Alexey Goncharenko Ukrainian politician, deputy of the Odessa City Council of the Party of Regions faction Date of Birth: 16.09.1980 Country: Ukraine

1. Biography of Alexey Goncharenko
2. Education and Early Career
3. Political Career
4. Activism and Achievements
5. Personal Life

Biography of Alexey Goncharenko

Alexey Goncharenko is a Ukrainian politician and a member of the Odessa City Council's faction of the Party of Regions. He is also the leader of the public organization "Quality of Life" (formerly known as "Zelenka") and the chairman of the extraordinary committee for the defense of Odessans. Goncharenko is the son of Ukrainian Member of Parliament Alexey Alekseevich Kostusev.

Education and Early Career

Goncharenko attended several schools in Odessa, including School No. 62, School No. 35, and Gymnasium No. 2 (formerly School No. 9). In 1996, he entered Odessa State Medical University without exams as a biology competition diploma holder. He graduated from the university with honors in 2002, but by that time, he had already decided to dedicate himself to a career in public politics. From 2002 to 2005, Goncharenko pursued a second higher education at the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation in Moscow, specializing in economics and financial management.

Political Career

Goncharenko's political journey began in 2001 when he was elected as the leader of the youth organization of the Odessa regional branch of the Ukrainian Green Party. In 2002, at the age of 21, he ran for the Odessa City Council but was unsuccessful. However, he started working as an assistant to a council deputy after the elections. Meanwhile, he pursued a second higher education at the Academy of National Economy in Moscow, which he completed in 2005, obtaining a degree in economics.

In 2005, Goncharenko was elected as the chairman of the Odessa City organization of the "Soyuz" party and actively worked in Odessa. One of his main achievements was preventing the privatization of the Odessa Port Plant. At the end of 2005, the Odessa regional and city organizations of the "Soyuz" party merged with the Party of Regions, the main opposition force. In 2006, Goncharenko was elected to the Odessa City Council as a member of the Party of Regions.

One of Goncharenko's first accomplishments as a council member was the adoption of a provision in the Odessa City Council's regulations stating that the Russian language, along with Ukrainian, is the working language of the council, its executive bodies, and official announcements.

Activism and Achievements

In 2006, Goncharenko organized a picket at the Odessa Airport on the day of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's visit to demand a halt to the privatization of the Odessa Port Plant. Yushchenko listened to Goncharenko and promised to stop the privatization if the government of Yulia Tymoshenko did not fulfill all of Goncharenko's demands. On September 17, Yushchenko signed a corresponding decree. Despite this, the State Property Fund held a competition for the sale of the plant on September 29. However, the President's decree scared off 10 out of 13 participants, and the competition results were ultimately canceled due to the low price offered by the competition winner. As a result, the Odessa Port Plant remained state-owned, and Goncharenko considers this a victory.

As of May 2009, Goncharenko is the leader of the public association "Quality of Life," which includes hundreds of residents of Odessa.

Personal Life

Goncharenko is married to Olga, whom he met while studying at the medical university. They have a son together. His mother, Marina Fedorovna Goncharenko, worked at the Odessa Port in the early 1980s and later became a teacher at School No. 62 and Primorsky Lyceum. His father, Alexey Alexeevich Kostusev, worked at the Odessa Institute of Marine Engineers until 1991 and then served as a member of the Odessa City Council. He ran for mayor of Odessa in 1994 but was defeated by Eduard Gurvits. He later became a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and chairman of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine. Currently, he is a Member of Parliament for the Party of Regions and resides in Kyiv. Goncharenko's parents divorced when he was three years old.