Ihor Terekhov

Ihor Oleksandrovych Terekhov (Ukrainian: Ігор Олександрович Терехов; born 14 January 1967) is a Ukrainian politician who is serving as the mayor of Kharkiv since 11 November 2021. He ascended to the mayoralty on 24 December 2020 following Hennadiy Kernes' death due to COVID-19 complications. The Kharkiv early mayoral election was held on 31 October 2021, and Terekhov was declared the winner of the election with 50.66% of the votes.

Terekhov was born on 14 January 1967 in Kharkiv.

In 1990, Terekhov graduated from the Kharkiv Engineering and Construction Institute. After which he remained at the university as a research intern. Terekhov refereed 22 Ukrainian Premier League games from the 1992–93 season up until the 1994–95 season.

Terekhov worked in the private sector from 1994 to 1997.

From 1999 to 2006, Terekhov worked as a civil servant of the economic department of the Kharkiv City Council. In 2006, Terekhov graduated from the National Academy for Public Administration.

In the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Terekhov was a candidate for the Our Ukraine Bloc, but was not elected. In 2007 was appointed the Deputy Head of Governor of Kharkiv Oblast Arsen Avakov.

In 2010, Terekhov became Deputy Mayor of Kharkiv and in 2015 First Deputy Mayor. Following the 2010 Ukrainian local elections he became leader of the deputy faction of the Kharkiv City Council of Opposition Bloc – Truth and Deeds.

In the October 2015 Kharkiv local election, Terekhov was elected a deputy of the Kharkiv City Council a candidate of Revival.

In the October 2020 Kharkiv local election Terekhov was in second place on the party list and was re-elected for the party Kernes Bloc — Successful Kharkiv, the party of then incumbent Mayor Hennadiy Kernes. On 17 December 2020 Kernes died in Berlin of COVID-19.

After the death of Kernes his duties were performed by City Council Secretary Terekhov.

The Kharkiv City Council terminated the powers of Kernes on 24 December 2020 On 30 March 2021 the Ukrainian parliament set the date for the Kharkiv early mayoral election on 31 October 2021. In this election Kernes Bloc — Successful Kharkiv nominated Terekhov as its mayoral candidate. The election commission declared Terekhov the winner of the election with 50.66% of the votes. Mikhail Dobkin finished the race in second place with 28.4% of the vote. Observers reported numerous irregularities in the election and tried to annul the results of 9 polling stations through court. At an extraordinary session of the Kharkiv City Council on 11 November 2021 Terekhov was sworn in as the new Mayor of Kharkiv.

On October 5, 2022, Taras Kremin, Ukraine's Language Ombudsman, criticized Terekhov for speaking in Russian on air, but did not impose a fine.

On November 24, Terekhov again spoke in Russian while on air for a telethon, and Kremin in turn imposed a fine of 3,400 Hryvnias for not speaking in Ukrainian. In response, Terekhov stated that "the most important matter is victory" in the war, and that he promised to "speak Ukrainian in official matters", but will continue to "speak Russian during communication with Kharkiv residents". He later made clear that he would pay the fine.

On December 29, Taras Kremin again imposed a fine on Terekhov, this time for using Russian in the mayor's social media pages. On January 12, 2023, Terekhov appealed the fine on administrative grounds, which was successful by a court decision in April. After this incident, the mayor's pages switched to using Ukrainian. In July 2023, Terekhov admitted that "the war has changed the mentality of both Kharkiv residents and Ukrainians", and that he now believes "it is necessary to speak Ukrainian".

Terekhov divorced Olena Vynnyk in 2014. Terekhov identifies as ethnically Russian, and has said that his government documents state so as well. He has also added that his father was Jewish.

Terekhov has the title of "Honored Economist of Ukraine".

• List of mayors of Kharkiv