1. Yevgeny Vitalyevich Balitsky is a Russian and former Ukrainian politician, entrepreneur and former army officer who is currently serving as the governor of Zaporozhye Oblast, one of the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, since 2022.
13 Facts About Yevgeny Balitsky
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Yevgeny Balitsky entered politics in 1998 as an independent member of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Council and joined the Party of Regions in 2004, and had served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine in the 7th and 8th convocations of the Verkhovna Rada from 2012 to 2019.
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Yevhen Vitaliiovych Yevgeny Balitsky was born in Melitopol, then in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union, on 10 December 1969, to a family of military aviators.
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From 1997 to 2007, Yevgeny Balitsky was head of the Melitopol Brewery, and only in 2007 did he sell a controlling stake in this company.
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From 1998 to 2002, Yevgeny Balitsky was a deputy of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Council, as an independent.
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In March 2002, Yevgeny Balitsky was seen as a plausible candidate for mayor of Melitopol.
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From 2012 to 2019, Yevgeny Balitsky was a People's Deputy of Ukraine, serving in the 7th and 8th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada.
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On 3 June 2014, Yevgeny Balitsky left the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada, later joining the Opposition Bloc in May 2015.
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Yevgeny Balitsky was not among them, as he refused the invitation.
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The Security Service of Ukraine has claimed that Yevgeny Balitsky is the grey eminence of the occupation in Melitopol.
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On 9 May 2022, it was reported that Yevgeny Balitsky was appointed governor of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia Oblast.
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Yevgeny Balitsky became a member of the United Russia political party on 26 September 2022.
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Yevgeny Balitsky was sanctioned by the UK government in 2022 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War.