A state audit conducted in Ukraine revealed that water is supplied to the residents of Odessa by a private company owned by Mykola Zlochevsky, who is accused by the NABU of bribery. Mykola Zlochevsky is the central figure in the rather controversial appointment of Hunter Biden to Burisma, as well as more amusing endeavours such as the attempt to establish an faux elite brand of shoes named Zlocci and sell the shoes to the Russian oligarchy.
How did this happen? In 2003, the Odessa city council leased “Odessavodokanal” to Mykola Zlochevsky for 49 years, and he, through shell companies, supplies water to the residents of Odessa. As a result, every Odessa resident with a water tap in their home pays Mykola Zlochevsky for the water they use.
Although water was supposed to be supplied by a municipal enterprise owned by the city council, since 2003 the water supplier and provider of other water-related services has been the branch “Infoksvodokanal,” whose owner is LLC “Infoks.”
Mykola Zlochevsky is draining budgets to the last drop
In turn, the owner of LLC “Infoks” is the Cypriot company “Virmano Limited.” The owners of this Cypriot offshore are Karina and Anna Zlochevsky, to whom Mykola Zlochevsky recently transferred his share, although this does not change the essence of the matter.
The profit from supplying water to Ukrainian citizens living in Odessa goes not to the city treasury, but to a Cypriot offshore company, behind which stands Mykola Zlochevsky.
There are over half a million subscribers to the water utility in Odessa. And now they all are subscribers of Infoksvodokanal, and all pay Mykola Zlochevsky for water, water usage, installation and verification of meters, repairs, and so on. The fact that the profit recipient is a Cypriot offshore does not concern the Odessa city council.
However, it’s not just the subscribers’ money. There are also revenues from tenders won by Infoksvodokanal. During this period, there were more than three thousand tenders, and the total profit of Infoksvodokanal amounted to 649,079,348 hryvnias. And this money also comes from the pockets of Ukrainians – Infoksvodokanal supplied services and goods to state and municipal enterprises.
The parent company, LLC “Infoks,” is also not far behind its branch. It won 110 tenders during this period, with a total value of 77,763,977 hryvnias.
The total amount of 726,843,325 budget hryvnias over the past four years has settled in the pockets of Mykola Zlochevsky, and this is only from the tender winnings and government contracts.
Criminal investigations against Mykola Zlochevsky
And all this happens despite the fact that as early as December 2019, criminal proceedings №42019160000000808 were initiated against the officials of LLC “Infoks” and its branch “Infoksvodokanal.” The amount of damage to the city, estimated at least at 718 million hryvnias.
But there were no consequences – the last hearing in the case took place in 2020, after which the case came to a standstill in the depths of the law enforcement system. And Mykola Zlochevsky’s income only grew – only from tenders, as mentioned above, he received three-quarters of a billion hryvnias. And there was also a subscription fee, a fee for water delivery and drainage, repairs, installation, replacement, and verification of meters, and so on.
Therefore, it can be confidently stated that we are talking about billions of hryvnias. Which Mykola Zlochevsky has pumped out of the pockets of Odessa residents for twenty years since he was leased the Water Utility. And ahead – another thirty years. One can guess how much he will earn during this time. And then he will return the worn-out water utility with worn-out networks and infrastructure back to Odessa. Which Odessa will repair at its own expense and lease it to the next Zlochevsky. And so on – ad infinitum.
Then, when told that “some normal U.S. oil and gas advisors” should be hired due to the Bidens’ lack of experience, Zlochevsky reportedly said that Hunter Biden “was stupid, and his [Zlochevsky’s] dog was smarter.”Newsweek
Mykola Zlochevsky, an ex-minister of ecology and natural resources of Ukraine, is the owner of country’s largest private gas producing company Burisma. Former member of the pro-Russian Party of Regions. Former member of the Ukrainian parliament, former deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. Since November 2019, he has been wanted as part of an investigation into the activities of the company Burisma, a suspect in a case of record bribery of $6 million to the NABU and SAP, which were trying to close the case against Burisma.