In the period from 6.11.2010 to 4.11.2013 the mayor in Odessa was Kostusev Alexey Alekseevich. Where is this politician who has three times been elected to the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, having a doctorate in economics and being a well-deserved economist of Ukraine? Some Ukrainian journalists try to answer this question.
From the biography of the statesman and public figure
Kostusyov Alexey Alekseevich is the son of a maritime border guard. He is a native of the Sakhalin city of Nevelsk. Date of birth - June 29, 1954.
Alexey spent his school years in Odessa.
In 1970 he became a student of the Odessa Institute of National Economy, who graduated five years later with a red diploma.
In 1975, he was drafted into the Soviet Army.
After demobilization by the senior sergeant in 1977Alexei Alexeevich Kostusov, whose biography was connected with one organization for more than fifteen years, got a job in Odessa at the Institute, where the engineers of the navy fleet were trained. He began as a junior researcher, then became an assistant professor and head of the department.
For three years he headed the student detachment "Guard of the Five-Year Plan", who worked in the Bay of Tiksi in the Arctic Circle.
In "Komsomolskaya Pravda" it was noted that this construction team became the winner of the All-Union Socialist Competition.
In 1980 Kostusov Alexey Alexeevich received a Ph.D. His thesis covered the theme "Socialistic Labor Lifestyle in the context of scientific and technological revolution".
Changing the scope of activity
Since 1991, Kostusev was appointed to the post of deputy chairman in the Kiev regional executive committee of Odessa.
The following year he was elected to the post of chairman in the Odessa city committee for privatization.
In 1993, Alexei Alexandrovich Kostusov with a group of like-minded people organized the collection of several thousand signatures of Odessa residents in order that the Russian language received official status in this city.
После озвученного им доклада на городском совете the participants of the meeting adopted a resolution stating that Odessa enterprises, institutions and organizations can use the Russian language on an equal footing with the Ukrainian language at work.
Party affiliation
For his social and political activities, Alexei Kostusev had to join various political parties and associations.
In 1991, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was liquidated, in connection with which its membership in it was terminated.
As non-partisan Alexei Alexandrovich Kostusev joined the "Left Center", which included the "Socialist Party", "Selyanskaya Party" and various non-party politicians.
Later, he moved to the "Labor Ukraine", where he became the leader and entered the political executive committee.
Since 2002, he became the head of the political party "Union".
In early 2006, Viktor Yanukovych wasKostusev was invited to join the Party of Regions with other party leaders of the Union. At that time, this organization united all the "anti-Orange" forces of Ukraine.
From that time on Kostusev entered the presidium of the political council of this party, from where he had not left until now.
Parliamentary activity
Since 1998, Kostusev was elected to the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada of the third convocation. He ran on the list of the bloc of the Social Party of Ukraine from the Selyanskaya Party of Ukraine.
In the Ukrainian parliament, he was put at the head of the investigative commission of the Rada, whose function included checking the effectiveness of the work of the Cabinet in providing Ukrainians with electric energy.
According to the results of the work of the commission in this industry, order was established, regular disconnections of the population from the electricity supply that had occurred earlier were stopped.
Since February 2000, Kostusev was headed by one of the committees in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine dealing with economic issues, national economy, property and investment management.
Work in the Antimonopoly Committee
Since June 2001, Kostusev headed the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU). He served as chairman of this structure for seven years.
He managed to organize tight control overthe activities of monopolists by the AMCU, to achieve the prevention of collusion. From his side, much attention was paid to problems affecting the vital interest of the broadest strata of Ukrainians. He led an active struggle against the increase in prices for basic foodstuffs and gasoline.
The Anti-Monopoly Committee was able to establish a recalculation system in case of failure to provide heat and water supply services.
For seven years, the AMCU has helped Ukrainians return more than three billion hryvnias. In particular, about 252 million were returned to Odessa citizens.
The leadership of the two companies that have set higher prices for gasoline, was fined 100 million hryvnia.
In 2003, at the direction of the Antimonopoly Committee, the Odessa City Executive Committee revised the tariffs for water supply.
Odessa residents did not have to pay twice the loss of water in the house network, which led to annual savings of over ten million hryvnia.
Fight collusion
In 2005, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine underKostusev’s leadership fined five companies, seeing in their actions the existence of a conspiracy, as a result of which sugar prices were raised. The total amount of fines in this case amounted to seventeen million hryvnia.
In 2007, Kostusev stopped the growth, and then managed to lower the price of sunflower oil. Firms that overestimate the price of oil were fined about one million hryvnia each.
American company Western Union had tounder pressure from the AMCU, four times lower the tariff for transferring money from the countries where more than 7 million work in Ukraine. As a result, in the families of the Ukrainians, it has remained annually up to $ 150 million, which previously “floated away” abroad.
In 2004, to the chair inKostusev Alexey Alekseevich was elected the Interstate Council on Antimonopoly Settlement in the CIS member countries. The nationality "Ukrainian" was first represented in this post.
Later he took the place of the honorary chairman in this structure.
Kostusev constantly remembered Odessa.In particular, the negative activity of Odessaoblenergo, which was abusing its monopoly status, was suppressed. After the imposition of penalties to the state budget, this company returned more than one hundred thousand hryvnia.
In 2010, Kostusev was again approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as chairman of the AMCU.
Odessa Mayor
10/31/2010 Kostuseva was elected the city head of Odessa. His closest rival E. Hurwitz, who had previously been the Odessa mayor, he was ahead of twenty percent of the vote.
Exactly three years on 10/31/2014 Kostusev voluntarily resigned.
Political analysts expressed that the resignation of the Odessa mayor was caused by the growing claims to him by the leaders of the state and the Party of Regions in connection with his pro-Russian sentiment.
Kostusev himself said that he resigned afterhow they began to press him, trying to persuade him to mean actions. He was demanded to destroy the business of Igor Markov, with whom Kostusev had close friendly relations.
Kostusev Alexey Alekseevich: family
The exact location of the policy is currently not reliably known. Some believe that he is in London. Another version is in Italy.
His daughter Viola, born in 1988 (from a third marriage), graduated from the University of London and works in London in an online magazine as a producer.
From his first marriage, he has a daughter, Anna. From the second - son Alex, who also studied in London. For some time, the latter worked as deputy chairman of the Odessa Regional Council.
