Yuriy Kostenko

Yuriy Kostenko (Ukrainian: Юрій Іванович Костенко; born 6 December 1951[1] in Nova Obodivka, Vinnytsia Oblast) is a Ukrainian politician and leader of the Ukrainian People's Party.[2]

For other uses, see Kostenko.

Yuriy Kostenko Юрій Іванович Костенко
December 2009
2nd Minister of Natural Environment Protection
In office 13 October 1992 – May 1998
Prime Minister	Leonid Kuchma Vitaliy Masol Yevhen Marchuk Pavlo Lazarenko Valeriy Pustovoitenko
Preceded by	Yuriy Shcherbak
Succeeded by	Vasyl Shevchuk
Personal details
Born	(1951-06-12) 12 June 1951
Nationality	Ukrainian
Other political affiliations	People's Movement of Ukraine (1989–1999)
Alma mater	Zaporizhzhya Machine-building Institute

Biography

Kostenko holds a Ph.D from the Zaporizhia Institute of Machine-building. In 1989, he became one of the founders of Rukh and has been a Member of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) since 1990 (except in 2006).[3][4] In 2002 as a member of Our Ukraine.[5] From 1992 to 1998 he served as the minister of environmental protection.[3] Kostenko was a candidate at the 1999 Ukrainian presidential election where he received 2.17% of votes.[2] Kostenko was involved in Ukraine’s nuclear disarmament, which he later regretted, and in dealing with the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster.[6]

Before the parliamentary elections in 2006 Kostenko initiated the creation of a coalition known as Ukrainian National Bloc of Kostenko and Plyushch who has acquired 1.9% of the vote and did not exceed the 3% threshold of the election.

In July 2007 Kostenko and Ivan Plyushch joined together the block Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc and both got re-elected as MP. Unlike many allies of Yushchenko, Kostenko did not defected from the Our Ukraine grouping in parliament.[6]

Kostenko was a candidate in the 2010 presidential election, his party program included recognizing Ukrainian Insurgent Army veterans,[6] during the election he received 0,22% of the votes.[7]

Kostenko's Ukrainian People's Party competed on one single party under "umbrella" party Our Ukraine in the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, together with Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists; this list won 1.11% of the national votes and no constituencies and thus failed to win parliamentary representation.[8][9] Kostenko was second the election list of Our Ukraine.[10] He did not participate in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[11]

References

1. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=22514
2. Ukrainian People’s Party nominates its leader Kostenko for president Archived October 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Interfax-Ukraine (24 October 2009)
3. https://www.loc.gov/bicentennial/bios/democracy/bios_kostenko.html
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-03-17. Retrieved June 11, 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/site/dep_eng/Kostenko_Y.HTM%5B%5D
6. Kostenko will pick up votes in west, but not in other regions, Kyiv Post (14 January 2010)
7. (in Ukrainian) ЦВК оприлюднила офіційні результати 1-го туру виборів, Gazeta.ua (25 January 2010)
8. (in Ukrainian) Proportional votes Archived October 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine & Constituency seats Archived November 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Central Election Commission of Ukraine
10. (in Ukrainian) "Наша Україна" хоче бути альтернативою усім учасникам виборів "Our Ukraine" wants to be an alternative to all election participants , BBC Ukrainian (31 July 2012)
11. (in Ukrainian) Alphabetical Index of candidates in 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Central Election Commission (Ukraine).

External links

• Official website of the Ukrainian People's Party

Political offices
Preceded by	Leader of Ukrainian People's Party 1999–2013	Succeeded by Oleksandr Klymenko