Oleg Khomenok

Oleg Khomenok, Senior Media Advisor of Internews Network, coordinator of SCOOP project in Ukraine, has 20 years of experience in journalism, media education, and managing investigative reporting and media support projects in the post-Soviet media environment. Oleg has eight years of experience working as a reporter investigating political campaigns and ethnic minority issues in Crimea.

Coordinating YanukovychLeaks.org project from the start, Oleg together with a team of Ukrainian reporters organized tens of thousands of financial documents from the former Ukrainian president, rescuing and publishing them online.

He had been involved in establishing SCOOP activities in Ukraine and Belarus since 2003, and has extensive experience consulting, coordinating, and networking investigative reporters. He is co-founder of Crimean Information and Press Center and Regional Press Development Institute, two Ukrainian NGOs now members of GIJN.

During the past decade Khomenok conducted several dozen trainings in investigative journalism techniques and strategies for investigative reporters in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, and other countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

As a candidate for the new board in GIJN, he says:

Since 1998 I was involved in development of the network of investigative reporters in former Soviet Union countries via a variety of the projects such as trainings, providing support to reporters, and arranging regional conferences. Initiated by me in 2008, the Ukrainian annual Investigative Reporting Conference has now become a regional event, gathering reporters from post-Soviet countries to share best practices and techniques as well as to discuss challenges they are facing doing IR.

Understanding all communication constrains I will work with Cyrillic Investigative Reporting part of the world, ensuring that the Global Network and investigative reporters of the post-Soviet countries will communicate and that GIJN will expand and spread activities to professionals with limited English language skills.

I’ve done a lot of practical things in arranging 7th Global Conference in Kiev, as well as in fundraising in Ukraine to give an opportunity to Ukraine IR community members to attend GIJC-13 in Rio. I will continue to develop a network of IR professionals of Ukraine and other FSU countries as well as seeking for the sources of diversification of IR support of GIJN in this part of the world.