There is a person with citizenship of Russia in our lists - the head of the election headquarters of the party of Zelensky

The party "Servant of the people" has the greatest support of society. Even despite a considerable number of doubtful people both in the party list, and in the majority districts. Party leaders enjoy this trust and are in no hurry to explain how they engaged so many interesting people. "That is how the party decided" - this is the universal answer of the head of election headquarters and 7th number in the party’s list OLEKSANDR KORNIENKO. In conversation with "Apostrophe" future MP indirectly admitted that most of their representatives in the elections were selected without proper verification. And they just closed their eyes on many issues, which can be found in open sources. Oleksandr Kornienko told "Apostrophe" who was responsible for the choice of people in lists, how comedians and TV hosts can be useful in politics.

- At the moment, the "Servant of the people" is the only party which could overcome a point of 15% and even approached 50%. In your opinion, a month before the elections will the competitors be able to knock down people’s support?

- I don't know how it is possible to do that. I do not know what our competitors are preparing in terms of black technologies. But one of the main achievements of the presidential campaign for Ukraine, in my opinion, is that “smearpiece" stopped working. There was a video where Volodymyr Zelensky was knovked down by KAMAZ, distribution of fakes on regions. For example, in each area there were people responsible for “smearpiece. Some wrote that immediately after the victory we will sell the land and make everybody slaves, in Kharkiv there was the information that we allegedly would call everybody to the army to fight against Donbass. But it still didn't work. People figured it out for themselves.

- Have you done your own calculations? How many percent will the party really get in the elections?

- We expect that on July 21 people will come and express their opinion. The percentage that will be like we expect.

- Presidential elections were held in spring, in more or less political time. Now sociologists say that your voter is unlikely to come to vote in summer, because everybody will be on vacation. Don’t you rule out this option?

- I recently studied the results of a study in which 25% of people confirmed that they will not be at home on this day. But more than half of them said that they would come to vote.

Statistics of the State register of voters shows that the place of voting has already been replaced by 27 thousand people. Of course, at the presidential elections this figure was slightly more than 300 000. But there is some dynamics. And as we remember, most people change their place of voting in the last few days.

It is unlikely we will be able to repeat the presidential election as to the number of voters. But people will come. Because they want re-election. We recently read a survey of international organizations, which showed that we now have a fantastic chance: people trust the President and are ready to trust our political force. Also response rate to the question "Does your voice influence something?" increased. After the presidential elections, Ukrainians believed that they really influence the situation, they are heard. Accordingly, the motive to come to the voting station on July 21 will not disappear.

- How do you think will Zelensky's rating fall by the end of the year?

- We have a habit of thinking within ratings...

- Okay, let's not speak about ratings, let's speak support. Will it remain at the same level?

- I don't know what will happen by the end of the year. I know what the President intends to do, what he promised, and he is already doing it.

- Who was responsible for recruiting people for the party?

- The whole group of people was engaged in it: I, Dmytro Razumkov, our party organizations.

- How much time was spent looking for people for the party and majority lists?

- That time which the legislation gave us. In fact, we have started doing this since the signing of Zelensky's decree on the dissolution of Parliament (May 21, - "Apostrophe").

- So there was no time to check everyone?

- We did our best. But we understood that we could not do it to the end. And the President talked about it at the Congress. Therefore, we immediately announced the post-primaries, which are to be finished before July 6, as we promised before.

- Until that time, can anyone else be expelled?

- Maybe. Discussions are ongoing.

- How many people?

- I'm not ready to answer.

- Can the changes affect both lists?

- No, we do post-primaries only concerning the party list. For the majoritarian post-primaries will be held on the 21st. If the candidate was able to convince several tens of thousands of voters, this is the best indicator. And this is definitely more than the number of people who write to us that this candidate is bad. And this is more than the number of journalists who give signals about it.

But due to the fact that we still have a system of closed lists, we decided to conduct post-primaries on the party list. So the voter doesn't get a pig in a poke. And we are glad that other parties have also started to do so.

Oleksandr Kornienko: "We do primaries only for the party list"

- You have repeatedly said that you do not know about the sale of places in the list of "Servants of the people". Therefore, I want to clarify: you do not know about it or this could not happen?

- We said that if someone has such facts, let them come and tell.

- How do you imagine that? The one who bought or sold, will come to you and declare it?

- Maybe the so-called buyer does not like his number in the list (he laughs).

All jokes aside, we are told stories, the details. We study them.

- Any confirmations?

- I don't think there can be.

- In that case, why was Iryna Panchenko expelled from the party, if this is not possible (73rd number in the list, the media call her "capital party girl")?

- The party conducted an additional study of the materials.

- And you came to the conclusion that she was on the list for the money?

- No, we studied the situation and decided to exclude her. Society gave signals, we responded.

- Do you know her personally?

- Yes, I do.

- Do you regret having to exclude her from the party?

- What do you mean by the word “regret”? The party made this decision. We're not a family or a friendly organization.

- But losing people is also unpleasant.

- Perhaps.

- Let's discuss number 22 - Andrii Kholodov. According to the information of "Chesno", his wife and brother have a registered business associated with the maintenance of kiosks. And in Instagram on the page of Oksana Marchenko, TV presenter and wife of Viktor Medvedchuk, one can find photos with the wife of Kholodov. Under the photo, Oksana Marchenko wrote that she became the godmother of their child, and Medvedchuk himself was present at the christening.

- Really?

- Have you even checked him? Did you hope for journalists?

- Journalists are always welcome.

Oleksandr Kornienko: "Journalists are always welcome"

- If so, the media wrote that he practically does not live in Ukraine.

- The CEC checked him, there were no questions.

- And his family ties with Medvedchuk?

- What do you mean by “family ties”? We have no information that they communicate or are somehow closely related.

- How did he get on your list? Who suggested him?

- He's an entrepreneur...

- You have a lot of entrepreneurs on the list. But they were somehow chosen.

- A discussion about the person who proposed whom, will not give us any result. Many of the names sounded from several people. There are not many people who meet our requirements.

- But the presence of Kholodov in the list suggests the question on how could he be there? How could he bribe you?

- Why is it necessary to bribe?

- The information which obtained by journalists implies it.

- Most of the information that is written on the internet concerning many people appeared not so long ago. But if he's at the top of the list, then the party decided he might be there.

- What do you think about number 68 - Volodymyr Kozak? More recently, journalists reported that he has close ties with the mayor of Kharkiv Henadii Kernes. Kozak's sister married Kernes's son. Media reports that after the unification of families, your candidate got the company for the production of juices and food products, which was previously owned by the mayor's son.

- I haven't heard about it yet. I don't monitor all the press.

- But why? This is one of the main tasks. Plus, you're responsible for the candidate, because he represents your team.

- So, we will now examine the question of Kozak.

- And what about number 99, Mykhailo Sokolov, who is still a citizen of Russia, have you considered this issue already?

- He claims, that he is a citizen of Ukraine. Mykhailo has already entered into a discussion about this. He tries to answer this claim, explains why Russia does not remove his citizenship.

- Aren’t you worried about people with Russian citizenship in your list? Couldn’t he be someone's agent?

- We'll deal with it. We deal with the facts of dual citizenship separately. They arise not only concerning the list, but also as to the majority candidates.

- Who was responsible for the formation of the majority list?

- The party nominated candidates.

- Earlier you took care about regions "Servant of the people". So all these people were considered by you?

- To some extent.

- What were the criteria, except for the absence of certificate of the MP?

- The understanding why the person goes to the Verkhovna Rada representing the specific territory, what he is going to make for it and, of course, reputation history.

- And what about the reputation of Oleh Semynskyi from the district 205? Given the fact that he was kidnapped in 2012 because of the conflict around “Naftogazvedobuvania”, and he returned unexpectedly in the spring of 2015?

- We asked him, we were satisfied with the answers.

- What did he tell you?

- That's between us.

- But he's your candidate, representing your party in the district 205...

- I didn't study this story in detail. I know that he was a Director of a large company. Now he is engaged in other business, that is clear and transparent. If the voter asks him about this period, he will answer. As I said, the post-primaries will be on the 21st of July.

- That's clear. But the party offered these people. So first you will be asked. Your answers once again confirm the information that you recruited everybody to the majority list to fill it. And that is why you did not present it at the Congress and even before the submission to CEC, as you promised.

- No, that's not true.

- Okay, let's check it out. Iryna Borzova, which is in district 14, got in the majority list, because she's the daughter of Naum Baruli, who is the head of "League of laughter" now?

- It is not so simple. She's an activist. She has a vision of what to do in this area. Plus Iryna is strong as to the media, she is willing to communicate. Vinnytsia region (where she is the candidate) is an outpost of the previous government.

- And the presence of business in the Crimea, the company "Profile-N" in the sphere of restaurant business… Is this a strong point?

- We need to understand what kind of business it is.

- What does it mean to understand? You should have checked by now. After all, she continues to own it, re-registered according to Russian legislation and she pays taxes to Russia in the occupied Crimea.

- After she is elected as a Deputy, she will stop doing it. As far as I know, she's not engaged in the business.

- Who is?

- Probably the person she handed it over to. I don't know, it's personal, how they do their business.

- We're at a point where there's nothing personal. These are your people and you are responsible for them.

- It is better to address her with this question.

- So there were no deep checks concerning her business?

- There were some checks, she was asked questions. We used information from the register. Anyway, she'll have to get out of the business.

- Having studied the majority list, one can see a large number of representatives of "Ukrop" in Volyn and Dnipropetrovsk regions. We were very surprised that on the 20th district there is an adviser to the Chairman of the Volyn regional Council Ihor Palytsia, Viacheslav Rublev. In addition, in the Dnipropetrovsk region in the 40th district there is the Deputy of the Poltava regional Council from the "Petro Poroshenko Block" Oleksandr Trukhin, who known as the owner of the "Water Ski club "Sentosa", which is the part of the group "Privat". Therefore, the question arises: did Ihor Kolomoisky recommend these people to you?

- How do you imagine this communication?

- Very simply. In the internet there are downloaded calls of Ihor Valeriiovych to understand how he resolves such issues.

- We did not get recommendations neither from him. nor from people associated with him.

- Now it looks as if regions "are given” to his people who then in Parliament will work in his interests.

- On July 21 we'll just see who will pass and who in whose interests will work.

- What happened to the candidates in Ivano-Frankivsk region? In district 23 there is Andrii Storozhuk assistant of the People’s Deputy Oleksandr Shevchenko, business partner of Kolomoisky and one of the leaders of "Ukrop". In district 84 there is Ihor Fris - assistant-consultant of the same Shevchenko. In district 88 there is Andii Shevchenko who sponsored presidential campaign of the above-mentioned Oleksandr Shevchenko. And in the district 86 - Oleksandr Matusevych - the Deputy of Ivano-Frankivsk regional Council from "Ukrop". Did Shevchenko just send you a list of whom you need to register?

- These are connections which are formed by journalists.

- There's not much to think about here. They are assistants and sponsors. And all the information is in the public domain.

- Many people worked as assistants to deputies.

- But in this case it looks like Shevchenko recommended you these people.

-It is your understanding.

- What is your understanding?

- Regional organizations recommended these people to us.

- Why do you have so many comedians, TV presenters, journalists on your list?

- There are not many - 5% in the list.

- That's a lot for me. Because they are people without political experience and understanding. They need time to get involved.

- Such people are able to understand everything quickly from the start. For example, in the district 49 there is Serhii Sivokho. Considering the situation in which there is now this part of the Ukrainian land (the 49th district in the town of Druzhkivka of Donetsk region, - "Apostrophe"), we need strong persons who can gather people round themselves and give hope.

- How can Oleksandr Skichko be helpful?

- The other day Skichko invited me as a representative of the Central election headquarters to the economic forum in Cherkassy. He now goes from village to village, talking to people about the situation in the region. This is a normal work of the majority deputy. The idea is not to give out buckwheat, but to collect economic forums. If everyone did it, the situation would be better.

- OK, but what about adding the blogger Maksym Buzhnskyi to the list of, who openly supports "Rehions"? What did you and to tell to voters?

- He used to have this opinion. Now we need to clarify.

- Didn't you do it?

- I looked at his Facebook. It seems that he already does not conduct such rhetoric. We asked all candidates if they understood the responsibility for the implementation of the program. We excluded anyone who refused or could not clearly answer.

Oleksandr Kornienko: "We asked all candidates if they understand the responsibility for the implementation of the program"

- How did you check your candidate from the district 92 Valerii Koliukh, the assistant of the fugitive People's Deputy Oleksandr Onyshchenko?

- We have already discussed the topic of assistants.

- Being an assistant to Oleksandr Shevchenko is one thing. And being an assistant to Onishchenko who ran away, being afraid of criminal liability, is another thing.

- As far as I understand, Koliukh after these events focused on scientific activity (Valery Koliukh works as the Professor of Department of Political Sciences in KNU named after Taras Shevchenko, - "Apostrophe").

- Why do you need representatives of developers in the Parliament? For example, in Lviv region there is Orest Salamakha, "Budinvest",in Odessa - Ruslan Plokhoi, CEO of construction company "Zhytlobudservis-2". Besides, the father of the last, Ihor Plokhoi, was earlier the People's Deputy from "Party of regions" and the co-owner of construction firm "Hefest" which was remembered by scandalous buildings in Odessa.

- First of all, children are not responsible for their parents. Secondly, these people are associated with management or entrepreneurship. That's how we look at them. We saw that the person was from the real estate sector, had management experience.

The majority list has its own system. In the party list we have 30-40 experts. You can't send an expert to the district. There should be someone who will be willing to meet people and solve their problems.

- But the developer understands well where to build.

- The developer understands management, how to do business, what are people like, how to manage them. In fact (I'm exaggerating) the majority district deputy is the most important member of the local council in a certain area. Because due to his status he may apply to the local councils.

We do not look at the majority deputies separately, we are interested in their team. For example, if all our deputies in Kyiv region pass, it will be easier for them to solve the problems of the region together.

- Are there any fears that the developers, going to the Parliament will solve their business issues?

- That is what people who doesn't understand how constructions works may say. Construction is the local power. And all permits need to be obtained from local councils. The influence of the deputy on local councils is not substantial in this sense. It will be difficult for the developer to influence something in the Parliament. To change the law for yourself, you need to agree with a lot of people. Besides, our fraction won't be engaged in such activities.

- How do you now prepare the candidates for work in the Verkhovna Rada?

- We plan to gather those who pass outside the city and to work with them in August. We will have round-the-clock training, working groups, developments, building horizontal ties with the committees. It will be a course of the young fighter after which we will be able surely to go to Rada.

- And what about Mykola Tyshchenko (the candidate on the district 219)? What Committee will he get? Restaurant Committee?

- You should ask him.

- By the way, on the internet, and in Kyiv, there are rumors that back in the 90s he was a criminal authority. Did you confirm this information?

- It seems to me that all tjose who were criminal authorities already received terms or somewhere disappeared from the country. Let law enforcement agencies check it.

- But have you confirmed this information?

- How can the information of the 1990s be confirmed, if many people of that time are not even alive? A lot of things can be spread on the internet.

- In what regions do you expect to get the maximum?

- We count on all Ukraine. The presidential campaign showed that we unite the country. A separate situation depends on how our candidates and regional headquarters work.

- Recently in political circles people say that you plan to hold early local elections this year. Is this information true?

- We will rely on the request of the society in all our decisions. As to the Parliament all surveys showed that there was no trust to the Parliament, but as to the local elections we need to study the situation. This is more discussed by journalists than it is discussed in the party. And it looks more like bogus stories. It is necessary to analyze from whom they origin and what is behind them. Maybe someone wants to break us up with the local elites. This question is asked to me and our local organizations, and each time it is asked with a different meaning. Someone says that he is not ready, someone - on the contrary. But everything depends on the request of Ukrainians.