russian: Оппозиционный блок , colorcode = , logo = Opposition Bloc.png , logo_size = 240px , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Rinat Akhmetov (one wing)

Dmytro Firtash Dmytro Vasylovych Firtash ( uk, Дмитро́ Васи́льович Фі́рташ; born 2 May 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman who heads the board of directors of Group DF. He was highly influential during the Yuschenko administration and th ...

Yuriy Boyko Yuriy Anatoliyovych Boyko ( uk, Юрій Анатолійович Бойко, russian: Ю́рий Анато́льевич Бо́йко; born 9 October 1958) is a Ukrainian politician who served as one of the Vice Prime Ministers of Ukraine bet ...

(one wing) , leader2_name = , foundation =

, dissolution = 13 December 2018 , merger = , successor = Opposition Bloc — Party for Peace and Development (Akhmetov's wing)

Opposition Platform — For Life (Medvedchuk's and Boyko's wing) , headquarters =

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

, ideology = , european = , international = , colours =

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, seats1_title = Regions (2015) , seats1 = , website = , country = Ukraine The Opposition Bloc ( uk, Опозиційний блок, Opozitsiyniy blok, russian: Оппозиционный блок, Oppozitsionniy blok) was a pro-Russian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

that was founded in 2014 by the merger of six parties that did not endorse

Euromaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhno ...

. Legally, the party was created by renaming the lesser-known party "Leading Force"."OPPOSITION BLOCK"
Civil movement "Chesno" (2018) The party was perceived as the successor of the disbanded

Party of Regions The Party of Regions ( uk, Партія регіонів, Partiia rehioniv, ; russian: Партия регионов, Partiya regionov) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997 that then grew to be the biggest party of U ...

. In the 2014 election, the party won 29 seats predominantly in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Kharkiv oblasts.Poroshenko Bloc to have greatest number of seats in parliament

Ukrinform The National News Agency of Ukraine ( uk, Українське національне інформаційне агентство), or Ukrinform ( uk, Укрінформ), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of ...

(8 November 2014)
People's Front 0.33% ahead of Poroshenko Bloc with all ballots counted in Ukraine elections - CEC

Interfax-Ukraine The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company publishes i ...

(8 November 2014)
Poroshenko Bloc to get 132 seats in parliament - CEC

(8 November 2014) American lobbyist

Paul Manafort Paul John Manafort Jr. (; born April 1, 1949) is an American lobbyist, political consultant, and Lawyer, attorney. A long-time Republican Party (United States), Republican Party campaign consultant, he chaired the Donald Trump 2016 presidential ...

acted as political consultant for the party. By January 2019 two wings of the party nominated two different candidates for the

2019 Ukrainian presidential election The 2019 Ukrainian presidential election was held on 31 March and 21 April in a two-round system. There were 39 candidates for the election on the ballot. The Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia an ...

.Opposition split. How Boyko and Vilkul divide the legacy of "regionalists"

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukrai ...

(18 December 2018)Odd-man-out. Why Leovochkin and Medvedchuk are preparing for the election without Akhmetov

(20 November 2018)

for the Opposition Platform — For Life allianceBoyko began registering as a presidential candidate

(17 November 2018)
The association of Boyko-Rabinovich was determined with the presidential candidate

(17 November 2018) and

Oleksandr Vilkul Oleksandr Yuriyovych Vilkul ( uk, Олексaндр Юрійович Вiлкул; born 24 May 1974), also known as Aleksandr Yuryevich Vilkul (russian: Александр Юрьевич Вилкул) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician wh ...

for Opposition Bloc — Party of Peace and Development (the recently renamed Industrial Party of Ukraine). Both these two offsprings of Opposition Bloc took part independently of each other in the

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

, with the Opposition Bloc — Party of Peace and Development (also) named into '' Opposition Bloc''.

Party Leaders

Chairman: * Borys Kolesnikov (one wing) *

(one wing) Fraction in

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

leader * Vadym Novynskyi

History

Party "Leading force"

The party was registered at the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice on 23 April 2010 as "Leading Force" ( uk, Ведуча сила, Russian: Ведущая сила)In Ukraine registered 181st political party
Zaxid.net (2010)
List of all Ukrainian political parties
, Ukrainian Ministry of Justice The party was the led by Anatoly Kornienko. The party did not participate in the 2012 parliamentary elections.

2014 parliamentary elections

In September 2014 American lobbyist

was hired as an advisor to (former Manafort client) Viktor Yanukovych's former head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine

Serhiy Lyovochkin Serhiy Volodymyrovych Lyovochkin ( uk, Сергій Володимирович Льовочкін, born 17 July 1972) is a Ukrainian politician, currently a member of the Parliament of Ukraine. Over 20 years, he has held various leading posts i ...

. Manafort was tasked with rebranding

. Instead, he argued to help stabilize Ukraine, Manafort advised to create a new political party called ''Opposition Bloc''. According to Ukrainian political analyst Mikhail Pogrebinsky "He thought to gather the largest number of people opposed to the current government, you needed to avoid anything concrete, and just become a symbol of being opposed". It was planned that the biggest party in the previous 2012 parliamentary elections, Party of Regions, would be part of the Opposition Bloc in the 2014 parliamentary elections.What distinguishes the "opposition bloc" of the Party of Regions?

BBC Ukrainian BBC News Ukrainian ( uk, BBC News Україна) is the Ukrainian service of the BBC which conveys the latest political, social, economical and sport news relevant to Ukraine and the world. It started broadcasts in 1992.

(23 September 2014) This alliance was to be led by

Serhiy Tihipko Serhiy Leonidovych Tihipko ( uk, Сергій Леонідович Тiгiпко; born 13 February 1960) is a Ukrainian politician and finance specialist who was Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine. Tihipko was Minister of Economics in 2000 and subse ...

. But he refused to do so because in his opinion in this alliance there were "people tainted by

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

and to put it mildly, unpatriotic". Tihipko then became leader of (the revived) Strong Ukraine. On 14 September 2014, the Party of Regions choose not to participate in the elections; it deemed the election lacking legitimacy because the residents of the Donbass could not vote in the election. Also on 14 September 2014, a forum took place in Kyiv with the banner "Peace. Stability. Revival", at the end of which Party of Development of Ukraine, Center All-Ukrainian Union, Ukraine – Forward!, Labour Ukraine, New Politic and "State neutrality" decided to take part in the 2014 parliamentary elections as Opposition Bloc.Opposition Bloc boosts rating by distancing itself from Yanukovych era

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden. History American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...

(Oct. 24, 2014)
Development party of Ukraine, 'Ukraine - Forward!' and four more political forces team up in Opposition Bloc

(Sept. 15, 2014)
Ukraine's Elections: The Battle of the Billionaires

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

(10.25.14)
Non-Maidan parties united into the Opposition Bloc
Radio Liberty. 14 September 2014 Many individual members of Party of Regions ended up as candidates of Opposition Bloc.Opposition Bloc chooses top ten candidates for parliamentary elections
Interfax Ukraine (23 September 2014)
Allies of Yanukovych trying for parliament

(21 September 2014)
Party Of Regions Will Not Contest Snap Parliamentary Elections Independently
, Ukrainian News Agency (14 September 2014) Among them

, who headed the party's election list. Other main figures on this election list are Natalia Korolevska, Mykhailo Dobkin and

Vadim Rabinovich Vadim Zinovyevich Rabinovichrussian: Вади́м Зино́вьевич Рабино́вич he, ודים רבינוביץ' (born 4 August 1953) is an Israeli and formerly Ukrainian oligarch and Jewish community leader. He is a former leader ...

. In September 2014 Boyko argued that Opposition Bloc does not represent parties, but consisted only of individual politicians. Boyko, Dobkin and Rabinovich all took part in the

2014 Ukrainian presidential election Snap presidential elections held in Ukraine on 25 May 2014 resulted in Petro Poroshenko being elected President of Ukraine.
Results election of Ukrainian president
Телеграф (29 May 2014) Korolevska and Boyko were both ministers in the second Azarov Government. Serhiy Lyovochkin was also a candidate of the party. Five members of Party of Regions were in the top 10 of the Opposition Bloc's electoral list. The party won 29 seats; including the winning of 2

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

seats. It won 2 constituency seats but for the nationwide party lists of the election (53.2% of the seats was elected by a nationwide party lists and 46.8% in 198 constituenciesParliamentary elections not to be held at nine constituencies in Donetsk region and six constituencies in Luhansk region - CEC

(25 October 2014)Parliament passes law on parliamentary elections

(17 November 2011)Перший крок до зриву виборів

(9 April 2012)) the party gained most votes in all 14 constituencies in

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luh ...

, all 6 constituenciesOnly in six constituencies of Donetsk region and one constituency in Luhansk region voting to be at all polling stations, says CEC

(26 October 2014) in

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast ( uk, Луга́нська о́бласть, translit=Luhanska oblast; russian: Луганская область, translit=Luganskaya oblast; also referred to as Luhanshchyna, uk, Луга́нщина) is the easternmost Adminis ...

(were voting was possible), 8 out of 9 in

Zaporizhzhia Oblast Zaporizhzhia Oblast ( uk, Запорі́зька о́бласть, translit=Zaporizka oblast), also referred to as Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запорі́жжя, links=no), is an oblast (province) of southeast Ukraine. Its capital is Zaporizhzhia. The ...

(Petro Poroshenko Bloc winning the remaining constituency), in

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Dnipropetrovsk Oblast ( uk, Дніпропетро́вська о́бласть, translit=Dnipropetrovska oblast), also referred to as Dnipropetrovshchyna ( uk, Дніпропетро́вщина), is an oblast (province) of central-eastern Ukr ...

10 out of 17 constituencies (

Petro Poroshenko Bloc European Solidarity ( uk, Європейська солідарність, Yevropeis'ka solidarnist', 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 va ...

winning the remaining constituency), in

Donetsk Oblast The Donetsk Oblast ( ukr, Донецька область, Donetska oblast, ), also referred to as Donechchyna ( ukr, Донеччина, links=no), is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 mill ...

(were voting was possible) 6 out of 11 constituencies (Petro Poroshenko Bloc winning the remaining 5 constituencies).Kharkiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhia regions prefer Opposition Bloc

(27.10.2014) In

Odessa Oblast Odesa Oblast ( uk, Оде́ська о́бласть, translit=Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna ( uk, Оде́щина) is an oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its admin ...

27 October preliminary result indicated that Petro Poroshenko Bloc had won 7 constituencies with the remaining 4 constituencies won by Opposition Bloc. In Mykolaiv Oblast Petro Poroshenko Bloc seemed to be the clear winner with winning 5 constituencies while the remaining constituency won by Opposition Bloc. On 27 November 2014 an Opposition Bloc parliamentary faction of 40 people was formed (at the opening session of the new parliament). The party was one of the winners of the 2015 Ukrainian local elections gaining nationwide 11.5%. It gained most (of all) votes South and

East Ukraine Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine ( uk, Східна Україна, Skhidna Ukrayina; russian: Восточная Украина, Vostochnaya Ukraina) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Khar ...

(except of

). In May 2016 Rabinovich left the party and its parliamentary faction after a request from his party Center All-Ukrainian Union.

Cessation and 2019 creation of two succession parties

According to ''

'' in the summer of 2018 negotiations on the unification of the parties For life and Opposition Bloc started. Ukrayinska Pravda says these talks were instigated by

who, along with

, controlled one of the wings of the party. While Rinat Akhmetov controlled the other wing of Opposition Bloc. Early November 2018 the party members loyal to Akhmetov decided to take a pause in the negotiations. On 9 November 2018 Opposition Bloc chairman Boyko and

's party For life signed an agreement for cooperation in the

and the parliamentary election of the same year and created the alliance Opposition Platform — For life.The association of Boyko-Rabinovich was determined with the presidential candidate

(17 November 2018) The same day Opposition Bloc leading members Vadym Novynskyi and Borys Kolesnikov claimed the agreement was a "personal initiative" of Boyko and that the party had not take any decisions on cooperation with For life. On 17 November 2018 Opposition Platform — For life nominated Boyko as its candidate in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election. The same day Opposition Bloc member Party of Development of Ukraine joined the Opposition Platform — For life alliance. On 20 November 2018 Boyko and

(leading member of the Party of Development of Ukraine) were excluded from the Opposition Bloc faction (the reason given was) "because they betrayed their voters" interests. On 17 December 2018 an Opposition Bloc congress nominated

as their candidate in the

. But a Ukrainian court ruled three days before (in response to a lawsuit filed by People's Deputy of Ukraine for Opposition Bloc Serhiy Larin) that Opposition Bloc's congress at which Vikul was to be nominated could not "reorganize the party by any means". On 18 December 2018 the website of Opposition Bloc stated that therefore all the decisions made at the congress were invalid. On 20 December 2018 the website of Opposition Bloc was down. Vilkul was nominated for the presidency again by Opposition Bloc — Party of Peace and Development (the recently renamed Industrial Party of Ukraine) on 20 January 2019.Presidential elections: Kivu, Vilkul and Hnapa have been nominated
Korrespondent.net (20 January 2019)
Kiva and Vilkul surrendered to the Central Election Commission

(22 January 2019) According to Liga.net Rinat Akhmetov had renamed Industrial Party of Ukraine to Opposition Bloc — Party of Peace and Development solely to circumvent the courts injunction of 20 December 2018 (which prohibited any changes to the statute of the (party) Opposition Bloc). The Industrial Party of Ukraine was registered by the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Justi ...

on 13 June 2014, and

Rostyslav Shurma Rostyslav Shurma ( uk, Ростислав Ігорович Шурма; born 17 September 1983) is a Ukrainian statesman, as well as the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine. He was the CEO of the Zaporizhstal plant from 2012 t ...

was then the chairman of this party. Shurma was at the time General Director of Zaporizhstal. Zaporizhstal is part of the industrial complex owned by Rinat Akhmetov.PARTY "INDUSTRIAL UKRAINE" HEADS "MAN AKHMETOV"
5 Kanal (26 August 2014) Both these two offspring of Opposition Bloc took part independently of each other in the

, with the Opposition Bloc — Party of Peace and Development (also) named into '' Opposition Bloc''.

Ideology and stances

According to , of the

Centre for Eastern Studies The Centre for Eastern Studies ( pl, Ośrodek Studiów Wschodnich, OSW) is a Warsaw-based think tank that undertakes independent research on the political, economic and social situation in Central and Eastern Europe, Balkans, Caucasus and C ...

, the party's 2014 election programme was socially liberal and pro- Russophone. The party's platform envisages protecting the status of Russian as a regional language. The party wants "maximum decentralization" for Ukraine. The party wants a non-aligned status for Ukraine and wants to prevent it from becoming a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

. In the

War in Donbass War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

the party advocated to end the conflict by peaceful means and by negotiating with Russia and with the leaders of the

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic ( rus, Донецкая Народная Республика, Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika, dɐˈnʲetskəjə nɐˈrodnəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə; abbreviated as DPR or DNR, rus, ДНР) is a disputed en ...

and the

Luhansk People's Republic The Luhansk or Lugansk People's Republic (russian: Луга́нская Наро́дная Респу́блика, Luganskaya Narodnaya Respublika, ; abbreviated as LPR or LNR, rus, ЛНР) is a disputed entity created by Russian-backed ...

. The party rejects the March 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia and wants "peace in united Ukraine within the borders of 1991". The party support Ukrainian's post- Maidan status as the only state language, but advocates to allow ethnic minorities to be able to define Russian and other minority languages as regional languages in their own communities. In 2017 Opposition Bloc MP's opposed the law that made Ukrainian the main language of public education, in 2018 they were against a draft bill that establishes Ukrainian as the obligatory language in all spheres of public life, and makes the violation of this legislation an administrative offense.Two Russia-friendly parties join forces for presidential election

(9 November 2018) The party hopes to criminalize "the incitement of inter-regional hatred" and ban all organizations that promote "inter-regional hatred", use "violence as an instrument for political gain", or set up illegal paramilitary forces. Other political wishes of the party are "the reduction of tax pressure", introduction of "advisory referendums and plebiscites", cancellation of "draconian pension reforms" and a referendum on the sale of agricultural land.

Member parties

* Ukraine - Forward! * Party of Development of Ukraine * Labour Ukraine * New Politics * State Neutrality * Party of Christian Socialists

Election results

Verkhovna Rada

References

External links

Official website
{{Ukrainian Political Parties 2010 establishments in Ukraine Eurosceptic parties in Ukraine Liberal parties in Ukraine Political parties established in 2010 Regionalist parties in Ukraine Russian political parties in Ukraine Social liberal parties Parliamentary factions in Ukraine