Oleksandr Kobets
Олександр Кобець
Blurred image of Kobets released by SBU
Mayor of Russian occupied Kherson
(de facto, Russian-installed)
In office
26 April 2022 – 11 November 2022
disputed with Ihor Kolykhaiev
Preceded byIhor Kolykhaiev[lower-alpha 1]
Personal details
Born (1959-09-27) 27 September 1959
Kherson, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityUkrainian
Military service
Allegiance Soviet Union
 Ukraine
Branch/serviceKGB
SBU
Years of serviceUntil 1991 (KGB)
1991–2010 (SBU)

Oleksandr Yuriyovych Kobets[lower-alpha 2] (born 27 September 1959) is a Ukrainian and Russian politician, businessman and former intelligence officer who served as the Russian-installed mayor of Kherson from 26 April 2022 until 11 November 2022 when Russian forces occupied the city.[1][2][3][4][5]

Biography

Kobets was born on 27 September 1959 in Kherson, in what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union.

KGB career

Kobets served as a KGB officer until 1991, when he started working for the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Kobets supervised economic issues in the 1990s, in particular, the work of the Kherson Oil Refinery. In the early 2000s, Kobets was transferred to the head office of the SBU and served as an officer in the operational leadership of the SBU. A pensioner by seniority, he retired from the SBU in 2010.[6]

In his resume, which was compiled in September 2020, he writes that "during his work in the special services, he cooperated with structural units of the Cabinet of Ministers, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy, National Bank, State Property Fund, Antimonopoly Committee, Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry, Naftogaz, Ministry of Industrial Policy, Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, Ministry of Health. He carried out measures on financial, energy, food and environmental security of the state". Oleksandr Kobets wanted to get a position in one of the companies in Kyiv, but was not hired.[7]

Activities in retirement

Following his retirement, Kobets, together with his wife, founded a company which handles contract mediation for goods, production of juices, mineral water, soft drinks and trade. The Centre for Journalistic Investigations revealed that Kobets has not repaid a loan of 80 thousand dollars for several years.[6]

In the summer of 2006, Oleksandr Kobets registered with Ukragrohimpromholding OJSC, which traded in ammonia and was founded by Oleksandr Bessonov, a former agent of the KGB, a citizen of the Russian Federation with a passport.[8]

In 2007, he got a job at the "Ukrainian Collection Agency" company, dealing with personnel issues and official investigations.

Kobets then worked at RSB Petroleum FZC in the United Arab Emirates from 2008 to 2011. This company was engaged in trading in petroleum products and oil.

In 2012, he was the director of Transocean Ukraine Export LLC, which traded machines and equipment. In the same year, Oleksandr Kobets got a job as an adviser to the head of the Shevchenkiv district administration of Kyiv.

From 2015 to 2018, he worked at Alfa-Bank, where he managed internal security.

From 2018 to 2020, he held the position of head of internal security at VK Tobacco and Sich Bank.

Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kobets lived in Kyiv.[6]

Collaborationism during the Russian invasion (2022)

Oleksandr Kobets left Kyiv on March 7 in a Mercedes-Benz, registered to his wife Hanna Kobets.[9] On March 15, he left Ukraine through the city of Uzhhorod.

On 26 April, during the Russian occupation of Kherson, Kobets was appointed Mayor of Kherson by the Russian military. The start of his term was marked by protests against the Russian occupation of Kherson.[10] On 11 November 2022 the city of Kherson was liberated by the Ukrainian army.[11]

Sanctions

In July 2022, the European Union imposed sanctions on Oleksandr Kobets in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[12]

Sanctioned by the United Kingdom government in 2022 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War. [13]

Family

Oleksandr Kobets's has a wife named Hanna Kobets and a daughter named Marianna Kramer (Kobets).[14] His father is Yuriy Kobets.

Notes

  1. ↑ Kolykhaiev was removed by the Russian military administration in Kherson on 26 April 2022, but continues to claim the title of mayor of Kherson.
  2. ↑ Ukrainian: Олександр Юрійович Кобець
    Russian: Александр Юрьевич Кобец, Aleksandr Yuryevich Kobets

References

  1. ↑ "Херсон: окупанти призначили своїх "голову ОДА" та "мера"". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "Новым мэром Херсона стал бывший сотрудник КГБ СССР". www.mk.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  3. ↑ "Kherson mayor on 'referendum', captives, remote work under occupation". english.nv.ua. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  4. ↑ "Знакомые все лица: оккупанты назначили известных коллаборантов новыми главами Херсона и области". ukrainenews.fakty.ua (in Russian). Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  5. ↑ "Структура администрации города Херсон". Официальный сайт Администрации города Херсон (in Russian). 17 June 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 "Оккупационный «мэр» Херсона Кобец служил в КГБ-СБУ, занимался бизнесом в Киеве и имеет долги". Центр журналистских расследований (in Russian). 29 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  7. ↑ Юрченко, Аліса (1 June 2022). "Окупаційний "мер" Херсона Кобець: повна біографія від КДБ до Альфа-Банку". Bihus. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  8. ↑ Соковнин, Алексей (16 July 2008). "Кредит Внешторгбанка растворился в цистернах". Коммерсантъ (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  9. ↑ Юрченко, Аліса (25 May 2022). "Журналісти отримали фото секретного окупаційного "мера" Херсона: Кобець їде з Києва на мерседесі". Bihus.info. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  10. ↑ Times, The Moscow (28 April 2022). "Russian-Occupied Kherson Names New Leadership Amid Pro-Ukraine Protests, Rocket Attacks". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  11. ↑ Beaumont, Peter; Harding, Luke; Sauer, Pjotr; Koshiw, Isobel (11 November 2022). "Ukraine troops enter centre of Kherson as Russians retreat in chaos". the Guardian. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  12. ↑ "COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2022/1270 of 21 July 2022". Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  13. ↑ "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  14. ↑ BIHUS info (1 June 2022). "Кого призначили "мером" Херсона? Правда про Кобця: від КДБ до Альфа-Банку". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
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