Viktor Ivanovych Baloha ( uk, Віктор Іванович Балога, born 15 June 1963, Zavydovo) is a Ukrainian politician and the former emergency situations minister.
Early life and education
Viktor Baloha was born on 15 June 1963 in the village Zavydovo, Mukachevo district,
Zakarpattia Oblast
The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...
, to Ivan Pavlovych Baloha and Mariya Vasilivna Baloha. He has two brothers, Ivan and Pavlo Ivanovych.
Baloha graduated from the secondary school of the village Zahattya of Іrshava district in 1980, which he attended after having finished the eight-year school in the village Zavydovo in 1978. He then enrolled at the Lviv institute of trade and economics and graduated with a degree in "Commodity science and food products trade organization" in 1984.
Career
Following his compulsory military service in the Soviet Army,Baloha Viktor Ivanovych. Biography ( uk, Балога Віктор Іванович. Біографія) Baloha worked as a senior commodity expert in Beregovo Regional Consumer Society in the city of Beregovo. He continued to work as a commodity expert in various cities, rising to the position of the Chairman of the management board of LLC "Barva" in Mukachevo in 1997.
On 10 April 1998, Baloha was elected the Mayor of the city of Мukachevо and worked as a Mayor till 5 May 1999, when on 5 May 1999 he was appointed as Zakarpattia Regional State Administration Chairman.
Being against the resignation of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, Baloha resigned and was subsequently discharged from the position of the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration Chairman on 1 June 2001, according to his letter of resignation. He briefly reprises his role as the Chairman of the management board of LLC "Barva".
Rejoining politics, Baloha was elected the Mayor at municipal elections and simultaneously the People's Deputy at parliamentary election on 3 April 2002. He chose to work in the Verkhovna Rada.Information card on the People’s Deputy of Ukraine performance on the official web-site of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Інформаційна картка про діяльність народного депутата України IV скликання Балоги В.І. Офіційний веб-сайт Верховної Ради України) /ref>
From 2002 to 2005, he was th People's Deputy of Ukraine for electoral district No.71, and was the member of the "Our Ukraine"(Ukrainian: Наша Україна, Nasha Ukrayina) parliamentary faction. He also was a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on the issues of economic policy, administration of national economy, property and investments.
In May 2004 Baloha stood for Mukachevo city Mayor Election as one of the main candidates but lost the vote. Elections were declared invalid due to electoral fraud.
During the presidential campaign Baloha became the election agent of Viktor Yushchenko in Zakarpattia, electoral district No.71. On 4 February 2005, after being elected president, Viktor Yushchenko appointed Viktor Baloha to the position of Zakarpattia Regional State Administration Chairman.
On 8 September 2005 the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine terminated the powers of Baloha V.I. as the People's Deputy of Ukraine ahead of time according to his personal statement of resignation. Baloha was then released of his post as Zakarpattia Regional State Administration Chairman in September 2005 by president Viktor Yushchenko. He was then appointed Minister of Emergencies and Affairs of Population Protection from the Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe of Ukraine, followed by being appointed to the position of the Head of the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine in 2006.
On 5 October 2006 Viktor Baloha resigned from the position of the Minister of Emergencies and Affairs of Population Protection from the Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe of Ukraine. He also filed his resignation from the position of the Head of Secretariat of the President of Ukraine on Baloha's own accord and was released in May 2009. Viktor Baloha cited as the main reason for his resignation his disagreement with the decision of Yushchenko to run for president for a second term. Baloha also argued that his role had become pointless given the apathy of the President.
On 12 November 2010 the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych appointed Viktor Baloha to the position of the Minister of Emergencies and Affairs of Population Protection from the Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe of Ukraine.
On 9 December 2010, Yanukovych discharged Baloha from that role and instead appointed him to the position of the Minister of Emergencies of Ukraine.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine subsequently authorized Baloha to be the Head on Ukrainian part of several joint intergovernmental commissions for cooperation issues. Baloha headed various intergovernmental commissions for cooperation with the Czech Republic, Israel and Slovakia.
On 20 November 2012 Baloha resigned as emergencies minister because he preferred to take in the seat in the
Ukrainian Parliament
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 ...
Zakarpattia Oblast
The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...
for
United Centre
Andriy Baloha's Team ( uk, Команда Андрія Балоги, Komanda Andriya Balohy; formerly United Centre) is a Ukrainian political party. It is an offspring of Our Ukraine. Legally, Andriy Baloha's Team is the successor of the Party o ...
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 ...
(11 November 2012)
In the October
2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election
Snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada took place on 26 October 2014.
Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, had pressed for early parliamentary elections since his victory in the presidential election in May.Google Translate
Google Translate is a multilingual neural machine translation service developed by Google to translate text, documents and websites from one language into another. It offers a website interface, a mobile app for Android and iOS, and an API ...
option)'' Short bio LIGA
In July 2015, Baloha was implicated in violent clashes in Zakarpattia with fellow MP Mikhail Lanyo, relating to the control of cigarette smuggling in the region.
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 Ma ...
Baloha was reelected as a candidate for United Centre again in constituency 69 (in Zakarpattia Oblast).CEC counts 100 percent of vote in Ukraine's parliamentary elections
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 ...
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 ...
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 August 2021)
On 1 July 2021 United Centre was renamed Andriy Baloha's Team and it became headed by Viktor Baloha's son (and mayor of
Mukachevo
Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...
Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united)
The Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) ( uk, Соцiал-демократична партія України (об'єднана); СДПУ(о)), is a Ukrainian political party that was originally established as the Social Democratic ...
. In 1998 during parliamentary electoral campaign Baloha was the campaign chief of the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) in Zakarpattia region: the Social Democratic Party (united) received the fifth part of its votes in Zakarpattia.
Viktor Baloha supports the national movement of Rusyns (Carpatho-Rusyns), in particular he stands for recognition of Rusyns as a separate nationality in Ukraine.
In 2000 V. Baloha initiated "de-partisation" in the region and withdrew his membership in the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united). This initiative was supported by the then President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma and the Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko.
In 2007 Baloha was elected as the head of Political Council of the People's Union "Our Ukraine" party.
On 15 February 2008 Baloha declared that he withdraws the membership in the presidential People's Union "Our Ukraine". The politician stressed that "notwithstanding the circumstances" his participation in politics would be connected with the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko – "a person of high principles and noble aims".
In June 2008 Viktor Baloha joined the party
United Centre
Andriy Baloha's Team ( uk, Команда Андрія Балоги, Komanda Andriya Balohy; formerly United Centre) is a Ukrainian political party. It is an offspring of Our Ukraine. Legally, Andriy Baloha's Team is the successor of the Party o ...
. Since July 2008 he is the member of the Presidium of United Centre. Since August 2010 he is the Leader of United Centre. Since 2010 up to now he is the Deputy of Zakarpattia Regional Council.
Family involvement in politics
In the
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
and
2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election
Snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada took place on 26 October 2014.
Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, had pressed for early parliamentary elections since his victory in the presidential election in May.Zakarpattia Oblast
The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...
. After having failed to do so in 2012, distant relative Vasyl Petiovka also won a parliamentary seat this way in 2014, meaning that the Baloha family won four out of the six single mandate constituencies of Zakarpattia Oblast. 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 Ma ...
only Viktor Baloha and Petiovka were re-elected (Petiovka in Zakarpattia's constituency 72).
In the 2015 Ukrainian local elections Baloha's son Andriy Baloha was elected Mayor of
Mukachevo
Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...
. He was reelected in 2020. On 1 July 2020 Viktor Baloha's United Centre (political party) was renamed Andriy Baloha's Team and it became headed by Andriy Baloha. In January 2022 Andriy Baloha joined (former
parliamentary speaker
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a Legislature, legislative body, is its chairperson, presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.
Usage
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the r ...
)
Dmytro Razumkov
Dmytro Oleksandrovych Razumkov ( ua, Дмитро Олександрович Разумков; born 8 October 1983) is a Ukrainian politician and former Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (from August 2019 to 7 October 2021). Previously he was leader ...
Decorated
by the awards of Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate:
*The Order of the Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Great Prince Vladimir of the first degree;
*The Order of the Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Great Prince Vladimir of the second degree;
* The jubilee order "2000 years of the Nativity of Christ" of the first degree.
* On 23 February 2012 by state decoration of Vatican – the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Sylvester Pope and Martyr.The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Sylvester Pope and Martyr (Latin: Ordo Sanctus Silvestri Papae, Italiano: Ordine di San Silvestro Papa)