Boryslav Bereza

Personal life

Bereza was born on 13 June 1974 in Kiev. In 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union, he moved to Israel, where he lived until 1993. He identifies as a Jew and a Cohen.

Career

Upon his return to Ukraine, Bereza was a book dealer and publisher and eventually created his own small literary society. At the same time he also worked as a television host for the First National Channel as well as a radio host at the Prosto Radio (Simply Radio).

From February to December 2014, Bereza served as a spokesperson for the political party Right Sector, while not officially being a member of it. He participated in some events of the Euromaidan.

In the fall of 2014 Bereza participated in the Ukrainian parliamentary election running as an independent candidate and winning at the 213th electoral district in Kiev. After the elections, already as a People's Deputy of Ukraine he announced the creation of an inter-factional parliamentary group titled "Ukrop" (a portmanteau for the Ukrainian opposition). In parliament he joined the inter-factional group Ukrop.

In the 2015 local elections Bereza was the candidate for Mayor of Kiev for Party of Decisive Citizens. He made it through to the second round of Mayoral elections between him and incumbent Mayor Vitali Klitschko after Klitschko scored 40.5% of the vote and Bereza 8.8% in the first round. Klitschko won this second round with 66.5%; Bereza gained 33.51% of the votes.