Boryslav Yukhymovych Bereza (; born 13 June 1974) is a former member of the

Ukrainian parliament The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...

and a former spokesperson for

Right Sector Right Sector () is a loosely defined coalition of right-wing to far-right Ukrainian nationalist organizations. It originated in November 2013 as a right-wing, paramilitary confederation of several ultranationalist organizations at the Euroma ...

(2014). In the

2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, the elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved parli ...

he lost reelection as an independent candidate in a single-seat constituency.

Biography

Bereza was born on 13 June 1974 in Kyiv. He claims he is a graduate of the

Kyiv National Economic University The Kyiv National Economic University is a self-governing public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university was founded in 1906 as Higher commercial courses. It was ranked #3 by the Ukrainian national ranking of the universities conducted by ...

, but the university claims that this is not the case.Battle for Kyiv. Life, career, promises of Klitschko, Vereshchuk, Palchevsky and others

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' is a Ukrainian socio-political online media outlet founded by Heorhii Gongadze in April 2000. After Gongadze’s death in September 2000, the editorial team was led by co-founder Olena Prytula, who remained the editor-in ...

(15 September 2020) In 1991, after the

fall of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of Nationalities, Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. :s: ...

, he moved to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, where he lived until 1993. He identifies himself as a Jew and a Cohen but not an ethnic Ukrainian. Upon his return to Ukraine, Bereza was a Russian book dealer and publisher and eventually created his own small literary society. At the same time he also worked as a television host for the First National Channel as well as a radio host at the Prosto Radio (''Simply Radio''). On 2 March 2009, in Troieshchyna, while driving a vehicle, Bereza hit two pedestrians, but escaped responsibility by changing his surname from Bliakher-Bereza to Bereza. This was done despite the fact that the

legislation of Ukraine Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to a ...

does not allow changing the data of those under investigation. From February to December 2014, Bereza served as a spokesperson for the political party

, while not officially being a member of it. He participated in some events of the

Euromaidan Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...

. In the fall of 2014 Bereza participated in the Ukrainian parliamentary election running as an independent candidate and winning at the 213th electoral district in Kyiv's Desnianskyi District with 29.44% of the votes. Runner up in the district gained 22.51% of the votes. After the elections, already as a

People's Deputy of Ukraine A people's deputy of Ukraine (, ) is a member of parliament and legislator elected by Direct election, popular vote to the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament of Ukraine. They are often referred to simply as "deputies". Prior to 1991, the Verkhovna R ...

he announced the creation of an inter-factional parliamentary group titled "Ukrop" (a portmanteau for the Ukrainian opposition). In 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 ...

(Ukrainian parliament) he joined the inter-factional group

UKROP UKROP ( in Russian), short for the Ukrainian Association of Patriots (), was a political party in Ukraine.

. In April 2015, the Ukrainian media reported on the scandal between Bereza and the deputy from the Radical Party Ihor Mosiychuk. In the 2015 local elections Bereza was the candidate for

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

for Party of Decisive Citizens (). He made it through to the second round of Mayoral elections between him and incumbent Mayor

Vitali Klitschko Vitalii Volodymyrovych Klychko (; ; born 19 July 1971), known as Vitali Klitschko, is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer. He serves as mayor of Kyiv,Immortal Regiment" in

(Beryoza was among those who tried to prevent it from being carried out). On 24 January 2019 on the sidelines of the PACE, during a briefing by the Deputy Speaker of the Rada, Iryna Herashchenko, he pushed the journalist of the

Russia-1 Russia-1 () is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship channel of the All-Russia ...

TV channel

Olga Skabeyeva Olga Vladimirovna Skabeyeva (; born 11 December 1984) is a Russian television presenter and political commentator, commonly described as a governmental propagandist. Skabeyeva received the nickname "Iron Doll of Putin TV" due to her criticism o ...

, since she, in his opinion, interfered with Herashchenko's speech. The head of

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

Ramzan Kadyrov Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician and current head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated with the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Chechen independence movement, through his father who was the ...

, reacted to Bereza's act, demanding an apology from him to Skabeyeva, threatening to slap him in the face. In the July

Bereza tried to win back his seat in the 213th electoral district. But he failed to achieve this goal. As an

independent politician An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or Bureaucracy, bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicia ...

he placed third with 17.96% of the votes. The district was won by of the Servant of the People party with 36.27% of the votes. Bereza was the candidate of his own party, the Eco-party (), for the post of

Mayor of Kyiv The Head of Kyiv City (), unofficially and more commonly the Mayor of Kyiv (), is a city official elected by popular vote who serves as a head of the Kyiv city state administration (the capital of Ukraine) and a chairperson the Kyiv City Counc ...

in the 2020 Kyiv local election set for 25 October 2020 and did lead the local Kyiv Ekoparty election list in the same election. Incumbent Mayor Klitschko was re-elected in the first round of this election with 50.52% of the votes, Bereza finished in 10th place with 7.448 votes. Ekoparty won no Kyiv City Council seats and was, with the 17th place in the election, not even close to doing so. On 10 April 2022, he ended up on the territory of the Truskavets Convent, where he refused to serve a summons to the military enlistment office.

Personal life

Bereza is married and has three children.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bereza, Boryslav 1974 births Living people Eighth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Independent politicians in Ukraine Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics alumni People of the Euromaidan Politicians from Kyiv Jewish Ukrainian politicians