Shufrich, Nestor Ivanovich

Origin and childhood.

Nestor Ivanovich Shufrich was born on December 29, 1966 in Uzhgorod ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]} , has Serbian , Ukrainian , Hungarian , Russian and Slovak roots ^[11] .

Shufrich's father, Ishtvan Yuliyevich, studied at the Kharkov Pedagogical Institute from 1953 to 1958 at the Department of Physical Education, was a soldier, winner of Ukraine in tennis, director of a sports school, then headed the Transcarpathian society Dynamo ^{[6] [11] [12] [13] [14]} (according to separate sources, was the vice-chairman ^[15] ), and later became the honorary consul of Slovakia in Uzhgorod ^{[5] [8] [15] [16]} . Honorary President of the football club "Goverla" . ^{[17] [18]} He lived 43 years with his mother, Nestor, and was her second husband. ^{[18] [19]}

Shufrich's mother, Maria Petrovna (1932 - March 8, 2010), worked for 18 years in the regional branch of the Sportloto lottery ^{[8] [11] [19]} , according to some information, was responsible for the transportation of goods in the transport office ^[15] . She owned an oil well in the Poltava region ^{[20] [21]} Died in 2010 from influenza. ^[19] In 2011, Nestor Shufrich inherited 74.7 million hryvnia ^[22] . From the first marriage of the mother, Nestor Shufrich has a half- brother Alexander. ^[nineteen]

It is also known that one of Shufrich's grandfathers, Julius, was a bank employee in Czechoslovakia and Hungary ( Transcarpathia belonged to Czechoslovakia and Hungary at various times) and insisted on his Ruthenian nationality ^{[23] [24]} . According to Nestor Shufrich himself, in 1945 his grandfather lived in Uzhgorod , headed by agrobank. The owners of the bank, when Soviet power was established, sent him a plane from Switzerland , but his grandfather refused to leave his homeland. Grandfather became the first head of the USSR State Bank branch in Transcarpathia and worked in this position for 4 years, since he refused to join the Communist Party and was against the collective farms. Another was appointed to this post, and the grandfather was offered to become a deputy, but he refused. ^[25]

One of Nestor Shufrich’s grandmothers was a tennis player, a repeated champion of Ukraine, the winner of the open championships of Hungary and Slovakia ^{[14] [26]} .

Shufrich attended school with intensive study of the English language ^[10] . During his studies, he was a commissar of the city ​​headquarters of the pioneers of Uzhgorod and even participated in the VIII meeting of the pioneers in Moscow ^[11] . In addition, Shufrich from childhood engaged in sports - first tennis, and after he had a kidney disease, archery. In 1982, at the age of 15, Shufrich became a master of sports in archery ^{[3] [11] [14] [23] [27]} .

Before joining politics.

After graduating from school in 1984, Shufrich entered the Faculty of History of Uzhgorod State University . After the first year of university, he was drafted into the army ^[10] ; in 1985–87 (according to other sources, in 1986–87 ^[8] ) he served in the Southern Group of Forces in the Hungarian People’s Republic ^{[4] [27]} . Subsequently, rumors were published that since that time Shufrich allegedly also collaborated with the KGB as an unofficial employee ^[28] .

After serving in the army, Shufrich returned to the university to the correspondence department and graduated in 1992 with a diploma of historian and teacher of history ^{[3] [4] [6] [8] [9] [10] [27]} . In parallel with distance education, in 1987–88 he worked as a translator from the Hungarian language in Budapest at an enterprise that was part of the Voentorg system of the USSR Ministry of Defense ^{[8] [11] [29]} , and according to other data, in one of the trade and domestic enterprises of Uzhgorod ^{[4] [5]} . According to some information, in the second half of the 1980s, Shufrich first worked on driving cars from Hungary, and then hired a brigade of his friends to drive cars ^[11] . In 1989, Shufrich worked as an engineer at the Hungarology Scientific Center in Uzhgorod ^[8] , and then became an advisor to the building society “Retro” (according to some sources, held this position until 1990 ^[8] ), in 1989–91 (or 1990–91 ^[8] was the commercial director of the Soviet-Austrian joint venture Tecop-Karpat, where he came with his father ^[15] (according to other sources, Shufrich was the director of the Transcarpathian branch of Tecop thanks to the influence of the father ^{[30] [K. 2]} ). Since 1991, Shufrich worked as a deputy director, and then as a director of a joint Soviet-American, and then Ukrainian-American enterprise West-Contreyd, in 1995–98 he was president of West-Contreyd ^{[3] [4] [5] [8] [11] [27]} . It was reported that the commercial activity of Shufrich was associated with the supply of fuel oil and coal to power plants in Western Ukraine and the export of building materials ^{[11] [15] [29]} .

Political activities

After becoming acquainted with the leader of the Ukrainian Social Democrats, Viktor Medvedchuk , who later in 2002–05 was the head of the presidential administration of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma ^[31] , Shufrich in 1997 (according to separate sources - in 1996 ^{[3] [5] [11]} ) joined the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) ^{[8] [27]} , and in 1998, he became Deputy Secretary of the Transcarpathian Regional Party Committee ^[5] . In March 1998, Shufrich was elected to the Verkhovna Rada from constituency No. 70 in the Transcarpathian region ^{[3] [5] [9] [27]} . He later claimed that after being elected, he transferred all of his commercial assets to his family members ^[5] . In October 1998, Shufrich became a member of the SDPU (o) politburo ^{[3] [4] [5]} . In 1998–2000, he worked in the parliamentary committee on economic policy, national economy management, property and investments, in 2000–02 he was deputy chairman of the budget committee ^{[3] [4]} , and also served on the Verification Commission of the Council ^{[ 5]} . Since May 1999, Shufrich was also a member of the National Council on Youth Policy under the President of Ukraine ^[5] .

In March 2002, Shufrich tried to run for elections to the Rada of the IV convocation in his constituency, but took only third place , receiving 9.2 percent of the vote (interestingly, one of his rivals was the manager of West Contrade Vasiliy Balaj) ^{[32 ]} . Shufrich twice tried to challenge the results ^[32] , and then took part in the elections in the district No. 201 of Cherkasy region (in which rerun elections were held) ^[33] . At the time of the election, he was listed as president of the Cherkasy Meat Company ^{[4] [8]} , but he himself stated that he worked there only as a hired manager ^[11] . In July 2002, Shufrich was elected a people's deputy, gaining 29.8% of the votes and beating the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, Natalia Vitrenko , who took second place in this district ^[34] .

In the Verkhovna Rada of the new composition, Shufrich became a member of the budget committee ^{[3] [4]} . In 2003, he also became deputy chairman of SDPU (o) ^[3] Medvedchuk ^[31] ). In November 2003, Shufrich was discussed as a probable candidate for the post of deputy speaker of the Rada ^[16] . In 2004, he defended a dissertation at the Institute of Agrarian Economics of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences “Development and Transformation of Agrarian Production in Hungary” and received a PhD in economics ^{[4] [5] [8] [27]} .

In 2004, during a standoff between opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko and acting Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the Orange Revolution , Shufrich supported the latter and became a tough opponent of Yushchenko, stating that he would face reprisals if the latter came to power ^{[ 13]} . In October 2004, an episode became known when Shufrich (the day before he had shot down an opposition rally participant in a car and justified it by the demonstrators walking along the roadway ^[35] ) in the CEC tried to resist burst opposition members who demanded participation in the meeting on the opening of polling stations in Russia ^{[3] [11] [36]} . On December 13, 2004, right before the third round of the presidential election, which brought Yushchenko victory, Shufrich became the authorized representative of Yanukovich in the Verkhovna Rada ^[5] (according to other sources - in the Supreme Court ^[11] or the Central Election Commission ^[9] ). When after that, on January 23, 2005, Shufrich appeared at Yushchenko’s “people's inauguration” on Independence Square in Kiev in order to support the supporters of Yanukovich’s supporters who had installed the tents there, he was attacked by one of the supporters of the new president and suffered a concussion ^{[6] [37]} ( subsequently, the politician forgave the assailant and asked to close the criminal case instituted on this matter ^[38] ).

In April 2005, Shufrich became the first deputy chairman of the SDPU (o) ^[3] . In the same year, he acted as an active defender of the former heads of Donetsk and Transcarpathian regions, Boris Kolesnikov and Ivan Rizak, who were under investigation by Yanukovich’s supporters ^[11] . In May 2005, after trying to protect the latter at the time of his transfer from the cardiology center to the SIZO, Shufrich was beaten by law enforcement officers ^{[39] [40]} . In the same period, 18 criminal cases were opened on Shufrich himself: in particular, he was charged with illegal obtaining land plots near Kiev and in Transcarpathia, illegal use of oil and gas fields ^{[5] [6] [11]} . However, Shufrich was not convicted in any of these cases ^[6] .

In April 2006, Shufrich tried to be elected to the Rada of the V convocation according to the list (No. 4 in the list) of the opposition bloc “ Not so! ”Headed by the former President of Ukraine and a member of the SDPU (o), Leonid Kravchuk ^{[3] [41]} , but the bloc did not score a passing ball ^{[6] [41]} . In addition to the Rada, Shufrich tried to become a deputy of the Donetsk City Council, Odessa Regional Council and the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , although he was elected only in the last ^{[4] [6] [9] [27]} where he ran in the “Not so!” List under the first number ^[42] .

On December 13, 2006, Shufrich occupied the post of Minister for Emergency Situations and for Protecting the Population from the Consequences of the Chernobyl Disaster in the government of Viktor Yanukovych , who had been vacant for three months after the previous Minister Viktor Baloga headed the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine ^{[3] [6] [9]} . The emergence of Shufrich in the government at a post that was traditionally occupied by representatives of the presidential bloc Our Ukraine was described as a response to the veto imposed by President Viktor Yushchenko on the 2007 budget adopted by the Rada ^[5] . At the same time, the deputy head of the Party of Regions faction, Yevgeny Kushnarev, stated that the appointment of Shufrich as PR minister was not a result of inter-party agreements, but was explained by the proximity of Shufrich’s position to the Party of Regions and that the faction gave its personnel quota to the extra-parliamentary party at the request of Prime Minister Yanukovych ^{[43 ]} However, the press noted the activity of Shufrich at the new post, which, however, was associated with a significant number of emergencies that hit Ukraine in 2007 ^{[6] [44]} .

In August 2007, President Yushchenko demanded the resignation of Shufrich ^[6] , and then, in September, signed a decree on the resignation of the minister, but Shufrich and Yanukovych did not obey, citing the fact that this resignation was within the competence of the Rada, and not the president ^{[45] [46] [47]} . In the extraordinary parliamentary elections of September 30, 2007, Shufrich, who had already left SDPU (o) ^{[3] [42]} in August, spoke in the list of the Party of Regions as number five and won a seat in the Rada of the VI convocation ^{[3] [48] [49 ]} . In this regard, on November 21, the authorities of Shufrich as a deputy of Crimea were terminated early ^{[42] [50]} .

In December 2007, the Verkhovna Rada approved the new Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko ^[51], and on December 18, Shufrich left the ministerial post ^[52] . In the same month, Shufrich joined the Party of Regions ^[53] . At the same time, he was in the party the main link with Yulia Tymoshenko’s Bloc , which is why he was called the chief “communicator of the regionals” with the government ^[54] . At the same time, Shufrich became a member of several scandals. In particular, on February 15, 2008, he tried to prevent the transfer from the clinic back to the pre-trial detention center of Nikolai Rudkovsky , the former transport minister under investigation, with whom Shufrich, according to some sources, owned an oil well in the Poltava region ^[55] . During the incident, Shufrich injured his leg ^[3] . At the same time, in November 2008, Shufrich’s name reappeared in the press when Rudkovsky accused him of assault on the dispute over the political fate of Tymoshenko ^{[56] [57] [58]} , and Shufrich denounced the fact of assault on ^[59] .

After the victory of Viktor Yanukovych in the second round of the presidential election in February 2010 and the formation of a new parliamentary coalition, on March 11, 2010, Shufrich was again appointed Minister for Emergency Situations in the government of Mykola Azarov ^{[60] [61]} . However, already on July 9, Azarov appealed to the Ukrainian parliament with a request for the resignation of Shufrich from a ministerial post ^[62] in connection with his transfer to another job ^[63] , which was officially adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on July 10, 2010 ^[64] . As the reasons for the resignation, Shufrich cited the conflict with the head of the presidential administration, Sergey Levochkin, and the need to “release a few seats” in connection with the inclusion of the group of Viktor Baloga in the coalition. ^[65]

On July 9, 2010, Yanukovych signed a decree appointing Shufrich deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine ^{[65] [66] [67]} . November 22, 2012 was dismissed from office due to the election of the people's deputy of Ukraine ^[68] . As noted in the media, since his appointment to the National Security and Defense Council, Shufrich was not particularly interested in work, either on vacation or on sick leave ^[69] .

In 2011, he declared 78 million 794 thousand hryvnia revenues, of which 74.7 million hryvnias constituted an inheritance ^[70] .

He was elected as a people's deputy of Ukraine in the 2012 parliamentary elections from the “Party of Regions” (No. 27 in the list).

In the course of the armed conflict in the east of Ukraine, together with Viktor Medvedchuk, he organized meetings between the LPR , DPR and Ukraine, the OSCE, Russia ^[71] .

At the end of September 2014, he became No. 7 in the list of candidates for people's deputies of Ukraine in the early parliamentary elections from the party Opposition Bloc . In this case, candidates from the party can only be its members, or non-partisan. The reason for leaving the Party of Regions was the decision of its leadership not to participate in the elections ^[72] .

In November 2017, he joined the For Life party, founded by former Oppoblock member Vadim Rabinovich ^[73]

Beating in Odessa

On September 30, 2014, Nestor Shufrich, together with the deputy of the Odessa Regional Council, Nikolai Skorik, planned to hold a press conference in Odessa. However, about a hundred activists of the “ Right Sector ” and the local Euromaidan were already waiting for them outside the building along with the dragged trash container, with the goal of pushing the deputy there to hold him “trash lustration” (in Ukraine, a number of former members of the “Party of Regions” or suspected of collaborating with her ^{[74] [75]} ).

But Shufrich did not come there, having decided to make a statement in the building of the Odessa Regional State Administration (OOGA), while its head, Igor Palitsa, did not invite a deputy to the Verkhovna Rada. Inside the building, deputies were overtaken by activists, after which a scuffle ensued, during which Shufrich received a closed head injury and brain concussion ^{[76] [77]} .

According to Borislav Bereza, head of the Information Department of the Right Sector, Nestor Shufrich himself started a confrontation and provoked aggression, thereby "playing out" the same scenario that his former party member Oleg Tsarev had previously done during the presidential election ^[78] . The "Opposition bloc" demanded the immediate resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Chairman of the Odessa Regional State Administration, the investigation into the facts of the organization of mass riots throughout the country and the punishment of those responsible. Shufrich himself threatened to clear Odessa from representatives of the Right Sector ^[79] .

The investigating police began criminal proceedings on the grounds of Part 2 of Art. 296 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (hooliganism committed by a group of individuals); the investigation was taken under personal control by the head of the Odessa police Ivan Katerinchuk and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov ^[80] . President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko instructed the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine and the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine to thoroughly investigate the incident and find out the instigators of the conflict, and urged politicians “not to participate in scenarios that work to destabilize the situation in Ukraine” ^[81] .

On October 3, Zoryan Shkiryak , an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, said that the ministry had identified 14 possible participants in the beating and was carrying out measures to find them ^[82] .

Shufrich is fluent in Russian, English, Hungarian and Slovak ^[27] . In 2006, Shufrich resumed his archery classes ^[14] . In May 2008, he became a master of sports - the owner of the black belt of the third given in pankration ^{[7] [83] [84]} . According to some reports, he is also the owner of the green belt in karate ^[6] , although the politician himself claimed that he had never been involved in fighting sports ^[83] before 2008. Among the hobby Shufrich also mentioned hunting ^{[8] [11]} and horseback riding ^[6] . In 2002, he was awarded the Ukrainian Order of Merit, III degree ^{[3] [4] [8]} . Shufrich likes to compare himself with a samurai ^{[4] [26]} . The Abstainer ^[85] .

During his political career he was a member of a number of fights with his political opponents ^{[86] [87]} :

• In 2004, he was involved in a fight with the proxies of the candidate for the presidency of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko , among whom was entrepreneur Petro Poroshenko .
• In 2008, the ex-Minister of Transport Nikolai Rudkovsky hit his face several times in his office, as a result, the owner’s lip was broken. All this was due to personal offenses, Rudkovsky then filed an application to the Pechersk police department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but later took him.
• In July 2009, after a meeting of the Party of Regions faction, Nestor Shufrich punched in the face of the deputy chairman of the faction Sergei Levochkin . This happened because Levochkin did not inform him about the postponement of the visit of the party leader Viktor Yanukovych to the Crimea, because of the absence of which Shufrich was criticized by Yanukovych ^[88] . The participants in the incident differed in his assessment: Shufrich insisted on the format of "private conversation," Levochkin called the attack "mean-spirited ^[89] ."
• In the same year, Nestor Shufrich during the Shuster Live program got into a fight with the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko , who wrote a statement to him and left the program.
• On February 21, 2014, in the session hall, happy because of the verbal sparring, he received a blow to the lip from Nikolai Palamarchuk, a member of the UDAR party ^[90] .
• On December 20, 2018, he fought with the deputies of the Popular Front , Yuriy Bereza, after tearing down a poster hanging on the podium with an appeal to bring Victor Medvedchuk to trial ^[91] .

Shufrich divorced, was married twice ^{[3] [5]} . The first wife Irina Yaroshovets was the daughter of the secretary of the Transcarpathian Regional Party Committee and worked as an education historian ^{[16] [19]} , the second was the daughter of a retired lieutenant colonel winner of several beauty contests Natalia Vorona-Shufrich ^{[3] [6] [7] [11]} . Nestor Shufrich lived with her for 7 years ^{[16] [19]} . The story was published in the press about how in 1998 he beat his second wife, although Shufrich himself denied this information ^{[3] [6] [7]} .

Shufrich has children ^{[5] [6] [8] [11] [27]} :

• Alexander (born in 1988, from first marriage) - Vice President of the football club Hoverla .
• Nestor (born in 1995, from second marriage) - graduated from gymnasium, studied 2 years in Switzerland , enjoys music, from the age of 13 he writes songs, poems (reads rap), paints; student KINH ^{[16] [92] [93]} .
• A daughter was born in December 2016, the name of the mother was not publicly named ^[94] .

There were also statements in the media about personal relationships between Shufrich and Yulia Tymoshenko ^{[5] [7] [11] [95] [96] [97] [98]} that Shufrich also denied ^[99] .

• Order of Merit , II degree (2004)
• Order of Merit, III degree (2002)

• Dossier on Nestor Shufrich - LІGA. Dossier
• Zhittisp on the parties of the Party of Regions (ukr.)
• [one]
•   Telephone conversation between Shufrich and Tymoshenko, March 18, 2014
•   Nestor Shufrich and Nikolai Skorik beat in the Odessa Regional State Administration
• Sonya Koshkina . Nestor Shufrich: “We are all to blame ...” // “LB.ua”, 05.12.2014