Sergei Ratushnyak
Date of Birth: 17.02.1961
Place of Birth. Education. Born in Uzhhorod. Graduate of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute with a degree in mechanical engineering.
Career. His professional career began as a packer in the furniture manufacturing of the Uzhhorod plywood furniture factory.
1986-1987 - Design engineer at Zakarpatsky instrument factory.
1987-1988 - Chief engineer at the research laboratory for the synthesis and comprehensive study of new semiconductor materials at Uzhhorod State University.
1988-1989 - Director of the RIO company.
1989-1991 - Director of the Spoiler company.
1991-1994 - Director of the RIO company.
Ratushnyak founded and led the RIO Syndicate, which included 52 companies (bank services, insurance company, manufacturers of alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, coffee, flour, sausages, shops, markets, the first private taxi in the city, etc.).
Twice, in 1994 and 1998, he ran for the Ukrainian Parliament, but both times the Central Election Commission annulled the decision of the district election commissions regarding Ratushnyak's registration as a candidate.
1994-1998 - Mayor of Uzhhorod, Chairman of the Uzhhorod City Council. In 1998 he was re-elected as Mayor of Uzhhorod.
In 1998, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Transcarpathian Oblast initiated a criminal case against Ratushnyak for opening and using a foreign account outside Ukraine without the permission of the Central Bank. During the inspection of the RIO Syndicate by a brigade from the General Prosecutor's Office, Ratushnyak left the country and submitted his resignation as Mayor of Uzhhorod from abroad. Later, the city council session elected him as honorary mayor 'for positive changes in the socio-economic life of the city.'
In March 2000, he was arrested on suspicion of embezzlement, abuse of office, and forgery. During the investigation, he was elected a deputy of the regional council in July of the same year.
2000-2002 - Deputy of the Transcarpathian Oblast Council.
2001-2002 - Advisor to the chairman of the Oblast Administration for the support and development of entrepreneurship (on a voluntary basis).
2002-2006 - Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the IV Congress, member of the Rada Committee on Legal Issues. He was a member of the factions and groups For a United Ukraine!, Popular Power, Democratic Initiatives, Our Ukraine, Regions of Ukraine (from the latter he was expelled for violating faction discipline) and the People's Party.
At the time of the elections to the Verkhovna Rada - Chairman of the Oblast Union 'New Transcarpathia', member of the Ukrainian Party Unity.
From 2006 to 2010 he was the mayor of Uzhhorod.
In 2010, he ran for the presidency, receiving only 0.12% of the votes.
In 2012, he ran as an independent in the single-mandate constituency No. 68 in the Transcarpathian Oblast for the Verkhovna Rada of the VII Congress, but lost to the representative of the Party of Regions Vasily Kovach.
In the early parliamentary elections of 2014, he ranked 5th in the single-mandate constituency No. 68 (Uzhhorod) with 7.71% of the votes.
In the local elections of 2015, he ran as an independent candidate in the mayoral election of Uzhhorod, finishing second in the first round with 13.84%. In the second round, he lost to the representative of the party Rebirth, Bogdan Andreev, who took second place with 30.94% of the votes.
Party Activities. Ratushnyak was the deputy chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine, chairman of the regional organization of the All-Ukrainian Union of Communities, a member of the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Party Unity, and in 2000 he headed the regional cell of this party in Transcarpathia.
He headed the Transcarpathian organization of the People's Party of Vladimir Litvin, was a member of the party's Political Bureau. In September 2009, he left the party. Commenting on his actions to the magazine Publikumszeitschriften, he stated that 'the employment project with the Litvin brothers has simply ended'. 'They have used me since 2002 when I was elected chairman and Medvedchuk with Surkis then 'broke' the parliament. And ending with the establishment of a local party cell and maintaining it for over 5 years,' said Ratushnyak.
Scandals. The press service of the Front of Changes stated that on August 6, 2009, in Uzhhorod, Mayor Ratushnyak attacked an activist of this public initiative. The girl suffered a concussion and numerous bruises. On August 7, a criminal case was opened under Article 296 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code (hooliganism) due to the incident involving the Mayor of Uzhhorod. Ratushnyak himself stated that the girl attacked him.
The General Prosecutor's Office initiated a criminal case against Ratushnyak for reckless actions that took place on August 6 between the mayor and an activist of the public initiative Front of Changes. Following this, Ratushnyak made a series of statements against the head of the initiative Arseniy Yatsenyuk. As a result, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Transcarpathian Oblast initiated another criminal case against the mayor of Uzhhorod, who is suspected of committing a crime under part 2 of Article 161 (violation of citizens' equality based on race, national belonging) of the Ukrainian Criminal Code.
This action did not go unnoticed, even by the public and international organizations. After Ratushnyak was registered as a candidate for the presidency of Ukraine in the fall of 2009, the Israeli Foreign Ministry officially condemned this fact. The head of the press department of the Israeli Foreign Ministry for press relations, Yossi Levi, stated: 'The mayor of Uzhhorod is known for his gross anti-Semitic statements, and his nomination for a high state office, especially for the presidency of Ukraine, is incompatible with the statements of the leadership of this country in the fight against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.'
Family. Married. He raises with his wife daughters Valeria and Kristina and son Denis.
16.02.2022