A scandal has erupted in the Kyiv region over the election of a community head
In the Makariv settlement community in Kyiv Oblast, deputies refused to confirm 65-year-old Hryhorii Nemirzhitskyi as head of the Kolonshchyna administrative district, which includes the villages of Kolonshchyna, Berezivka, Marianivka, and Mykolaivka.
The nomination was proposed by village head Vadym Tokar, who is currently on sick leave. At the meeting, his duties were performed by Natalia Burnasheva, the executive committee’s administrative manager.
After remarks by community representatives, the majority of council members abstained or voted against the proposal, and the matter was sent back for further consideration.
According to local residents, they were not officially notified of the session and only learned about the meeting by chance.
Before the issue of appointing a village head was considered, an air raid alert was announced in the village council. Attempts were made to lead community representatives out of the hall to a shelter.
“During the alert, only one staff member went down to the shelter. None of the council members or the chairperson left the room and continued the meeting. We managed to ensure that three community representatives remained in the hall and voiced the people’s position,” said local activist Serhiy Krasulia.
Residents opposed Nemirzhitsky’s candidacy, in particular because he does not live in the district. Community representatives believe that the head of the village should be someone who is well-versed in local issues.
The community proposes considering local residents as candidates, including Yuriy Borovets, a veteran of the Main Intelligence Directorate; the director of the local high school; a paramedic; and other activists.
According to Krasulia, the previous district head stepped down following pressure from the community.
The conflict stemmed from the situation surrounding the local parish’s transition to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. In May, according to the activist, the former head of the district blocked a meeting regarding the parish’s transition to the OCU and signed the minutes of a meeting of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), which was attended by about 20 people.
At the same time, according to the community, more than 300 residents voted in favor of the church’s transition to the OCU.
Earlier in Kolonshchyna, the community also held a meeting regarding the transition of St. John the Theologian Church from the Moscow Patriarchate to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. More than 500 people gathered at the cultural center at that time and unanimously supported the decision.
The Makariv Village Council disagrees with the activists’ allegations. Natalia Burnasheva, the executive committee’s administrative director, stated that the procedure for nominating a village head complies with the law.
“Under current law, nominating a candidate for the position of village head is the exclusive authority of the council chair. During martial law, there is no procedure for obtaining approval from community residents. The chairperson nominates a candidate; if the council members vote in favor, the candidate for village head is approved. If the council members fail to vote for the same candidate twice, the chairperson must propose another candidate,” Burnasheva emphasized.
The official also addressed concerns regarding the candidate’s age of 65. According to her, the law does not set an age limit for this position.
“There are no violations in this regard. Based on my experience, a 65-year-old can sometimes perform their duties much better, be much more competent, and be much more creative than a 30-year-old,” she noted.
Burnasheva also refuted the claim that Nemirzhitsky is unaware of the problems facing the district’s communities.
“The candidate worked for many years as the head of the social protection department for the entire community. And he, more than anyone else, is familiar with the community’s problems,” the chief of staff emphasized.
At the same time, regarding the holding of a public discussion on the candidate’s nomination, the official noted:
“There is no discussion right now. Changes have been made there. And organizing some kind of online rallies is pointless—it’s just a farce.”
According to Burnasheva, there is a separate group of activists in the community who regularly submit numerous requests to the executive committee.
“There’s a certain group that’s dissatisfied with everything; they have their own vision. They think they’ll just submit their candidacy for village head now and that’s how it will be voted on. But being a village head isn’t about ‘I want to’ or ‘I don’t want to’—it’s daily routine work, public service. Every day we respond to all sorts of requests that take up a great deal of time. Moreover, these requests are presented as collective petitions, but when you open the sheet with the signatures—they’re on a separate sheet with no heading indicating which issue the question concerns—and it’s clear that the signatures were simply copied as images. “We review them on their merits, but as ordinary citizen appeals,” Natalia Burnasheva concluded.
Consequently, the deputies did not support Grigory Nemirzhitsky’s candidacy, and the matter of appointing the head of the Kolonshchynsky administrative district was sent back for further review.
Earlier, a bust of William Shakespeare was unveiled in Poltava; during the opening ceremony, it was solemnly declared to be Ukraine’s first monument to the outstanding English playwright.
