Andriy Baloha's Team (Ukrainian: Команда Андрія Балоги, romanized: Komanda Andriya Balohy; formerly United Centre) is a Ukrainian political party. It is an offspring of Our Ukraine. Legally, Andriy Baloha's Team is the successor of the Party of Private Property (Ukrainian: Партія приватної власності; Partiya privatnoi vlasnosti), registered with the Ministry of Justice on September 24, 1999. The party changed its name to United Centre in March 2008. In 2020, the party was renamed Andriy Baloha's Team and consequently taken over by Mukachevo mayor Andriy Baloha.
As United Centre the party won three seats in the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election; but in February 2013 its member Pavlo Baloha was deprived of his deputy seats by the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine because it had established that the election results in the single-member districts in which he was elected had been "unreliable". In the 2014 parliamentary election the party won no parliamentary seats. In the 2019 parliamentary election, the party won one seat as Viktor Baloha was elected to the Verkhovna Rada.
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History
Party of Private Property
The Party of Private Property was registered with the Ministry of Justice on September 24, 1999. In the 1999 Ukrainian presidential election, the party endorsed incumbent president, Leonid Kuchma.
During the Ukrainian parliamentary elections 2002, it was part of the electoral alliance Team of Winter Generation. Team of Winter Generation won 2.0% of the popular vote and no seats.
The Party of Private Property did not participate in the Ukrainian parliamentary elections of 2006 and 2007.
A merger of United Centre with the Democratic Party of Ukraine failed to materialize prior to the first congress of the United Centre.
United Centre
In February 2008, several prominent members left Our Ukraine. Viktor Baloha, Head of the President's Secretariat resigned on February 15. Roman Bezsmertny, a high ranking party official, along with people's deputies Mykhaylo Polyanchych, Ihor Kril, Viktor Topolov, Oksana Bilozir and Vasyl Petiovka, resigned on February 20, declaring in a joint statement that: "some of the leaders of the party play their own game, coming from personal interests and it has nothing to do with responsibility, pluralism and norms of democracy."
At the sixth Party Congress of the Party of Private Property, held on 20 March 2008, the party decided to change its name to United Centre. At this time the party's goals were: "assisting President Viktor Yushchenko to realize his program of actions" and "to unite Eastern Ukraine and Western Ukraine".
On March 27, United Centre held the founding meeting in Kyiv. On July 8, Presidential Secretariat's Chief Baloha entered the United Centre party. On July 12, 2008, United Centre re-elected Verkhovna Rada deputy Ihor Kril of Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defense. The merger of United Center with the Democratic Party of Ukraine failed to materialize prior to the congress. Administrative pressure by governors upon state employees to sign up to United Centre is said to be ongoing. Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defence Bloc complained that members of its regional branches are being poached by United Centre.
In October 2008, the Social Christian Party merged with United Centre.
On October 21, 2008, the presidium of People's Union Our Ukraine decided not to team up with any other party then the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc for the 2008 snap parliamentary poll and called the idea of teaming up with United Centre "impossible". On 20 November 2008, the United Centre leader Ihor Kril said the party would participate independently in the next parliamentary elections and that he "fully supports the view that the format of Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense Bloc, as it exists now, is not realistic or effective. Every political force should take responsibility for their actions before the electorate."
According to UNIAN, the People's Union Our Ukraine and United Centre parties were to carry out a unifying congress on January 17, 2009. The People's Democratic Party was reported to join the move. However, nothing like this happened.
Andriy Baloha's Team
In August 2020, ahead of the 2020 Ukrainian local elections, the party was renamed Andriy Baloha's Team, and taken over by Viktor Baloha's son, Andriy Baloha. Under the new name, the party saw a revival as a regional political force in Zakarpattia Oblast. Even though it only ran candidates within Zakarpattia, the organization garnered 0.5% of the total vote across Ukraine in the 2020 elections, winning 194 seats on local councils across Zakarpattia and 7 seats on the regional legislature, the Zakarpattia Oblast Council. Its most notable success came in the city of Mukachevo, where Andriy Baloha was reelected mayor. Baloha received 54% of the vote, allowing him to bypass a potential runoff election.
In January 2022, Andriy Baloha joined (former parliamentary speaker) Dmytro Razumkov's new political project.
Stances
The party rejects any possibility of joining a parliamentary coalition with the Communist Party of Ukraine.