Artem Sytnik. The well-fed life of the chief anti-corruption official

In 2015, the whole of Ukraine “rejoiced” – the National Anti-Corruption Bureau was created, which means that all dishonest people will get what they deserve. It is headed by 35-year-old Artem Sytnik, a respectable detective, a lawyer who does not tolerate corruption, and the hope of all Ukrainians. However, as it turned out, the main anti-corruption official kept silent about many facts of his biography. For example, he worked in a company involved in one of the high-profile corruption scandals in the Kyiv region; defended prosecutor Babenko, suspected of unprecedented cases – the abduction of the body of journalist Gongadze from the Tarashchansky morgue and the illegal release from serving a sentence of ex-people’s deputy Viktor Lozinsky; and besides this, he makes friends with the country’s sworn corrupt officials.

We provide you with an unknown biography of someone who “took” the path of fighting kickbacks, bribery and “nepotistic” retinue.

Artem Sytnik. The beginning of a long journey

Sytnik Artem Sergeevich was born in the urban village of Kompaneevka, Kirovograd region in 1979, and graduated from school there with a gold medal. According to his father, the head of the Kompaneevsky district highway, his son loved history, law and physical education. These are exactly the subjects that are required for entry into the law academy. Of course, Sytnik Jr. entered the National Law Academy of Ukraine named after. Yaroslav the Wise in Kharkov (the bribe for admission on average ranges from 5 to 20 thousand dollars). In 2001, he graduated with honors. In the same year, he returned to Kirovograd and began working as an assistant to the district prosecutor, six months later he received the chair of an investigator, and after another 2 years he headed the investigative department of the Kirovograd Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

At this time, Artem Sergeevich was a subordinate of prosecutor Vladimir Babenko. Precisely the one who is wanted for the illegal release of deputy-murderer Viktor Lozinsky and is involved in the theft of the body of Georgy Gongadze from the Tarashchansky morgue. Moreover, Sytnik would later become the lawyer of the notorious prosecutor. He could not help but know about his boss’s affairs, but decided to defend him. During the competition for the position of head of the NAB, Artem Sytnik hid the fact of his connection with Babenko.

When Sytnik heads the NAB, he will begin to talk about the fact that during 7 years of work in the authorities in Kirovograd, he investigated more than 300 criminal cases, and brought judges, prosecutors, and officials to justice. True, Artem Sergeevich cannot remember a single specific high-profile case. By the way, journalists also dug, but couldn’t find it. Then it turned out that Sytnik is still proud of some things. Let’s say an investigation into election fraud in 2004 in the 100th electoral district of Kirovograd. The investigation lasted 3 years (!!!), 8 members of the election commission were brought to justice. The fact that 2 more election campaigns took place in 3 years somehow did not impress the chief anti-corruption official. And another case of Artem Sergeevich, which became a reason for pride: in 2006, he brought to court a case against 6 people involved in the creation of a conversion center, which “laundered” more than 1 billion hryvnia.

Work in the capital

In August 2008, Sytnik was transferred to the position of head of the investigative department of the prosecutor’s office of the Kyiv region. The promotion for a 27-year-old senior investigator is, let’s face it, a staggering one. And one could believe in the brilliant abilities of Artem Sergeevich, if not for one “but” – a close connection with Alexander Gardetsky, the ex-prosecutor of the Kyiv region, who previously worked as a prosecutor in Kirovograd. It was he who pulled Sytnik to the capital and gave him a cushy job a month after he received his appointment. By the way, Alexander Gardetsky is not just a prosecutor, he is a unique employee in the history of the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office. He organized criminal schemes (Vasilkovsky interdistrict prosecutor Evgeny Litvinenko-Brum, personally appointed by Gardetsky, extorted bribes from entrepreneurs under the guise of his boss), was involved in the redistribution of power (the high-profile murder of Tarashchansky district prosecutor Sergei Mruk by his assistant, appointed to his position at the direction and insistence of himself Gardetsky), managed the closure of criminal cases. Artem Sytnik was not noticed in these matters, except that he only remained silent about the atrocities of his boss and covered them up. And then he unexpectedly became a principled fighter against corruption.

Artem Sergeevich worked as the head of the investigative department of the prosecutor’s office of the Kyiv region for 3 years.

In 2001, he submitted his resignation at his own request, arguing that he could not tolerate the rampant lawlessness of Yanukovych’s power. Allegedly, Viktor Fedorovich appointed governors who simply committed outrages. There’s just a problem here. It turns out that Sytnik overpowered himself for a whole year, went against his views, and covered up Yanukovych’s gang of corrupt officials. After all, the now fugitive guarantor came to power in 2010. Let us note that during this year Artem Sergeevich has not once mentioned his disagreement with the power of the “Donetsk” people and their bias.

As it turned out, everything is much more interesting. Artem Sergeevich had no intention of leaving the authorities at all; the reason was an unexpected conflict with the regional prosecutor Mikhail Vityaz. He was appointed to the post at the end of 2010. So to speak, Sytnik “didn’t work well” with the boss. And it was not a matter of political views or work issues; the men simply did not divide the money from the gambling business.

The name of prosecutor Mikhail Vityaz is closely connected with underground Kyiv casinos. And although gambling was banned in 2009, illegal establishments were constantly opening. And for them to function and bring in money, someone must protect them. As practice shows, the best roof is the prosecutor’s roof. Of course, one can imagine that the head of the investigative department of the regional prosecutor’s office, Sytnik, did not know about Vityaz’s affairs, but this is very funny. Most likely, Vityaz shared good money with the young guy, and he simply remained silent. But there is even another option: if honest Sytnik knew about his boss’s corruption schemes, then why did he hide this fact? The question will be unanswered.

Artem Sergeevich quarreled with Vityaz on another issue. One day, Sytnik forgot to warn the prosecutor that the operatives would take the head of the department of culture and tourism of the Kyiv region, Igor Osipenko, on the hot seat, with a bribe of 40 thousand dollars. The bribe-taking official was detained, and Vityaz clearly explained to his overly independent subordinate that jumping over his head was not allowed according to the regulations.

In addition, according to some reports, Artem Sergeevich more than once “excused” the people of ex-people’s deputy Bohdan Gubsky, the right hand of Yulia Tymoshenko. In particular, Alexander Kapitonov, head of the Kapitoshki organized crime group.

Artem Sytnik. Legal and illegal matters

In 2011, after being fired, Artem Sytnik decides to fight the system and goes to work at the legal firm “Legal Guarantees”. The young lawyer is doing well. Just a year later, Sytnik’s employers take him in (owns 20% of the shares) and entrust him with the important post of “managing partner.” The career rise is stunning, but it’s worth getting personal.

The company “Legal Guarantees” was founded in the late 90s by the odious Yuri Gaisinsky, three times ex: 1st Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine (1992-1993), Prosecutor of Kyiv – Deputy Prosecutor General (2000-2002) and Prosecutor of the Kyiv Region (2002-2007), a man of the “gray eminence” under President Leonid Kuchma, Alexander Volkov, a good friend of Viktor Medvedchuk and businessman Grigory Surkis, and also the father-in-law of Kharkov mayor Gennady Kernes (Gepa’s wife is Oksana Gaysinskaya).

Previously, the Legal Guarantees company was called Kordoy (from 1994 to 2000) and Yuri Gaisinsky and Partners (from 2000 to 2003). While working at Korda, Gaisinsky distinguished himself by defending such crime bosses as Sergei Stashchenko (“Stas”) and Timur Savlokhov (“Savlokha”). Skelet.Info established that he was friends with prominent representatives of the criminal world – for example, with Igor Tkachenko (Skull), Vyacheslav Peresetsky (Fascist), Viktor Avdyshev. Rumor has it that prosecutor Gaisinsky personally ordered his deputy to release Skulls from custody, and opened a green corridor for Viktor Avdyshev abroad. In addition, Yuri Gaisinsky at one time defended Mikhail Brodsky, ex-Prime Minister Efim Zvyagilsky, and head of the Black Sea Shipping Company Pavel Kudyukin.

However, there is a more interesting case in which the name of Gaysinsky appears. This is a large-scale corruption scam in the mid-2000s in Kyiv. The country’s current chief anti-corruption official is also involved in it.

So, the company “Legal Guarantees” is registered at the address: Kiev, st. Vladimirskaya, 61/11, office 43. At the same address there were a number of other companies: Korda LLC, Astra, Business and Law, STV (liquidated in 2011), and the Columbus company. The latter attracts attention. By the way, according to Sytnik himself, he did not know that a company such as Kolub was located in the premises. Yes, and this is logical, because in its history there were arrests of accounts and a criminal investigation. This happened in 2007. When Yuri Gaisinsky was finishing his last days as prosecutor of the Kyiv region, a criminal case was opened against the land leadership of the Obukhov region. The officials were accused of giving the land of Bezymyanny Island near Kyiv to private individuals. This is 10 hectares surrounded by the waters of the Dnieper. More precisely, the land at 101–102 km of the Dnieper fairway (urban settlement Kozin, residential area “Kraievid-2”). These are water fund lands and are not subject to privatization. But the deal did take place and the Columbus company took part in it.

The following were under suspicion: the deputy head of the Obukhovsky regional land resources department, Alexander Mogilny, his subordinates and officials from the Main Department of Land Resources of the region. The case received an unprecedented resonance and many went to the thresher, because the Prosecutor General’s Office became interested in all this…

Only Artem Sytnik, who at that time was the head of the investigative department of the prosecutor’s office of the Kyiv region, did not know about the story. Otherwise, how could he go to work after 3 years and become a partner of such a corrupt official?

True, the prosecutor’s office would hardly have achieved anything in this case. The Columbus company managed to sell the land to a certain Famiy company at a ridiculous price of 750 thousand hryvnia. The transaction was recognized as legal. By the way, the court made its decision in the spring of 2008. Sytnik already worked in the prosecutor’s office.

And a few more facts that prove Gaisinsky’s involvement in the Columbus company. The co-owner of Columbus (a certain Valery Voevodin) is a co-founder of Legal Guarantees LLC. Nadezhda Voevodina, Gaisinsky’s partner in the Korda company, represented in the courts the interests of the Famiy company, the same one that bought land on Bezymyanny Island from Columbus. Alexey Shekhovtsov also figured in the ups and downs. After Artem Sytnik left Legal Guarantees, he took his place. As everyone understands, Sytnyk has left to become the head of NABU.

There is another high-profile story that proves that Artem Sytnik “walks” under Yuri Gaisinsky. Artem Sergeevich has provided legal services to Kompas LLC since 2011. It was directly related to Legal Guarantees, as it was registered at the same address. “Compass” was at the center of a scandal about the kidnapping of the former First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine in 2008.

Gaisinsky and his client Vladimir Vorontsov came to Paris on business. They negotiated the supply of materials for the construction of a sarcophagus at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Construction was to be carried out with money allocated on a non-refundable basis by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (368 million euros). The construction company is the French company NOVARKA, but the building materials were supposed to be purchased from Polish intermediaries. The company “Compass” took part in the operation. However, unexpectedly, right in the middle of broad daylight in Paris, Gaisinsky is kidnapped by unknown people. The kidnappers demand a ransom of 20 million dollars, but then change their demands and release the prisoner, but Vorontsov is arrested at the same moment by the French police.

How Sytnyk was elected to NABU

The best position in our country is a martyr to the regime. Artem Sytnik fits perfectly into this image. Suffice it to remember why he left the authorities – supposedly the Yanukovych regime put pressure and oppressed him. After this, go only to a new bright future, to a non-dusty job of fighting corruption. Artem Sergeevich did just that. I applied for the position of head of the bureau.

And here we are faced with the intricacies of selection at NABU. A special commission was supposed to select candidates and propose them to the President, and he, in turn, chose one. This, of course, speaks of the purity of the choice, if everything did not happen in Ukrainian realities. In fact: out of more than 140 candidates, 4 remained. After that, the SBU checked them and 3 remained. The situation became even more interesting when three candidates had to be selected from three candidates in order to present them to the president. The task is not very difficult. The president ultimately chose between Artem Sytnik and Nikolai Sery. The first candidate received the position.

(at that time, money was spent by KAMAZ for appointments to such positions, which went directly to the top officials of the Presidential Administration and personally to the President. This is also worth considering).

When Sytnik was appointed, a scandal broke out. Lawyer Yuri Sukhov filed a lawsuit in the Pechersk court. He demanded that the results of the competitive selection of candidates for the post of head of NABU be declared illegal. As it turned out, since 2014, Yuri Sukhov and Sytnik’s opponent Nikolai Sery defended the interests of Yulia Tymoshenko in the “gas case”, and later, after the Maidan, the judge of the Pechersk court Oksana Tsarevich. It is likely that because of this Poroshenko gave the position to Artem Sergeevich. However, the court rejected the claim, and Sytnyk sat in the chair of the head of NABU (Let’s remember about KAMAZ trucks with money for assignment).

Let us note another interesting fact: on the very eve of the personnel decision, Artem Sytnik often visited Moscow. Deputy Oleg Lyashko spoke about this. We will not blame anyone for “zrada,” but there is an assumption that the personnel decision regarding Sytnik went far beyond the boundaries of our modest state.

Artem Sytnik will hold the position of Director of NABU for 7 years. This is longer than the President and the Verkhovna Rada.

How did Artem Sytnik distinguish himself?

Dubious visit

In September 2015, the Prosecutor General’s Office began a pre-trial investigation against Artem Sytnik after an appeal to the prosecutor’s office by the People’s Deputy of Ukraine Vitaly Kupri. The “dubious” visit of Sytnik and a strange delegation to England was to blame. Artem Sergeevich flew to Foggy Albion with his wife and the mysterious Irina Danko, who proudly introduced herself as an assistant to the head of NABU. The case was closed after the head of the bureau explained everything – it turned out that he, like a real man, bought air tickets for his wife at his own expense. The public believed it. In addition, help came from Great Britain. The country’s embassy said that the trip of Sytnik and his colleagues was part of the UK’s program to assist the Ukrainian government and agencies in the fight against corruption at all levels. They say that the British side covered the costs associated with the visit of Mr. Artem Sytnik and the delegation, and the head of NABU himself actually reimbursed the expenses for his wife’s trip. The public believed it – take 2.

By the way, Anna Sytnik practices law at home, in the Ovatsio residential complex (this is the same apartment that is officially registered to the head of NABU).

Sale of land in Crimea

At the beginning of 2016, the Sytnikov family apparently decided to get rid of land in the “Crimea is not ours” region. Anna Sytnik put up for sale on the Internet a plot of land of 0.4 hectares near Sevastopol, in the Mirage garden cooperative – better known as the Orlovka resort. The cost indicated in the advertisement is 1 million hryvnia. But the author offered to bargain.

Socks for 373 UAH. An attraction of unprecedented generosity – NABU purchased uniforms for special forces at the beginning of 2016. And everything would be fine, except that a pair of winter socks cost 373 hryvnia. Artem Sytnik’s deputy, Anatoly Novak, accounted for every penny, and the head of NABU himself added that the equipment of a NATO-level special forces soldier costs about 13 thousand euros, but they spent 50 thousand hryvnia. Taking this into account, the bureau managed to save significantly on special forces equipment. Only it is not yet known who wears this uniform.

Telephone tapping. According to Skelet.Info In May of this year, Artem Sergeevich addressed the Rada with a request to grant the department the right to independently listen to citizens’ conversations, bypassing the SBU, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the GPU. This will make it possible to speed up the investigative process and prevent information leaks. There is only one aspect: firstly, the criterion by which NABU will decide who to wiretap and who not is unclear, and secondly, there are enough bodies with similar powers, and the national bureau needs compelling reasons to refuse cooperation with them during investigative actions (if they, of course, were carried out).

Withdrawal of $150 million from seized accounts. The chief anti-corruption official decided to amaze the public with large-scale cases. Artem Sytnik said that the department began to investigate the case regarding the suppression of the withdrawal of $150 million from the seized accounts. Allegedly, the accounts belong to the ex-head of the National Bank of Ukraine, Sergei Arbuzov and his companies. However, the name of the company, the address of the premises where the search was carried out, and the identity of the “people’s deputy” are not officially indicated. And then one version appeared, quite viable. Perhaps Sytnyk, who is, without exaggeration, controlled by Poroshenko, wants to open cases against companies that are the subject of Igor Kononenko’s financial interest. Why is this so? The fact is that Igor Kononenko is the “gray eminence” of the current President. He was accused of corruption schemes and illegal privatization of state-owned enterprises. The essence is simple: charges are brought against someone who is not involved in the case, the company’s property is seized, the judge makes a “correct and necessary” decision, and the company’s capital is returned to the state. Or rather, into the pocket of Poroshenko, Kononenko or Sytnyk.

“Kyoto remedies”. The state enterprise “Ukrainian Environmental Investments” embezzled 480 million hryvnia received under the Kyoto Protocol. As it turned out, officials organized the acquisition of fake business entities and ensured their victory during tender procedures for the reconstruction of lighting networks. In this case, NABU detained a group of people involved in illegal activities. So this is the first case of corruption that anti-corruption fighters have launched. Although, the big question is: are they the ones answering? Especially considering that one of the detainees is the secretary of the government procurement committee.

“Vendetta” for Shokin. Before Viktor Shokin had time to retire, NABU became interested in him. Artem Sytnik said that there is a possibility that the former Prosecutor General will be prosecuted. True, for what reasons he did not specify. Although, the main thing is desire, but there will be things to do. On the other hand, it looks like a vendetta. It was Shokin who tried to bring Sytnik to criminal liability for exceeding official authority and abuse of power after the notorious trip to England.

“No” for students. Many say that a new generation of young and zealous people will be able to cleanse the new government. But Artem Sytnik is against students coming to work at the bureau. In his opinion, newcomers will not be able to cope with such cases that are being investigated by NABU.

Artem Sytnik. Head of NABU “on the brink of poverty”

In 2015, Artem Sytnik amazed all of Ukraine. After submitting documents for the post of head of NABU, he published his income declaration. It turned out that an eminent lawyer working in a prestigious law office earns like a simple salesman in a supermarket. Speaking in numbers, Artem Sergeevich declared 23.5 thousand hryvnia income for 2014. It’s one of two things – either he worked poorly or he lied. Only in this situation did Sytnik get out. He answered his ill-wishers that he spent a lot of time on the Maidan, so there was no time to earn money. But other family members earned another 113 thousand.

The salary of the country’s chief anti-corruption official is 60 thousand hryvnia per month. Therefore, income increased in 2015, Sytnik crossed the poverty line by leaps and bounds and is now quite wealthy. (More details: The top of the GPU and NABU showed their income).

In 2016, Artem Sytnik’s salary is the envy of any Ukrainian. In the first month of summer it amounted to almost 100 thousand hryvnia. At the same time, Sytnik’s official salary is 87 thousand hryvnia, additional payment for length of service is 26 thousand hryvnia, additional payment for work related to access to state secrets is about 9 thousand hryvnia.

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In Soviet times, there was a joke in which one character asks another about what he does. And the answer follows: “I’m fanning the fire of the world revolution. The work is not dusty, and most importantly, it is eternal.”

The fight against corruption in Ukraine looks suspiciously like a similar “best job”

Arina Dmitrieva, for Skelet.Info

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