Yevgeny Balitsky

Russian and Ukrainian politician (born 1969)

Евгений Балицкий
Balitsky in 2022
Governor of Zaporozhye Oblast
(Russian-installed)
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 May 2022PresidentVladimir PutinPreceded byOleksandr Starukh[a]People's Deputy of UkraineIn office
12 December 2012 – 29 August 2019Preceded byConstituency establishedSucceeded bySerhii MinkoConstituencyZaporizhzhia Oblast, No. 80 Personal detailsBorn (1969-12-10) 10 December 1969 (age 54)[1]
Melitopol, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet UnionNationalityUkrainian
Russian (2022–present)Political partyUnited Russia (since 2022)Other political
affiliations
  • Independent (1998–2004, 2014)
  • Party of Regions (2004–2014)
  • Opposition Bloc (2015–2018)
Children3Military serviceAllegiance Soviet Union (1991)
 CIS (1991–1992)
 Ukraine (1992–1995)Branch/service Soviet Air Forces
 Ukrainian Air ForceYears of service1991–1995

Yevgeny Vitalyevich Balitsky (Russian: Евгений Витальевич Бали́цкий, Ukrainian: Євген Віталійович Балицький, romanized: Yevhen Vitaliiovych Balytskyi; born 10 December 1969) is a Russian and former Ukrainian politician, entrepreneur and former army officer who is currently serving as the governor of Zaporozhye Oblast, one of the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, since 2022.

Originally suspected to be de facto mayor of Melitopol by the Security Service of Ukraine, he was later appointed as Governor of Zaporizhzhia Oblast by Russian authorities on 9 May 2022, amidst the occupation of the southern parts of the oblast by the Russian military.

Before that takeover, Balitsky served in the Soviet and Ukrainian Air Force from 1991 to 1995, before entering business, serving as head of a household appliance company in Melitopol.

He entered politics in 1998 as an independent member of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Council and joined the Party of Regions in 2004,[2] and had served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine in the 7th and 8th convocations of the Verkhovna Rada from 2012 to 2019.

Early life and career

Yevhen Vitaliiovych Balitsky was born in Melitopol, then in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union, on 10 December 1969, to a family of military aviators. In 1987, he graduated from high school. In 1991, he graduated from Tambov Higher Military Aviation School as a lieutenant. For the next four years, he served in various aviation garrisons, and in 1995 was transferred to the reserves from Melitopol Regiment military transport aircraft with the rank of captain.[3]

From 1995 to 1997, he was the head of the OlZheKa company, which sold and repaired household appliances in Melitopol.[3] In 1996, OlZheKa established the first FM radio station in Melitopol, called Southern Space.[4]

From 1997 to 2007, Balitsky was head of the Melitopol Brewery, and only in 2007 did he sell a controlling stake in this company. Since 2000, he led Melitopol Avtogidroagregat, a tractor parts company. As of 2012, he was deputy director for economics at Melitopol Avtogidroagregat. Both Melitopol Brewery and Avtogidroagregat achieved economic success under Balitsky's leadership.[4]

Regional politics

From 1998 to 2002, Balitsky was a deputy of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Council, as an independent.[5][4]

In March 2002, Balitsky was seen as a plausible candidate for mayor of Melitopol.[6]

In 2004, he joined the Party of Regions, and from 2010 to 2012 he again served as a deputy of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Council as a member of the party.[5][7] This time, he served as a member of the Standing Committee on the Budget, as well as the Acting Department Director in the Ministry of Economy and European Integration.[7]

National politics

Balitsky's portrait as a member of the Verkhovna Rada

From 2012 to 2019, Balitsky was a People's Deputy of Ukraine, serving in the 7th and 8th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's national parliament).[3] He was elected both times as member of Zaporizhia Oblast district No. 80, a multi-member district comprising Melitopol and Melitopol Raion,[3][8] with 54.46% of the votes.[9] In the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election he was elected as a member of the Party of Regions and in 2014 reelected as a self-nominated candidate,[5] receiving 47.4% of the vote.[10]

In June 2013, Balitsky was among a group of 148 people's deputies of Ukraine who signed the Appeal of deputies from the Party of Regions and the Communist Party of Ukraine to the Polish Sejm with a request to "recognize the Volyn tragedy as genocide against the Polish population and condemn the criminal acts of Ukrainian nationalists." This step was described as national treason by the first President of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk.[11]

On 16 January 2014, he was one of the deputies who voted for the Anti-protest laws in Ukraine. [12]

On 14 February 2014, he was elected deputy chairman of the Melitopol chapter of the Party of Regions.[3] In April, Balitsky noted environmental problems at Molochnyi Lyman.[13]

Balitsky in the Verkhovna Rada, 2014

On 3 June 2014, Balitsky left the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada,[14] later joining the Opposition Bloc in May 2015.[15]

On 2 July 2014, he announced the registration of the deputy group "For peace and stability".[16] On 17 September 2014, deputies of this group attended a meeting of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Balitsky was not among them, as he refused the invitation.[17]

On 12 July 2016, despite constant media scrutiny of the voting procedure, Balytskyi, in addition to himself, voted for two other fellow MPs who were absent from their seats, hiding behind his jacket.[18] As response to the coverage, he gave his middle finger to a journalist who was filming him during a vote in the Verkhovna Rada.[19]

On 18 January 2018, he was one of 36 MPs who voted against the Law on the Recognition of Ukrainian Sovereignty over the Occupied Territories of Donetsk and Luhansk Regions.[20]

On 23 April 2019, he was one of the 59 MPs who signed a motion on the basis of which the Constitutional Court of Ukraine cancelled the article of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on illicit enrichment, which required public officials to provide explanations about the sources of their income and the income of their family members. Criminal liability for illicit enrichment was introduced in Ukraine in 2015. This was one of the EU's requirements for the implementation of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan, as well as one of Ukraine's commitments to the IMF, as set out in the Memorandum.[21]

In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Balitsky failed to get reelected in district No. 80, this time for the party Opposition Bloc.[5] In this election he gained 29.5% of the votes in the constituency, while winner Serhii Minko won with 33.13%.[22][8]

In the 2020 Ukrainian local elections Balitsky was again elected as a deputy of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Council for the party Opposition Bloc.[5]

Collaboration with Russian forces

Balitsky (second from left) celebrating with Vladimir Putin and three other Russian-backed leaders of occupied Ukrainian regions

Following the capture of Melitopol by Russian forces during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Balitsky assisted in the establishment of a new, pro-Russian government in the city. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has claimed that Balitsky is the grey eminence of the occupation in Melitopol.[23][24]

On 9 May 2022, it was reported that Balitsky was appointed governor of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia Oblast.[25] Balitsky became a member of the United Russia political party on 26 September 2022.[26]

On 30 September 2022, Balitsky and the other pro-Russian occupation heads, Denis Pushilin, Leonid Pasechnik and Volodymyr Saldo, attended the ceremony in Moscow during which Vladimir Putin formally announced the annexation of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.[27]

In January 2023, Balitisky and the administration established the Pavel Sudoplatov Battalion[28] and Balitsky's son joined it as a soldier.[29]

Sanctions

On December 25, 2018, he was included in the sanctions list of Russia,[30][31] (excluded from the list by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 26, 2022 No. 2151).[32]

On 21 July 2022, he included in the sanctions list of all EU countries because he "cooperated with Russian authorities in the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, supported the appointment of Galina Danilchenko as mayor of Melitopol after the abduction of the legitimate mayor".[33]

In 15 September 2022, he was included in US sanctions lists,[34] because he "oversees the removal of Ukrainian grain from the Zaporizhzhia region".[35]

Sanctioned by the UK government in 2022 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War.[36]

Awards

Notes

  1. ^ Control over Zaporizhzhia Oblast is disputed due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Balytskyi is supported by Russian military forces, while Starukh is supported by the government of Ukraine.

References

  1. ^ "Офіційний портал Верховної Ради України". itd.rada.gov.ua. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Депутатський корпус | Запорiзька обласна рада". zor.gov.ua. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Балицкий Евгений Витальевич" [Balytskyi, Yevhen Vitaliiovych]. Who's Who in Zaporizhzhia (in Russian). Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  4. ^ a b c "БАЛИЦКИЙ Евгений Витальевич" [BALYTSKYI, Yevhen Vitaliiovych]. Who's Who in Melitopol (in Russian). Archived from the original on 14 January 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e Small biography on Yevgeny Balitsky, Civil movement "Chesno" (in Ukrainian)
  6. ^ "The results of a sociological survey in Melitopol | SOCIOLOGICAL SURVEY (March 3-4, 2002) tavriya-news". 9 April 2002. Archived from the original on 9 April 2002. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Балицкий Евгений Витальевич" [Balytskyi, Yevhen Vitaliiovych]. Lb.ua [uk] (in Russian). 31 January 2018. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  8. ^ a b "The mayor of Melitopol won the election of deputies from the OB in Zaporizhia Oblast". Ukrainian News Agency (in Ukrainian). 23 July 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Центральна виборча комісія України - WWW відображення ІАС "Вибори народних депутатів України 2012"". 17 December 2014. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Форум Запорожья • Просмотр темы - Евгений Балицкий". 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  11. ^ Kościński, Piotr; Vorobiov, Ievgen (17 July 2013). "The 70th Anniversary of the Volyn Massacre: Lack of Understanding in Ukraine" (PDF). PISM. 77 (530): 2 – via ETH Zurich.
  12. ^ "На сайті ВР вже оприлюднили список всіх, хто голосував руками за авторитарні закони". 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Решение экологических проблем на Молочном лимане – под контролем областной власти" [Solutions to ecological problems in Molochnyi Lyman under control by oblast government]. Nash Gorod Plyus (in Russian). 14 April 2014. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  14. ^ "Нардеп Евгений Балицкий покинул фракцию Партии регионов в парламенте" [People's Deputy Yevhen Balytskyi leaves Party of Regions parliamentary faction]. Nash Horod Plyus (in Russian). 3 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Гройсман объявил о вхождении Балицкого и Шенцева в состав фракции "Оппозиционного блока"" [Groysman announces entry of Balytskyi and Shentsev into "Opposition Bloc" faction]. RBC Ukraine (in Russian). 15 May 2015. Archived from the original on 17 May 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  16. ^ "Нардеп Евгений Балицкий: «Наша задача – согласие, мир и независимая Украина» | «Наш Город» новости Мелитополя и Запорожской обл". 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  17. ^ "Нардеп Евгений Балицкий отверг приглашение Госдумы РФ". 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Євген Балицький та Анатолій Денисенко кнопкодавлять (оновлено) | ЧЕСНО". 21 August 2016. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  19. ^ "Кнопкодав Євген Балицький показує середній палець / 14.07.16 - YouTube". YouTube. 3 May 2017. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Офіційний портал Верховної Ради України". 21 January 2018. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  21. ^ "Кто требовал отменить статью за незаконное обогащение: список - новости Украины, Политика - LIGA.net". 23 April 2019. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  22. ^ (in Ukrainian) Information on the counting of votes of voters in the single-member constituency №80 (Zaporizhia Oblast), Central Election Commission of Ukraine
  23. ^ "Що відомо про депутата Євгена Балицького, який співпрацює з окупантами" [What is known about the deputy Yevhen Balytskyi, who cooperates with the occupiers]. Zaporizhzhian Investigation Centre (in Ukrainian). 25 March 2022. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  24. ^ Lotareva, Anastasiya; Zakharov, Andrei (1 April 2022). "Экс-"регионал", бухгалтерша и горный инженер: кто стал новой властью на оккупированных украинских территориях" [Ex-regional, accountant and mining engineer: who became the new government in the occupied Ukrainian territories?]. BBC (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2 April 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  25. ^ "Окупанти призначили одіозного екснардепа Балицького "губернатором" Запоріжжя". 24 Канал (in Ukrainian). 9 May 2022. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  26. ^ "Гауляйтер Запорожской области Балицкий вступил в партию Путина". Украинская правда (in Russian). Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  27. ^ Landay, Jonathan (30 September 2022). "Defiant Putin proclaims Ukrainian annexation as military setback looms". Reuters. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  28. ^ "ГУП "Добровольческий батальон". Воюющее в Украине формирование впервые зарегистрировали в России как бизнес" (in Russian). BBC. 9 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  29. ^ "Син антиукраїнського негідника Балицького вступив у батальйон імені Судоплатова" (in Ukrainian). espreso.tv. 27 September 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  30. ^ "Санкции России: что известно о людях и компаниях, которые попали в список". Украинская правда (in Russian). Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  31. ^ "Руководил пивзаводом и был под санкциями РФ: чем известен глава Запорожья Евгений Балицкий". www.kommersant.ru (in Russian). 5 October 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  32. ^ "Постановление Правительства Российской Федерации от 26.11.2022 № 2151 ∙ Официальное опубликование правовых актов ∙ Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации". publication.pravo.gov.ru. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  33. ^ "Official Journal L 193/2022". eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  34. ^ "Russia-related Designations; Issuance of Russia-related General License and Frequently Asked Questions; Zimbabwe-related Designation, Removals and Update; Libya-related Designation Update". U.S. Department of Treasury. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  35. ^ Office of The Spokesperson (15 September 2022). "Targeting Russia's Senior Officials, Defense Industrial Base, and Human Rights Abusers". U.S. Department of State.
  36. ^ "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  37. ^ "Нардеп від Мелітополя Євгеній Балицький став кавалером ордена «За заслуги»" [People's Deputy from Melitopol Yevhen Balytskyi becomes member of Order For Merit]. Nash Gorod Plyus (in Ukrainian). 26 August 2013. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  38. ^ "Биография Врио Губернатора Запорожской области" (in Russian). Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  39. ^ "Ceremony for presenting state decorations - President of Russia". Kremlin.ru. 20 December 2022.