Omelchenko died on 25 November 2021, aged 83, after being infected with COVID-19 which caused a lesion of the lungs.[4] From 2014 until his death he was a member of the Kyiv City Council.[4]
He also became the chief engineer of the construction plant and the first deputy chairman of Kyivmiskbud.[5] Omelchenko worked in Afghanistan during the Soviet–Afghan War in 1987–1989.[5]
Political career
After 1989, Omelchenko worked in the system of state construction, he was deputy chairman of the executive committee of the Kyiv City Council, and held the position of general director of Kyivrekonstruktsiya.[5]
During the 1999 Kyiv mayoral election, Omelchenko defeated noted oligarchHryhoriy Surkis, with 76 percent of the vote to Surkis's 16 percent. Omelchenko became the first elected mayor in Ukraine's modern history, with a platform highlighting his work in restoring much of Kyiv's historic buildings and renovating parts of downtown Kyiv.[6]
On recordings, which were termed the "Second Cassette Scandal"[a] and released in early January 2002, Omelchenko demonstrably urged Viktor Yushchenko to have the Yushchenko-led Our Ukraine bloc and the Omelchenko-led Unity bloc oust Viktor Medvedchuk as first vice speaker of the Rada. On 13 December 2001, Medvedchuk was ousted.[7] The recordings revealed that Omelchenko virulently opposed Medvedchuk and the Medvedchuk led SDPU(o), which supported Leonid Kuchma.[7]
Omelchenko was a candidate in the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, nominated by the Unity Party, which he formerly chaired. Omelchenko was the only candidate for President whose son was a deputy in the Verkhovna Rada. His program included the urgent withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Iraq. In the election, he received 0.48% of the vote.[8]
While he was running for a third term as Mayor of Kyiv in what was expected to be an easy victory in the March 2006 election, he was soundly defeated, with 21% of the votes behind elected mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi and Vitali Klitschko, who would himself later become mayor of Kyiv.[9]
In the 2012 parliamentary elections,[16] Omelchenko at first intended to attempt to be re-elected into parliament in single-member districts number 220 situated in Kyiv; but he withdrew from the elections.[17]
During the 2014 Kyiv local election, Omelchenko was again a candidate for the post of Mayor of Kyiv, again as a candidate of the Unity Party.[18][19] He finished 4th in this election with 6.1% of the votes (winner Vitali Klitschko received 56.7%).[20] Unity won 3.3% of the votes and 2 seats in the Kyiv City Council; including a seat for Omelchenko.[21][22]
In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Omelchenko was a candidate of the Unity Party in single-member district No. 220, located in Kyiv.[24][1] He took the fifth place in his constituency, gaining 8.28% of the vote.[24][1]
In the 2020 Kyiv local elections, Omelchenko was again candidate for mayor of Kyiv, nominated by Unity of Oleksandr Omelchenko.[25][26] In this election, the party was the third most popular party of Kyiv, winning 14 seats, and Omelchenko returned to the Kyiv City Council.[4][27] However, he lost the mayoral election to Vitali Klitschko with 50.52% of the votes.[28] Omelchenko finished in eighth place.[29]
Death
On 18 November 2021, Omelchenko was admitted to hospital after being infected with COVID-19 that had caused a lesion of the lungs.[4] Omelchenko died on 25 November 2021, aged 83.[4]
Honours and awards
Hero of Ukraine (21 August 2001) for outstanding personal contribution to the Ukrainian state in the socio-economic and cultural development of the capital of Ukraine[30]
