Rouslan Borysovych Bodelan (, ; born 4 April 1942) is a Ukrainian politician.

Biography

Soviet times

Rouslan Bodelan started his career in 1959 as a sports coach/teacher in a secondary school. In 1961, he began his work at the "Odessilbud" construction company (within its Construction and Field Assembly Department #14) in Balta. Since 1964, Bodelan is active in politics, being member and functionary in

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

and other Soviet organizations. In 1965, he became a First Secretary (Head) of

Kiliia Raion Kiliia Raion () was a raion (district) in Odesa Oblast of Ukraine. It was part of the historical region of Bessarabia. Its administrative center was the city of Kiliia. The small sector of the Danube Delta that lies in Ukraine lied partially in th ...

Organization. His top position in CPSU was the First Secretary of

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

Regional Committee, which he occupied in April 1990.

Career in independent Ukraine

On 3 April 1990, Bodelan was elected member of the

Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast (), also referred to as Odeshchyna (Одещина), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administrative centre is the city of Ode ...

''Soviet'' (council). He was later elected a chairman of this council and was occupying this position up to April 1998. Simultaneously, Bodelan was a head of

State Administration (i.e. governor) in July 1995 – May 1998, member of the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

(parliament) of Ukraine in 1994–1998, a member of Maritime Policy Commission under

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

in 1995–1998, head of the Commonwealth of

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

States' Executive Group in 1996–1997. In August 1998 Bodelan was elected a mayor of

city. He was re-elected as mayor in 2002, but election results were challenged in courts. In 2005 an Odesa court ruled the elections void and proclaimed Eduard Gurvits a legal Mayor of Odesa. While mayor Bodelan allegedly took active part in a wide-range

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

in favor of pro-government candidates during the 2004 presidential election. After the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution () was a series of protests that led to political upheaval in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005. It gained momentum primarily due to the initiative of the general population, sparked by the aftermath of the ...

he fled to Russia. An investigation of his mayoral activities was opened soon after, Bodelan was charged with abuse of office.

Immigration and return

Bodelan is currently wanted under an

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

search warrant,Odesa prosecutor's office not confirming closure of criminal case against ex-mayor Bodelan

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is Ukraine’s first and most prominent English-language newspaper. It was founded in 1995 in Kyiv by American businessman Jed Sunden. In 2018, the publication was acquired by prominent Ukrainian businessman Adnan Kivan, foun ...

(20 April 2010) but Russian authorities refuse to extradite him. He was granted Russian citizenship in 2006 (which automatically revokes his Ukrainian citizenship) and a position of deputy director of the

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Sea Port. Bodelan refused to return to Ukraine voluntarily, claiming he is afraid of political prosecution by supporters of former

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriiovych Yushchenko (, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. He aimed to orient Ukraine towards Western world, the West, European Union, and N ...

. On 9 April 2010 the ex-mayor returned to Odesa.

Awards

Rouslan Bodelan was awarded with a number of Soviet and Ukrainian decorations and medals, including

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

, "Decoration of Honour" Order, Order of Merits III grade, order of St. Volodymyr II grade.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bodelan, Rouslan 1942 births Living people People from Podilsk Raion Members of the Central Committee of the 28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) politicians Politicians from the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic First convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Second convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Mayors of Odesa Governors of Odesa Oblast Heads of government who were later imprisoned Ukrainian emigrants to Russia