Vitaliy Kononov

Kononov was born on 2 April 1950 in Kobuleti, which was then part of the Georgian SSR in the Soviet Union.^[1] His father, Mykola, was a military serviceman and his mother, Tetiana, was a physician and pensioner.^[1] In 1974, Kononov graduated from the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute within the Faculty of Chemical Technology, receiving the specialty of technologist of organic synthesis.^[1]

After graduating, he worked at the Ukrainian branch of the Dolgoprudnensky OPU of the all-union trust "Orghim" (a chemical product producer) as a master and later head of a section until 1990.^[1] Then, from 1990 to 1997, he worked at the cruise company "Chervona Ruta" in Kyiv (who also founded the Chervona Ruta festival), serving as its Deputy Director.^[1]

In 1990, he became a member of the Party of Greens of Ukraine (PZU).^[1] From 1990 to 1992 he served as its co-chairman, and then from 1992 to 2006 served as its chairman and was involved in the apparatus of the party.^[1] He also became a deputy of the Kyiv City Council, where he was a member of the cultural commission, serving for one term from 1990 to 1994.^[1] During the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election, he was elected from the PZU as candidate no. 1 on the party list, serving as the head of the PZU parliamentary faction, until his term ended in April 2001.^[1]

Kononov was a candidate in the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, nominated by the Party of Greens of Ukraine, which he then chaired. He was a People's Deputy of Ukraine, and been concerned with issues such as youth politics, physical training and sport. Since 1999, he has been a member of the Board of Ukrainian-wide union of democratic forces "Consent". He was also a presidential candidate in the 1999 Ukrainian presidential election, receiving 0.29% of the votes^[2] and finished 11th of 13 candidates.

In his election program, Kononov supports transition to parliamentary-presidential government, and he actively speaks in support of environmental protection.