Volodymyr Shcherban

Volodymyr Shcherban (Ukrainian: Володимир Петрович Щербань; born 26 January 1950) is a Ukrainian politician and governor of number of regions in Ukraine. Sometimes he is confused with another murdered Ukrainian politician Yevhen Shcherban.

Volodymyr Shcherban
Володимир Щербань
Governor of Sumy Oblast
In office
15 November 2002 – 21 January 2005
PresidentLeonid Kuchma
Preceded byYuriy Zharkov
Succeeded byMykola Lavryk
In office
30 March 1999 – 25 April 2002
Preceded byMark Berfman
Succeeded byYuriy Zharkov
Governor of Donetsk Oblast
In office
11 July 1995 – 18 July 1996
PresidentLeonid Kuchma
Preceded byYuriy Smirnov
Succeeded bySerhiy Polyakov
Chairman of Donetsk Oblast Council
In office
10 July 1994 – 4 October 1996
PresidentLeonid Kuchma
Preceded byVadym Chuprun
Succeeded byIvano Ponomaryov
Personal details
Born (1950-01-26) 26 January 1950
Artemivsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Spouse(s)Iryna
ChildrenArtem
Alma materDonetsk Institute of Soviet Trade

Brief biography

Shcherban was born in a town of Artemivsk, Perevalsk Raion (Voroshilovhrad Oblast) on January 26, 1950. After finishing school, in 1967 he went to work for the Tochmash Factory in Donetsk as apprentice to a locksmith. In 1969-71 Shcherban served in army. After the army, he returned to Tochmash where worked already as a locksmith in 1971-72. In 1972-76 Shcherban studied at the Donetsk Institute of Soviet Trade. In 1976-79 he worked for fruit and vegetables farms of the Chernivtsi regional department of retail. Later he worked in number of retail institutions of Donetsk.

In 1990 Shcherban was elected to the Donetsk city council. In 1992-94 he was a deputy of mayor of Donetsk. In 1994-96 chairman of the Donetsk Oblast council. Shcherban was also elected to the Verkhovna Rada from the Budyonnivsky electoral district N107 (Donetsk Oblast). In the parliament he was a member of the "Social-Market Choice" faction and the Budget Committee. He served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine at the second convocation until 1998. At the same time in 1995-96 Shcherban was appointed the governor of Donetsk Oblast and was an acting governor of Sumy Oblast in 1994-96 completely ignoring the fact of unlawful conduct by working as legislator and government official.

As a member of the Liberal Party of Ukraine (LPU), Shcherban was elected once again from the Donetsk region electoral district N41 in 1998 joining in the parliament the parliamentary group "Independents". In March 1999 he was appointed the governor of Sumy Oblast, a position which he held until 2002. In September 1999 Shcherban finally resigned as a member of parliament. In 2002 again he, a member of LPU, was elected to the parliament within the Electoral Bloc "Our Ukraine" N44 on a party list. Soon after being elected Shcherban joined for a short stint the "For United Ukraine" parliamentary faction (faction was dissolved) and then "People's Choice". In June 2003 he resigned as a member of parliament being appointed the governor of Sumy Oblast one more time.

After the Orange Revolution in the beginning of 2005 Volodymyr Shcherban ran away from Ukraine to the United States and ended up in Orlando and later Boca Raton, both in Florida. In Ukraine he was charged with number of serious crimes such as abuse of official post, abuse of power, extortion, fraud of financial resources, hindering the exercise of electoral rights, and others.[1] Shcherban however was detained in October 2005 on an expired visa charges and placed in an immigration prison near Miami, but was released on $2 million bail.[2]

While in Florida, Shcherban was caught up in controversy by attending a $500-a-plate fundraiser for gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist hosted by Donald Trump, which constituted an illegal campaign contribution.[3][4] On a request of Ukrainian authorities he was extradited back to Ukraine.[5] In November 2006, representatives of General Prosecutor Office of Ukraine detained Shcherban in Boryspil International Airport, but in few days he was allowed to go home.

Family
  • Wife - Iryna, a chairman of charity fund of Sumy Oblast "Vichnist" (Eternity).
  • Son - Artem, a member of parliament (Party of Regions), owner of a network "Gefest" gas stations that once belonged to Yevhen Shcherban

1996 murder case

Both Shcherbans were business and political partners in the past. However Serhiy Vlasenko points out to the fact that in the fall of 1996 there was a conflict between two of them as Yevhen Shcherban reconsidered his political plans and intended to align himself with Yevhen Marchuk to pursue further political goals. Vlasenko also stated that two days after the murder there was a funds transfer of over $2 million from accounts of American company that belonged to Nadia Nikitina (wife of Yevhen Shcherban) to accounts of American company that belonged to Artem Shcherban (son of Volodymyr Shcherban).[6] Soon thereafter a member of parliament Vlasenko was stripped on his legislative mandate by the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine (VASU).

In the interview to journalist of Mirror Weekly Yevhen Yevhovych Shcherban (junior) on September 22, 1997 soon after surviving another murder attempt told that not the former (Volodymyr Shcherban) or current governors (Viktor Yanukovych) of Donetsk Oblast, nor the mayor of Donetsk (Volodymyr Rybak) helped him and his brother after the murder of their father.[7]

Bread factories

At the end of 2011 Volodymyr Shcherban sold his bread factory in Lebedyn to a local entrepreneur Oleksandr Marchenko. Beside it Shcherban also put for sale his factories in Okhtyrka and Hlukhiv (Note: all in the Sumy Oblast).[8] He also sold just over a half of controlling stock of another bread factory in Konotop to a Party of Regions politician Vitaliy Khomutynnik in 2008.

References
  1. Zolotukhina, I. Юрий ЛУЦЕНКО: Все коррупционеры для меня равны, к какой бы команде они не принадлежали (Yuriy Lutsenko: All corrupted for me are equal no matter to which team they belong). "Chetverta vlada". November 1, 2005.
  2. JudicialWatch.org, "Florida Attorney General in Hot Water," Feb. 13, 2006
  3. St. Petersburg Times (Associated Press), "Crist sees a fluster over two donations," Feb. 13, 2006
  4. Orlando Sentinel, "Event for Crist creates hubbub: A fundraiser hosted by Donald Trump includes 2 attendees who raised eyebrows," Feb. 13, 2006
  5. Orlando Sentinel, "Former Ukrainian official arrested, faces deportation," October 14, 2005
  6. Vetsko, Ye. Убийство Евгения Щербаня могло быть выгодно его другу Владимиру Щербаню, - Батькивщина (Murder of Yevhen Shcherban could have been beneficial to his friend Volodymyr Shcherban, - Fatherland). "focus.ua". March 1, 2013.
  7. Korablev, S. СЫН ЗА ОТЦА НЕ ОТВЕЧАЕТ (Son should not be held responsible for his father). "Mirror Weekly". September 26, 1997.
  8. Щербань продает свои хлебокомбинаты (Shcherban sells his bread factories). "Vash Shans". December 7, 2011.
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