Yriy Kostenko Ukrainian politician, candidate for the post of President of Ukraine Date of Birth: 12.06.1951 Country: Ukraine

1. Biography of Yuriy Kostenko
2. Early Life and Education
3. Political Career
4. Formation of Ukrainian National Party
5. Presidential Candidacy and Political Alliances
6. Later Political Activities
7. Mountaineering and Other Achievements

Biography of Yuriy Kostenko

Yuriy Kostenko is a Ukrainian politician who has held various positions in the government and political parties. He was born on June 12, 1951, in the village of Novaya Obodovka, Vinnytsia Oblast, USSR.

Early Life and Education

In 1973, Kostenko graduated from the Zaporozhye Machine-Building Institute and started working as an engineer at the Kyiv Institute of Electric Welding named after Yevgeny Paton. He later advanced to become a senior engineer and joined the institute's doctoral program in 1982, obtaining a Candidate of Technical Sciences degree in 1986.

Political Career

Kostenko joined the People's Movement of Ukraine (PMU) in 1989 and quickly rose through the party ranks. In March 1990, he was elected as a member of the Ukrainian parliament, representing the Krasnoarmiysky district. He became the head of the PMU's Kiev regional organization in 1991.

In October 1992, Kostenko was appointed as the Minister of Environmental Protection of Ukraine, leading to his departure from the PMU. He served in this position until May 1998. During his tenure, Kostenko was also a member of the Security Service of Ukraine's council and other state security bodies.

Formation of Ukrainian National Party

In 1994, Kostenko was re-elected as a member of the Ukrainian parliament, representing the PMU once again. However, he soon became the initiator of a split within the party. In 1999, he organized a congress and declared himself the head of the newly formed party, which he initially continued to call the People's Movement of Ukraine. Later, due to the Central Election Commission's ban on his candidacy as a representative of the PMU, Kostenko had to adopt a new name for his party.

Presidential Candidacy and Political Alliances

Kostenko ran for president as an independent candidate in the 1999 elections and secured the sixth place out of thirteen candidates, receiving 570,623 votes (2.17%). This marked a significant victory for him as he surpassed the PMU candidate, Hennadiy Udovenko.

In 2002, Kostenko's Ukrainian National Party joined the electoral bloc "Our Ukraine" led by Viktor Yushchenko. As part of the bloc, he participated in the parliamentary elections in March 2002, ranking fourth on the party's list.

Later Political Activities

From 2002 to 2006, Kostenko served as a member of the permanent delegation of Ukraine to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In March 2005, he broke ties with "Our Ukraine" and established his own electoral bloc called the "Ukrainian National Bloc Kostenko and Plyushcha." However, the bloc did not succeed in the parliamentary elections in March 2006, and Kostenko did not enter the parliament.

In September 2007, Kostenko participated in the parliamentary elections as part of the "Our Ukraine – People's Self-Defense" bloc and was once again elected as a member of the Ukrainian parliament.

Mountaineering and Other Achievements

Apart from his political career, Kostenko is also an accomplished mountaineer. In 1987, he won first place in the Ukrainian Mountaineering Championship. In 1988, he successfully climbed Mount Lenin, the second highest peak in the Pamir Mountains. Additionally, a route of the highest difficulty category on the Ak-Su peak in the Pamir-Alai range was named after Kostenko in the same year. He also participated in rescue operations during the 1988 earthquake in Spitak, Armenia.

Overall, Yuriy Kostenko's biography reflects his significant contributions to Ukrainian politics, his achievements in mountaineering, and his involvement in various government positions and political parties throughout his career.