Чорні Троянди: Помер Геннадій Кернес, господар Харкова на інвалідному кріслі // /// Died Gennady Kernes, the owner of Kharkiv in a wheelchair

Died Gennady Kernes, the owner of Kharkov in a wheelchair

By

 

brcf-ua.blogspot.com

11 min

View Original

Kharkiv Mayor Gennady Kernes died of complications after contracting coronavirus. Kernes led the second largest city in Ukraine for 10 years. Widely known for the controversial video, he remained one of the most popular politicians in Ukraine.

This was announced by businessman Pavel Fuks on his telegram channel. “Tonight the huge good heart of my best friend Gennady Kernes stopped,” he wrote. “The consequences of coronavirus infection have given serious complications to the functioning of vital organs and systems of his body.”

Press secretary of the Kharkiv City Council Yuriy Sidorenko also told journalists about the death of the politician.

The Kharkiv mayor has not appeared in public since August. In mid-September, he was diagnosed with a coronavirus infection and then hospitalized at the Berlin Charite clinic.

Who is Kernes

Kernes led the second largest city in Ukraine for 10 years. Known far beyond the borders of his country - primarily thanks to a viral video leaked to the network - he remained one of the most popular mayors of the country.

In October this year, Kernes won the mayoral election while physically in a German hospital throughout the campaign.

The mayor of the university center, the "first capital" of Ukraine, was often reproached with a criminal past and manners reminiscent of the "dashing 90s". For a long time he was considered a bright pro-Russian politician and was suspected of organizing "titushki" during the Euromaidan, but at some point he turned into a guarantor of the "Ukrainianness" of Kharkov and a supporter of President Petro Poroshenko.

Investigative journalists talked about the inefficiency and corruption of his city management, but he remained an indisputable authority for the majority of Kharkiv citizens, who never had a single worthy rival.

"I was a popular person"

Gennady Kernes was born in 1959 in Kharkov. After leaving school, according to the official biography, "he worked for more than ten years at the state enterprises of the city." Kernes worked as a locksmith, milk pourer and even a watchmaker, local media reported.

In different sources, you can read different versions of how exactly the future Kharkiv mayor violated the law: either he was engaged in speculation, or "cooked jeans" in underground "workshops", or he was engaged in fooling, or was swindled by fraud, or resold stolen goods. One way or another, in the early 90s Kernes spent two years in jail.

"Then in this way they formed a common opinion among popular people in the city, and I was a popular person, so I ended up in places that were not so distant," Kernes told about this page of his biography in an interview with Gordon.

“I was imprisoned under the Soviet Union, and I got out in another country, in different realities. I went to jail when a taxi cost 5 rubles. When I got out two years later, I took a taxi for 25 karbovanets [Ukrainian name of the Soviet currency] ", - Kernes described the metamorphoses that have occurred with the country during his absence.

In 2010, ex-Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko called him "a criminal authority named Gepa. Kernes's connections with criminals explained several attempts on his life. Kernes himself did not say much about that period of his life and said that he had learned valuable lessons from his stay. behind bars.

Immediately after his release, Kernes plunged into business: he founded and headed several trade and manufacturing enterprises, which later became the basis of his business empire. Observers rated his business style as tough and unceremonious.

According to Kernes' declarations, he was a dollar millionaire. At the same time, he did not have his own home - the Kharkiv mayor lived in one of the rooms of the National Hotel belonging to him in the city center. Kernes told reporters that he transfers his salary to the mayor of Kharkov to orphanages and hospitals.

One of the factors contributing to Kernes's business success, the media called his marriage to Oksana Gaisinskaya, the daughter of the former Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine. However, in a recent interview, Kernes said that Gaisinskaya had never been his official wife.

"You have a boring face"

Kernes came to politics in 1998 - he became a deputy of the Kharkov City Council. In 2002, he even became the secretary of the City Council, but stayed in this chair for only a month - he quickly entered into a confrontation with the then mayor Vladimir Shumilkin, and he initiated his resignation.

In 2004, the deputy of the city council Kernes could be seen on the stage of the Kharkiv Maidan with an orange scarf. But his romance with the "Yushchenkoites" did not last long, and one of the leaders of the Kharkiv Maidan, local businessman Arsen Avakov, who later made a dizzying political career, became one of Kernes's most principled political opponents.

In the 2006 local elections, Kernes actually headed the election headquarters of the candidate for mayor of Kharkiv from the Party of Regions, Mikhail Dobkin. It was then that a video was leaked to the network in which Kernes "directed" the election video of the hapless candidate with colorful remarks like: "Misha, we are rewriting everything, you have a boring face, no one will give you money." And he swore.

"I [this video] know by heart," Kernes later admitted. And with irony he answered critics of his manner of communicating with the future mayor of Kharkov: "So you make the same video!"

Photo caption, Tandem of Kharkiv politicians Mikhail Dobkin

The BBC's interlocutors, close to the Kharkiv city authorities, later assured that in fact, in terms of image, the video played in favor of Kernes: if before it appeared, someone had doubts about who was playing the leading role in the tandem of Kernes and Dobkin , then after publication they scattered.

On the other hand, after the newly elected President Viktor Yanukovych appointed Dobkin as governor of the Kharkiv region, it was rumored that a tense discussion took place within the ruling Party of Regions: is it worth nominating Kernes in the election of the mayor of the university center, the swearing man and the defendant in the shocking video.

However, Kernes nevertheless became a candidate from the ruling party and literally gnawed a victory in the mayoral elections from the single opposition candidate Arsen Avakov. The losing candidate accused Kernes of manipulating the votes of voters, but could not defend his case in the courts and was soon forced to leave the country for a year and a half.

"Bacillus of Maidan"

At first, he sharply criticized Euromaidan activists, spoke at rallies of opponents of European integration in his city and even promised to mobilize Kharkiv opponents of Euromaidan, bring them to Kiev and personally stand with them against "some aliens who will hang out portraits of Stepan Bandera here."

"There is garbage on the Maidan that is infected with the bacillus of the Maidan and prevents us from creating and building. But our patience is not unlimited. We support Viktor Yanukovych and so far we are tolerating," Kernes said at the time.

Kernes was accused of financing the "titushki" who hunted "Euromaidanists" not only in Kharkov, but also in Kiev. Kernes denied these charges.

It is believed that it was here that at the congress of deputies from the southeastern regions of all levels on February 22, 2014, Yanukovych had to call on his supporters to reject the new government and take active action against it.

But at the last moment, Yanukovych did not dare to go on the stage of the congress and went to Donetsk. And Kernes and Dobkin went by car to the Russian Belgorod.

From there, Dobkin claims, Kernes flew to Geneva, where he met with the oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. Kernes himself did not give details about that meeting, but Kolomoisky himself later told about its content in an interview to the "Gordon" publication.

“It was not pressure, but simply, let's say, an exchange of views ... First of all, [Kernes] had to be reassured, explained to him that nothing would happen. You are the mayor elected by the people, live for yourself. Did you take the oath as a state official? Follow the oath , serve Ukraine, and I think everything will be all right, "said Kolomoisky.

From Geneva, Kernes returned as if a different person, recollect the journalists who worked in Kharkov at that time.

"ХНР" and a wheelchair

In the spring of 2014, Kharkov was reeling. As in neighboring Donetsk and Lugansk, large-scale rallies of supporters of rapprochement with Russia took place here. On March 1, the "anti-Maidanites" stormed the regional state administration building and raised the Russian tricolor over it. In early April, just like in the regional centers of Donbass, the creation of a "people's republic" was proclaimed here. However, the "KhNR" did not last long: the building of the regional state administration, in which the initiators of the "republic" were barricaded, were stormed by the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The key role in the Kharkiv events then was played by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Avakov, however, observers are convinced that an important factor in the death of "KhNR" was Kernes' non-interference in the situation: after the Geneva meeting with Kolomoisky, he took a soft "pro-Kiev" position and, unexpectedly for many "anti-Maidanists" their support.

After the defeat of the KhNR, the situation in the city seemed to stabilize. But, as it turned out, this impression was deceiving.

On April 28, 2014, an attempt was made on Kernes while jogging. A bullet, fired by an unidentified sniper, damaged four vertebrae, pierced the lung and stomach twice, broke a rib and injured the adrenal gland of the Kharkiv mayor.

He regained consciousness only six days later in an Israeli clinic, where he was hastily evacuated. Since then, Kernes has been confined to a wheelchair.

"I do not feel any helplessness. I have overcome the psychological barrier a long time ago. And I did not let up snot and tears that I am in such a state. The main thing is that I remained alive, that I can communicate with people," Kernes described his state of health soon after returning to Kharkov in an interview with BBC.

Kernes himself said that the investigation into the assassination attempt on him was not progressing in any way, but he repeatedly called him the customer of one of the most influential people in Ukraine, his long-time acquaintance from Kharkiv, Minister of Internal Affairs Avakov.

Avakov denied these accusations, and a politician close to him, Anton Gerashchenko, stated that the organizer of the assassination attempt was the leader of the Kharkiv pro-Russian organization Oplot Yevgeny Zhilin, who later emigrated to Russia and died in a shootout in the Moscow region in 2016.

Former associate of Kernes Dobkin said that the attempt on the mayor's life was allegedly connected with the redistribution of spheres of influence by representatives of the criminal world who moved to Kharkov after the outbreak of hostilities in the Donbass.

"Acted in the interests of Kharkov"

In 2015, Kernes won the mayoral election of Kharkiv for the second time, running for the Renaissance party, which was associated with Kolomoisky. Kernes was the uncontested favorite of that campaign and won about 65% of the votes in the first round of elections.

These elections became one of the reasons for the discord in the tandem of Kernes with Dobkin. The latter expected that the popular Kharkiv mayor would become one of the faces of the pro-Russian "Opposition Bloc". Kernes, on the topic of relations with an old colleague, said: "My interests and those of Mikhail Dobkin diverged when he forgot what Kharkov is."

Since Kernes was considered one of the most controversial representatives of the "old government" on the ground, the initiation of a criminal case against him on suspicion of kidnapping and torturing the "Euromaidanists" did not look unexpected. Kernes called this case far-fetched, but regularly went to court hearings in Poltava.

However, litigation did not prevent Kernes from building quite constructive relations with Petro Poroshenko.

Before the presidential elections in 2019, the Kharkiv mayor openly supported the then head of state, calling him a man who is in his place and praising the decentralization policy he had initiated.

However, this support did not help Poroshenko - Vladimir Zelensky won the elections in Kharkiv. And Kernes immediately renounced the alliance with the former head of state, saying: “150 criminal cases have been brought against us, and if I had spoken otherwise then, I would have significantly worsened the city’s situation. And we needed guarantees for infrastructure projects, for a loan from the World Bank , EBRD. I acted in the interests of Kharkov ".

"Multiply by zero"

But it seems that this did not save Kernes from Zelensky's resentment. The fact that there is no love between these politicians was evidenced by the fact that the new president did not even invite the mayor to present the Kharkiv governor Alexei Kucher. In response, in March this year, Kernes organized his own headquarters to fight the coronavirus and at its very first meeting criticized the absent governor, calling him a moth.

It was Zelensky's backed 35-year-old Kucher who seemed to be able to impose a fight on Kernes in the local elections this October. The young governor was active on social networks, calling himself "Kernes's successor" on billboards, and even recording an election advertisement using footage from the famous 2006 clip of Kernes and Dobkin.

But it didn't work out. Kernes won the first round, gaining about 60% of the votes cast at the polling stations.

The secrets of Kernes' popularity in the city are simple. During the years of his mayorship, Kharkov has become noticeably prettier. Visitors from other cities, primarily from Kiev, pay attention to the cleanliness and illumination of its central streets, fountains and parks have become symbols of Kharkov. Kernes emphasized that he personally took part in the meetings of the town planning council, at which the buildings in the historical center of the city were considered.

It is worth remembering that during the years of his leadership of the city, Kernes created an absolutely loyal media space in Kharkov. The authoritarian style of his management also found its admirers: the phrase "Bitch dog, I will multiply you by zero" became a local meme, which the mayor used to "educate" the head of Kharkivgorlift at a meeting of the Emergency Situations Commission open to the press.

Kharkiv residents were condescending to the city authorities' shortcomings, such as the poor state of communal infrastructure and medicine, the excessive debt burden of the city or accusations of corruption: where, they say, there are no problems now.

The consequences of injury

And yet, there was one extraordinary circumstance in the quite predictable victory of Gennady Kernes in the mayoral elections in Kharkov. He did not participate in his own election campaign - moreover, he last appeared in public two months before election day, at the end of August this year.

In mid-September, it became known that Kernes was sick with coronavirus and was in serious condition, and on the night of September 17 he was taken from Kharkov in a special "covid capsule" for treatment to the Berlin clinic "Charite".

Sources surrounded by the mayor then told the BBC that the cause of the emergency hospitalization was not so much the coronavirus itself, as the complications caused by it from the injury received by Kernes in 2014.

Since then, reliable data on his state of health have not appeared for a long time, and representatives of the city council, based on anonymous sources, have several times more or less promptly rejected information about a heart attack, stroke and even death of the Kharkiv mayor.

At the end of September, Kernes was nominated as mayor by his party "Kernes's Block - Successful Kharkiv": Ukrainian legislation does not require the personal presence of a candidate for his registration.

The mayor's authority in the city was so high that neither his physical absence from the city (he was compensated by a large-scale advertising campaign on the streets of Kharkov), nor the lack of understanding by voters whether he would be able to govern the city after returning from Berlin, did not prevent him from winning in the first round of elections.

Despite statements by Kernes's associates that nothing threatened his life and performance, he still did not return. Without Kernes, the newly elected city council began to work: the local electoral commission made a dubious decision from the point of view of the law that Kernes may not take the oath of the mayor, since he had already taken it in 2010.

"Don't compare me to anyone else"

"Do not compare me to anyone, because my mother will be offended by you," Kernes snapped in an interview in response to an attempt to put his philosophy of life and management style in some kind of framework.

The next mayor of Kharkiv will certainly position himself as the successor to the work of his popular predecessor, but he will definitely not succeed in becoming the second Kernes.

Kernes did not raise a successor at the mayor's post. The 53-year-old Igor Terekhov, who was recently elected secretary of the city council, should act as the mayor until the election of a new mayor. For the past ten years, he has worked as deputy and first deputy of Kernes, but he does not have the skills of a public politician necessary to win elections.

Photo caption, Gennady Kernes won the mayoral elections of Kharkiv three times

It is not excluded that the "silver medalist" of the October elections, a prominent businessman and deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from the pro-Russian party "Opposition Platform - For Life" Alexander Feldman, will try to realize mayoral ambitions in the new elections.

The local press wrote about the possible nomination of the head of the Kharkiv regional state administration under the presidency of Poroshenko, Yulia Svetlichnaya, as mayor, but she preferred to hold a bloc of her own name in the regional council.

But the ruling party does not seem to have a ready candidate for mayor of Kharkov. The third place and 7% of the votes cast for the governor Aleksey Kucher, apparently, was considered a failure in Kiev: at the end of November, the president appointed Aina Tymchuk as the new head of the Kharkiv regional administration, in 2010-2014. worked as a deputy of Kernes in the city council.

Most likely, Zelensky and his "Servant of the People" will play the role of extras in the new Kharkov elections.