Oleg Tsaryov
Oleg Anatolyevich Tsaryov (Russian: Олег Анатольевич Царёв; Ukrainian: Олег Анатолійович Царьов, romanized: Oleh Anatoliiovych Tsariov; born 2 June 1970)[2] is a Ukrainian and Russian[3] businessman, politician and former separatist official in eastern Ukraine.[4][5][6]
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Anatolyevich and the family name is Tsaryov.
Oleg Tsaryov
Office established
Office abolished
2 June 1970[1]
Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Dnipro, Ukraine)
Ukrainian, Russian
Party of Regions (until 2014)
Tsaryov is a former People's Deputy of Ukraine elected for the Party of Regions in 2002, who was expelled from the party on 7 April 2014.[7]
On 26 July 2014, he became the speaker of the Parliament of Novorossiya, a confederation that included the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, and served until its dissolution on 18 May 2015. He has been wanted by Ukrainian police since June 2014 for promoting separatism and violence.[8][9]
Biography
Early life
Tsaryov was born 2 June 1970 in Dnipropetrovsk (now Dnipro), in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union.[5]
Tsaryov graduated from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute in 1992 with a degree in Applied Physics.[2]
Business career
Tsaryov started his career in 1992 as an engineer for the preparation of production at "Avteks" (Автекс), a specialized small business in Dnipropetrovsk.[2] Then in 1993 he became head of the Ukrainian financial insurance company "Confidence" (Доверие).[2] After leaving Confidence in 1995, he held a succession of senior positions at the Dnipropetrovsk Computer Centre Ltd (Днепропетровский компьютерный центр), a company called Silicon Valley (Кремниевая долина), and then the Dnipropetrovsk Paper Mill (Днепропетровская бумажная фабрика).[2]
His company "Dniprobuminvest" went bankrupt in March 2014.[10]
Election to national parliament
Tsaryov became a People's Deputy of Ukraine (народний депутат України) in the 2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[2][11] He was elected in single mandate district number 40 located in Krynychky with 30.26% of the vote.[11][12] In parliament he became a member of the faction United Ukraine and he later joined the Party of Regions.[12]
In 2005 Tsaryov became head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional branch of Party of Regions.[2]
In the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election Tsaryov was re-elected to parliament as number 35 on the election list of Party of Regions.[11][13]
And again on the same list but now placed 114th in the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[11][2]
In the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election Tsaryov was re-elected to parliament for Party of Regions again in single mandate district number 40.[14] He was elected with 45.08% of the vote.[14]
Tsaryov was one of the most ardent supporters a violent dispersal of the (2013–2014) Euromaidan protest.[12] He called these protesters "terrorists, bandits and extremists."[12]
Family life
Tsaryov is married to Larissa (born in 1968) and has a daughter (born in 1999) and son (born in 1995), who both study in the United Kingdom. He has another daughter, born in 2003.[5][43]
In December 2022 Tsaryov's brother Mykhailo was convicted for "terrorism" after being accused of preparing a series of explosions at strategically important objects in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast for an alleged promise to appoint him Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast if the province would be occupied by Russia.[44]