Evgeniy Kushnarev Ukrainian politician and statesman. Date of Birth: 29.01.1951 Country: Ukraine

Biography of Yevhen Kushnarev

Yevhen Kushnarev was a Ukrainian political and state figure. He was born on January 29, 1951, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. His father, Petro Mykhaylovych Kushnarev, was a lawyer, and his mother, Serafima Tymofiyivna Kushnareva (Lukiyanchykova), was an educator. His parents immigrated to Ukraine from Russia.

Kushnarev graduated from the Kharkiv Engineering and Construction Institute in 1973 and started working at the Kharkiv Concrete Construction Plant No. 1. He held various positions there, including engineer-designer, mechanic, head of the repair and mechanical workshop, and deputy head of the design department.

In 1981, Kushnarev joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). He worked as an instructor, deputy head of the propaganda and agitation department of the Ordzhonikidzevskiy District Committee in Kharkiv, deputy head of the organizational department (since 1987), head of the administrative organs department, and head of the organizational department of the Kharkiv Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU).

In 1989, he became one of the initiators of the creation of the democratic platform of the Communist Party of Ukraine in Kharkiv. In 1990, he was elected a deputy of the Kharkiv City Council and became its chairman. In the same year, he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

In August 1991, Kushnarev protested against the State Committee on the State of Emergency. In 1994, he was elected as the mayor of Kharkiv. From 1994 to 1997, he served as the president of the Association of Ukrainian Cities. In 1995, he became the leader of the People's Democratic Union "New Ukraine" and later co-founded the People's Democratic Party.

From December 1996 to November 1998, Kushnarev served as the head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine. During this time, he also held positions such as the chairman of the State Awards Commission of Ukraine, deputy chairman of the State Commission on Administrative Reform in Ukraine, and member of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

In October 2000, Kushnarev was appointed as the governor of the Kharkiv region and held this position until December 2004. In 2001, he was elected as a deputy of the Kharkiv Regional Council and became its chairman.

During his tenure as governor, Kushnarev achieved significant economic success by implementing the Ukrainian Law on Special Regimes of Investment Activity. He promoted the establishment of technology parks and free economic zones in Kharkiv, attracting investments mainly in the machinery and printing industries. He also led a team of scientists in developing the "Strategy for Socio-Economic Development of the Kharkiv Region until 2011," which was adopted by the Regional Council.

During the 2004 presidential elections, Kushnarev actively supported Viktor Yanukovych as the head of the Kharkiv regional organization of the People's Democratic Party. After the second round of elections, he left the party and founded the opposition political party "New Democracy" in December 2004. He was elected as the Secretary-General of the party at its congress in January 2005.

Kushnarev was associated with the initiative to separate the eastern regions of Ukraine in protest against Viktor Yushchenko's election as president in 2004. He was one of the organizers of the congress of local council deputies in Severodonetsk, where the idea of creating the Southeastern Republic was proposed. In June 2005, he was charged with separatism, and in August, he was arrested on charges of exceeding official authority. However, the criminal cases were soon closed due to the lack of evidence.

In November 2005, the Second Congress of the "New Democracy" party unanimously decided to merge with the Party of Regions. On November 19, 2005, Kushnarev joined the Party of Regions. From December 3, 2005, he served as a member of the Political Council of the Party of Regions and led the election campaign in the parliamentary elections of 2006. On May 5, 2006, he became a registered member of the Verkhovna Rada. In the parliament, he became the deputy leader of the Party of Regions faction and the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy.

From January 2006, Kushnarev was the chairman of the All-Ukrainian Public Organization "Movement New Democracy."

Kushnarev was a key figure in the Party of Regions, along with Viktor Yanukovych and Rinat Akhmetov. He coordinated the party's activities in parliament and was responsible for inter-faction negotiations. Considered one of the ideologists of the Party of Regions, he was one of the most uncompromising opponents of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration.

On January 16, 2007, Kushnarev was accidentally shot during a hunting incident near the village of Krasny Shakhtyorsky in the Izium district. He sustained life-threatening injuries to his liver, kidneys, and intestines. He also suffered a concussion of the pancreas. Despite receiving immediate medical attention and losing about three liters of blood during transportation to the hospital, Kushnarev passed away the next day without regaining consciousness.

Kushnarev's funeral was an unprecedented event in independent Ukraine. The civil funeral, held at the Kharkiv Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet (KHATOB), resembled a farewell to a prominent political figure during the Soviet era. Many of his fellow party members from the Verkhovna Rada attended, along with former and current leaders of the country, including Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the second President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, and former Speaker of the Parliament Volodymyr Lytvyn. Representatives of the opposition and two Ukrainian billionaires, Rinat Akhmetov and Viktor Pinchuk, were also present. More than ten thousand residents of Kharkiv came to bid farewell to their fellow citizen.

The funeral service was conducted by Metropolitan Nikodim (Rusnak), the Metropolitan of Kharkiv and Bohodukhiv.

Kushnarev was buried at the Kharkiv City Cemetery No. 2 on Pushkinska Street. He was married and had two children, a son, and a daughter, as well as two grandchildren. He received several awards, including the Order of Yaroslav the Wise (V, IV, III class), the Church Order of St. Volodymyr (II and I class), the Order of the Chronicler Nestor (I class), and the French Legion of Honor. He held a Ph.D. in Economics and was an academician of the Academy of Municipal Management.