Viktor Yushchenko's victory. This caused him to be arrested on charges of separatism, that were eventually dropped.Following the Orange Revolution, Kushnaryov joined Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions and in 2006 he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada on the Party of Regions ticket.

Kushnaryov quickly became one of the leaders of the party along with Yanukovych and Rinat Akhmetov. Considered by many to be among the party's main ideologues, Kushnaryov could be frequently seen on television debating public policy. [ [http://5tv.com.ua/video/ 5tv.com.ua "Channel 5: Video Archive" uk icon] ] In 2006 he published a book ("Red Horse: Notes of a Counterrevolutionary") denouncing the Orange Revolution. [ [http://www.kushnaryov.com/ukr/position/books/446358ece8cca/ Yevhen Kushnaryov "Red Horse: Notes of a Counterrevolutionary" ru icon/uk icon (Online PDF version)] ]

Death

On January 15, 2007 Kushnaryov was accidentally shot in the liver while hunting with a group of friends and colleagues, and died two days later in a hospital in Izium. A two-day period of mourning was declared in Kharkiv over the death of the former governor. [ [http://www.kushnaryov.com/ukr/news/45af345de0374/ Kushnaryov.com "Yevheniy Kushnaryov's funeral will take place on Friday, January 19th" uk icon] ] [ [http://lenta.ru/news/2007/01/18/mourning/ Lenta.ru "Two-day period of mourning declared over Kushnarev in Kharkov" ru icon] ]

Legacy

* Yevhen Kushnaryov is survived by his wife, two children, and two grandchildren. [ [http://www.kushnaryov.com/ukr/about/ Kushnaryov.com "Biography" uk icon] ]
* Aссording to the Ukrainian Wikipedia, a future station of the Kharkiv Metro will be named after Kushnaryov. [ [http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Кушнарьов_Євген_Петрович] Ukrainian Wikipediauk icon]

Honors and Distinctions

* Order of Yaroslav the Wise V (1998), IV (2002), III (2004) Class (Ukraine)
* Légion d'honneur (1997) (France)

Trivia

* Although his Ukrainian name was "Yevhen" (Євген), Kushnaryov personally preferred to use the Russified form "Yevheniy" (Євгеній) when writing in Ukrainian. [ [http://www.kushnaryov.com/ukr/ Kushnaryov.com "Yevheniy Kushnaryov - Personal Website" uk icon] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.kushnaryov.com Personal Webpage] ru icon/uk icon