Kushnaryov was considered one of the chief ideologues of the Party of Regions and a key ally of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

Afterwards, Kushnaryov served as Leonid Kuchma's chief of staff from 1996 to 1998, and as governor of the Kharkiv Oblast from 2000 to 2004.In mid-December 2001, under the leadership of Kushnaryov, a Ukrainian-Russian economic business forum was organized in Kharkiv with the participation of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On 7 November 2003, Yevhen Kushnaryov, signed an agreement with the Governor of the Belgorod Oblast, Yevgeny Savchenko, on the creation of the Euroregion "Slobozhanshchina".

During the Orange Revolution, Kushnaryov agitated for the creation of an independent southeastern Ukrainian state in the case of Viktor Yushchenko's victory.

Considered by many to be among the party's main ideologues, Kushnaryov could be frequently seen on television debating public policy.

[3] On 15 January 2007, Kushnaryov was accidentally shot in the liver while hunting with a group of friends and colleagues, and died two days later in a hospital in Izium.