Katerynchuk Nikolai

Date of Birth: 19.11.1967

Katerynchuk Nikolai Dmitrievich – Ukrainian politician, people's deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the IV, V, VI, VII convocations. Head of the European Party of Ukraine, lawyer. Doctor of Law.

Place of Birth. Education. Born in the village of Lugovo in Altai. He received his education in law at the National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. Doctor of Law.

Career. From 1992 to 1995, he worked as a legal advisor at Inko-Bank.

From 1995 to 2002, he was the director of LLC 'Advocacy Company Moor and Crosondovich'.

Political Career. In 2002, he was first elected to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as a nonpartisan deputy. He was a member of the Our Ukraine faction. He held the position of Deputy Chairman of the Rada Committee on Legal Issues. He actively participated in the election campaign of the opposition candidate for the presidency of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko (he headed the legal department of the staff) and in the Orange Revolution. As part of the legal team of the 'orange' camp, he challenged the falsified results of the second round of the presidential elections in the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

After Yushchenko's victory in the election campaign, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the State Tax Administration of Ukraine (according to some information, the politician hoped for the first chair in the STA).

In the 2006 parliamentary elections, Katerynchuk became a member of the People's Union Our Ukraine (NSNU), the political council, and the presidium of this party. He was elected in the first tenth of the list of Our Ukraine to the Verkhovna Rada of the V convocation. He became Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy.

From 2007 to 2012, he was a member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine VI convocation and was elected to parliament on the list of the Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defense Bloc. He was Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Rada for Finance, Banking, Tax Policy, and Customs Affairs.

From December 2012 to November 2014, he was a member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine VII convocation elected by the Batkivshchyna party and represented the single-member constituency No. 13 in Vinnytsia Oblast. He was a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Issues.

In December 2013, he proclaimed himself the 'revolutionary commander' of Kyiv. Representatives of opposition parties emphasized that they had not agreed to Katerynchuk's candidacy for this position.

On April 2, 2014, the media reported that according to the lists of the European Party, Nikolai Katerynchuk would run for the Kyiv City Council elections in the team of former Kyiv mayor Leonid Chernovetsky.

In the 2014 parliamentary elections he lost the elections in constituency No. 13 in Vinnytsia Oblast, receiving 41% of the votes and losing to independent candidate Petro Yurchyshyn by 3%.

Since 2014, he has been a legal advisor in the company 'Katerynchuk, Moor and Partners'.

In 2019, he ran for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine IX convocation for the party Civic Position, placing 4th on the list.. Ultimately, in the Rada elections of 2019 the Civic Position party did not overcome the 5% threshold.

Views and Evaluations. As Deputy Chairman of the STA, he advocated for a tax amnesty, reforming the VAT as the most corrupt tax, easing the tax burden on construction companies, making changes to legislation to bring salaries 'out of the shadow', and the return of two or three dozen large companies to state ownership, where obvious legal violations were recognized during their privatization. He left the position due to disagreements with the policy of his boss - Alexander Kiriev. He believed that after the events on the Maidan, the operation of the fiscal body should radically change, which did not happen. He returned from taxes to the Verkhovna Rada.

In November 2006, Katerynchuk announced that he was leaving the ranks of the NSNU party. This radical step was explained by the experienced Ukrainian man that the party needed to be reformed in the interests of voters, but its leadership, supported by a party minority, actively and effectively counteracts renewal. 'In my understanding, this party is finished today... I have done nothing in my life that I do not believe in,' said the politician. Following this, Katerynchuk announced that he was oriented towards the desire and readiness to participate in the creation of a new democratic political project aimed at the 'pro-orange' voters. Among potential allies, he saw Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko, President's advisor Taras Stezkiw, Deputy Head of the President's Secretariat Arseniy Yatsenyuk, colleagues, and Deputy Prime Minister Vyacheslav Kirilenko. Ultimately, Kirilenko led Our Ukraine, Lutsenko founded the National Self-Defense movement, Katerynchuk initially founded the public organization European Platform for Ukraine and soon after - the European Party of Ukraine.

In the spring of 2007, the politician enthusiastically supported Yushchenko's initiative to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada V convocation and call for early elections. Then, his European Party entered the election block Our Ukraine - National Self-Defense, and Katerynchuk received the 5th place in the NUANS list and later the deputy mandate.

After announcing in 2008 that he would run for the position of mayor of Kyiv and deputy of the Kyiv City Council, 'candidate' the famous boxer and deputy of the Kyiv City Council Vitali Klitschko, another candidate, suggested to the parliamentarian not to 'distract' the attention of Kyivites. To which Katerynchuk replied: 'Basically, I doubt we need a strong mayor. I think we need a smart mayor. I have also boxed. The difference is that he became a pro boxer and I became a pro politician.' And he stated that after a victory by Klitschko, he might offer the position of Deputy Mayor.

During the election campaign, Katerynchuk insisted that the law on the election of the mayor of Kyiv be immediately passed in two rounds. According to him, only such a measure could save the capital from a second term of Chernovetsky. One of the politician's PR characteristics in the spring of 2008 was the 'dissemination' of the 'Katerynchuk Tax Law' project.

According to sources, Katerynchuk took fifth place in the mayoral elections, far behind the winner Chernovetsky and two other competitors - BYuT representative Alexander Turchinov and Klitschko, to whom he offered the role of his deputy mayor. At the same time, Nikolai Katerynchuk's block received five seats in the Kyiv City Council. Already during the first session of the legislative body of the capital, three members of the block joined their votes with Chernovetsky's block.

Regalia. Doctor of Law. Awarded the Order of 'For Merit' third class (2007).

Family. The politician is married. He raises his son Daniel and his daughter Sofia-Nikol with his wife Anastasia.

Hobbies. He is interested in boxing. In politics, he finds many similarities with this sport and says: 'The most important thing is not to miss a blow, as every mistake can cost a political career... Here it is important to be a real fighter, but to box by the rules.'

30.10.2023