Mykola Volodymyrovych Tomenko (; born December 11, 1964) is a Ukrainian politician. He has been a member of Ukraine's parliament, 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 ...

from 2006 until 2016.Tomenko lost the court of its mandate and will complain to Europe

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 ...

(28 July 2016)
BPP Congress moves to terminate powers of MPs Tomenko, Firsov

UNIAN The Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News () is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian news agency. It produces and provides political, business and financial information, and a photo reporting service. As of October 2022, it was the most v ...

(25 March 2016)
In 2014, Tomenko became a member of the

Petro Poroshenko Bloc European Solidarity (, ; , YeS) is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in various forms as a political outlet for Petro Poroshenko. The party with its the ...

, which elected him to the

8th Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 8th convocation (, ) was a convocation of the legislative branch of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's unicameral parliament. The 8th convocation met at the Verkhovna Rada building in Kyiv, having begun its term ...

on its party lists during the 2014 parliamentary election.General official results of Rada election

Interfax-Ukraine Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German. The company owns a 50-seat press centre. The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022) ...

(11 November 2014)
Central Election Commission announces official results of Rada election on party tickets

(11 November 2014) On 25 March 2016 the party Congress of Petro Poroshenko Bloc removed Tomenko's parliamentary mandate using the Imperative mandate provisions of the Ukrainian constitution. This was considered illegal by Tomenko; on 28 July 2016 Ukraine's highest Administrative Court rejected his appeal to gain back his parliamentary seat. Tomenko is a centre-right politician, previously a member of the

Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc () was the name of the bloc of political parties in Ukraine led by Yulia Tymoshenko since 2001. In November 2011, the participation of blocs of political parties in parliamentary elections was banned.

. He was also one of the leaders and most notable speakers of 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 ...

. In 2005, Tomenko served as Vice-

Prime Minister of Ukraine The prime minister of Ukraine (, , ) is the head of government of Ukraine. The prime minister presides over the government of Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the government of Ukrain ...

in the Cabinet of

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( Hrihyan born 27 November 1960) is a Ukrainian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2005, and again from 2007 until 2010; the first and only woman in Ukraine to hold that position. She has been ...

(coordinating humanitarian policy). In the Verkhovna Rada, he also served as the Chairman of the Freedom of Speech and Mass Media Committee and twice as the Deputy

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine () is the presiding officer of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russi ...

(during the 6th and 7th convocations). Tomenko tendered his resignation as deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada on 4 July 2012 as a sign of protest against the way

legislation on languages in Ukraine Language policy in Ukraine is based on its Constitution, international treaties and on domestic legislation. According to article 10 of the Constitution, Ukrainian is the official language of Ukraine, and the state shall ensure the comprehensiv ...

was passed on 3 July 2012.Ukrainians protest against Russian language law

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

(4 July 2012)Lytvyn:Language bill would have suited if all amendments had been accepted

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 ...

(4 July 2012)Tomenko resigns from post of deputy Verkhovna Rada chairman

(4 July 2012)

Biography

Early life

Mykola Tomenko (born in a village of Mali Kanivtsi,

Chornobai Raion Chornobai Raion () was a ''raion'' (district—administrative region) of eastern Cherkasy Oblast, in central Ukraine. Its administrative center was located in the urban-type settlement of Chornobai. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as par ...

, currently

Zolotonosha Raion Zolotonosha Raion is a raion (district) of Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. Its administrative centre is located at the city of Zolotonosha. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of raions of ...

, in

Cherkasy Oblast Cherkasy Oblast (, ), also referred to as Cherkashchyna (, ) is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central Ukraine located along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The Capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the cit ...

of Ukraine) is one of the few

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

s of the Soviet-Afghan War among the Ukrainian politicians. Between 1983, and 1985 Tomenko served his

conscript Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

service in the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Airborne Troops Airborne forces are Ground warfare, ground combat units airlift, carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as par ...

, reaching a rank of

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

during the war. In 1989, after his military service, Tomenko graduated from

Kyiv University The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

specializing in Ukrainian

political history Political history is the narrative and survey of political events, ideas, movements, organs of government, voters, parties and leaders. It is closely related to other fields of history, including diplomatic history, constitutional history, soci ...

. Shortly after, in 1992 he obtained his Kandidat degree (roughly equivalent to Ph.D.) defending his thesis on the topic "The issue of statehood in the program, documents and activities of the present-day parties in Ukraine (historical-political analysis)." During his student years, after initially being a

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 ...

activist, Tomenko later became the initiator of the local Komsomol organization's dissolution. Tomenko began his professional career in 1992 at the Institute of National Operation and Self-government as the Head of the Political Science Department. Between 1992 and 1998 he was the vice-president of the Foundation "The Ukrainian Outlook", the director of the Institute of Post-communism Society and the Institute of Politics (listed are non-governmental politics research organizations). At the same time he continued lecturing history and political science courses at Kyiv universities, finally becoming the Head of the Politology department in the National University "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy".

Political career

In mid-1990s Tomenko began his political career as a member of "My" (Ukrainian for ''Us'') Political Union - a liberal-patriotic group close to

Reforms and Order Party Party Reform and Order () was a liberal political party in Ukraine.

. In 1998 he was number 15 in the electoral list of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

candidates for Reforms and Order Party, but the party obtained no seats in parliament. In 2002 Tomenko was elected to the Parliament on the list of the " Our Ukraine" Block (which contained Reforms and Order Party). In late 2005 he left the party over a split on whether to back

or President Viktor Yuschenko (at the time he accused

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

and other Yuschenko allies of

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

), and became a member of

. In 2006 Tomenko became elected to Verkhovna Rada on the list of that Bloc. Tomenko was placed at number 8 on the electoral list of Batkivshchina during the

2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 28 October 2012.Parli ...

. He was re-elected into parliament.Список депутатів нової Верховної Ради

(11 November 2012) In the

2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an un ...

Tomenko was re-elected into parliament after being in the top 10 of the electoral list of

. On 25 December 2015 Tomenko left the party's parliamentary faction. On 25 March 2016 the party Congress of Petro Poroshenko Bloc withdraw his parliamentary mandate using the Imperative mandate provisions of the Ukrainian constitution. This was considered illegal by Tomenko; on 28 July 2016 Ukraine's highest Administrative Court rejected his appeal to gain back his parliamentary seat. In April 2016 Tomenko founded and became the chairman of the “Native Land” organization aimed to "discuss an alternative public strategy for Ukraine". After declaring support for the candidature of Anatoliy Hrytsenko in the

2019 Ukrainian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 March 2019. As none of the 39 candidates on the ballot received an absolute majority of the initial vote, a runoff was held on 21 April between the top two vote-getters: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a t ...

Tomenko became the supervisor of Hrytsenko's media strategy in Hrytsenko's election headquarters. In the July

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 ...

Tomenko was placed in the top five in the top ten of the party list of Civil Position. But the party did not win any seats (winning 1.04% of the national vote and not one constituency). Tomenko is a candidate (and party leader) for the

Kyiv City Council Kyiv City Council (, ), also known as Kyivrada (), is the city council of Kyiv municipality, the highest representative body of the city community. The members of city council are directly elected by Kyivans and the council is chaired by the M ...

and was simultaneously candidate for

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 ...

for the party "Native Land" in the 2020 Kyiv local election.Mykola Tomenko's top ten "Ridna Kraina" party: agrarian, journalist, singer and politicians

Civil movement "Chesno" Chesno () is a Ukrainian public campaign that emerged late 2011 to advance a fair election process. It is widely known for its critical analysis and evaluation of politicians and the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) in Ukraine. The organization provi ...

(20 September 2020) He finished 8th place with 15.039 votes. "Native Land" also failed to win any seats in the Kyiv City Council. The “Native Land” party was a continuation of the (2016 established) organization with the same name.

Political style

Entering politics after studying it, Tomenko became a public speaker and hot issues commenter. This was criticized by his political opponents. In summer 2005, President Viktor Yuschenko became dissatisfied with Tomenko's public attitude towards coalition allies and accused him of willingness to "comment anything on Earth" and a lack of in-government team-play sense. One controversy during Tomenko's political career occurred when the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted in

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, ...

. He openly supported the GreenJolly music group as a candidate for representative of Ukraine. This caused criticism from

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

professionals that alleged a poor choice and Tomenko's abuse of Deputy Prime Minister position during the process.

Ukrainian Cultural Development

Tomenko initiated several promotional programs to familiarize Ukraine to visitors as well as the well established residents with the

Seven Wonders of Ukraine The Seven Wonders of Ukraine ( ) are seven historical and cultural monuments of Ukraine, which were chosen in the ''Seven Wonders of Ukraine'' contest held in July, 2007. This was the first public contest of that kind which was followed by the ...

followed by the

Seven Natural Wonders of Ukraine The Seven Wonders of Ukraine ( ) are seven historical and cultural monuments of Ukraine, which were chosen in the ''Seven Wonders of Ukraine'' contest held in July, 2007. This was the first public contest of that kind which was followed by the ...

and the Seven Most Scenic Routes of Ukraine. Mykola Tomenko authored several scholarly books, more than a dozen of journal articles, and, an

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

, like "Theory of Ukrainian Love".

Selected works

*Томенко М. Теорія українського кохання. К., 2004. *Кудряшов С., Томенко М. та ін. Карта Севастополя: тріумф і трагедія Президентів: Фонд "Українська Перспектива": Експертна оцінка. - К., 1996. ''(and other research papers of this foundation)'' *''several studies of Ukrainian political history authored by Tomenko and S. Sliusarenko'' *"Ukrainian romantic Mykola Gogol"

References

External links

Tomenko's personal website

Institute of Politics website

Unofficial bio
''

'', February 6, 2005.
Have Ukraine finally got its own coryphaeus of all sciences?
''

'', April 22, 2005.
Russia never mastered how to lose gratuitously
a chat with Tomenko at ''

Korrespondent ''Korrespondent'' (; ; literally: ''Correspondent'') is a weekly printed magazine published in Ukraine in the Russian and Ukrainian languages. It is part of United Media Holding group, created by Boris Lozhkin and owned by Serhiy Kurchenko.

''.net * A two part Mykola Tomenko interview with ''

''
Part 1

and interview. ''Stolichnye Novosti'', April 5–11, 2005.
GreenJolly and their hit song on Maydan and at the Eurovision Song Contest
''Welcome to Ukraine'', 2005-2. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomenko, Mykola Living people 1964 births People from Cherkasy Oblast Soviet military personnel of the Soviet–Afghan War Personnel of the Soviet Airborne Forces Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni Academic staff of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Ukrainian political scientists Vice prime ministers of Ukraine on humanitarian policy Reforms and Order Party politicians Fourth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Fifth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Sixth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Seventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Eighth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Batkivshchyna politicians Petro Poroshenko Bloc politicians People of the Euromaidan Deputy chairmen of the Verkhovna Rada Government of Yulia Tymoshenko