Jewgeni Kuschnarew

Date of birth: 29.01.1951

Jewgeni Petrovich Kuschnarev. He had both supporters and numerous opponents among Ukrainians who were at least somewhat interested in national politics. Who was more will never be known to anyone. However, in one way or another, he earned a place among the most influential figures in the country's political life through his engagement. The Party of Regions and the Anti-Crisis Coalition lost an experienced and proven fighter and advocate for the interests of these political forces. The life of the well-known politician, who experts believe had not yet reached the peak of his career, ended 12 days before his 56th birthday.

Place of birth. Education. Kuschnarev was born in Kharkiv. In 1973, he graduated as an engineer-mechanic from the Kharkiv Institute of Civil Engineering. Later, he defended his dissertation and received the degree of Candidate of Economic Sciences.

Career. From 1973 to 1981, he worked as a designer, mechanic, head of the repair mechanics department, and deputy head of the design department at the Kharkiv Concrete Structures Plant No. 1.

From 1981, he held party and leadership positions. Until 1990 - along the lines of the CPSU (in the district and city committees of the Communist Party of Ukraine in Kharkiv).

From 1990 to 1996, he was the chairman of the Kharkiv City Council. He combined this position with being a deputy of the Ukrainian Parliament in the Verkhovna Rada of the I Congress. He served as mayor of Kharkiv twice.

From 1996 to 1998, he was the head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine (Leonid Kuchma), from 2000 to 2004, governor of the Kharkiv region, and from 2004 to 2005, chairman of the Kharkiv Oblast Council.

Jewgeni Kuschnarev was once one of the founders and leaders of the People's Party. From January to November 2005, he led the 'New Democracy' party. During the 2006 parliamentary elections, he led the election campaign of the Party of Regions, of which he became a member during the campaign. In the Verkhovna Rada of the V Congress, he was the deputy faction leader of the Party of Regions and chairman of the parliamentary committee on legal affairs.

Views and evaluations. Jewgeni Kuschnarev was one of the members of the Party of Regions entrusted with representing the party's and its faction's positions. He often took a strong stance, always felt confident in confrontations with political opponents and under the 'crossfire' of journalists. After the formation of the Anti-Crisis Coalition and the new government, he spoke out decisively against the work of representatives of political forces that were not part of the parliamentary majority (this involved 'orange' ministers). It is noteworthy that Jewgeni Kuschnarev himself called the 'orange revolution' immediately after the Maidan a 'carefully prepared and wonderfully financed coup d'état.'

After the radical change of the Ukrainian government in 2004, the politician became a figure in a criminal case. The initiators saw in one of his speeches during the 'orange revolution' an appeal to separatism, an 'attack on Ukraine's territorial integrity.' This happened at the All-Ukrainian Congress of Deputies of all levels in Sverdlovsk, which brought together opponents of Kuchma's regime change and supporters of the pro-Russian presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych. Kuschnarev called the investigations against him 'political persecution.' In September 2006, the case was closed 'due to lack of corpus delicti.'

Awards. Among other awards, he received the Order of Saint Vladimir (III, IV, and V classes) and the French Order of the Legion of Honor.

Family. He was married and had a son and a daughter.

Hobbies and tragic end. From time to time, Jewgeni Kuschnarev took up the pen himself. He was the author of the historical and local history book 'One Hundred Steps Through the Land of Kharkiv' and the work 'The Red Horse. Notes of a Counter-Revolutionary' (his personal view on the 'orange revolution').

Jewgeni Kuschnarev's hobbies included football, fishing, and hunting. The latter hobby became his doom. On January 16, 2007, the deputy was admitted to a hospital in Isyum (Kharkiv region) with a gunshot wound he received while hunting in the local territory from a member of his own group. Two surgeries were performed, but the doctors could not save the politician's life. The next day, the politician died, as his condition did not allow for transport to a more advanced medical center. Investigations into the case of the deputy's murder lasted almost a year. In December 2007, the prosecutor's office charged the shooter - Dmitry S. Shavalny, assistant to the deputy of the regions and son of the director of the Kharkiv company 'Tochpribor' - with accidental manslaughter and unauthorized possession and carrying of a firearm. S. Shavalny claims his innocence in the deputy's death.

In January 2006, amid the election campaign, Jewgeni Kuschnarev was asked during an internet conference on the LІGА.net website: 'What would you justify if you stood before God?' The politician replied: 'I have nothing to regret. My conscience is clear. I love Ukraine no less than any of you. Just the whole country. I have dedicated a large part of my life to the people. And my attitude toward the current government is determined by my extremely negative evaluation of those who deem it acceptable to use any means to achieve their goals. Whether someone likes it or not, the 'orange revolution' is nothing more than an unconstitutional coup. I thought so a year ago, and I think so now.'

16.01.2008