Firtash is ready to shell out a million euros so as not to go to the USA, Avakov has signed up as a disabled person, and while NABU and other units are actively trying to squeeze out the OPP in favor of Saakashvili, they are again “earning extra money” from the Ukrainian army (Top SKELETs for 11.07 – 15.07)

Looking at the people who take the helm of power, the only words that come to mind are “big top” and “clownery”: appointing a clearly corrupt official and fraudster to the post of head of NABU, and pushing a criminal embezzler to the post of deputy minister of the State Fiscal Service, it turns out, is in order things. Apparently, those who do this are confident that not even a fly will fly past those involved in criminal schemes at the highest level who are so experienced? But so far their activities have been noted only in the execution of orders from the oligarchs, and the fact that the residents of Ukraine are not able to cope with tariffs and prices, and what’s more, cannot get normal living conditions in the center of Kyiv, does not bother anyone.

Skeletons in politics

Artem Sytnik

There are many rumors surrounding the person of the main (anti-)corruption official of Ukraine, Artem Sytnik. That is why the prefix “anti” is taken into brackets: a detailed study of the life path of a fairly young official with a current income of more than 100,000 hryvnia monthly suggests that the head of NABU received his post not by honest work, but by his statements that how he suffered during the reign of the thoroughly corrupt government of Yanukovych was nothing more than throwing dust in the eyes of gullible ordinary people. However, like the loud stories about his victories over corruption while still in the status of a law enforcement officer in Kirovograd: 300 high-profile criminal cases, officials and government officials arrested for embezzlement, it seems that he simply dreamed.

Apparently, it was very difficult for the State Fiscal Service to develop new corruption schemes if it was necessary to attract such a notorious person as Miroslav Prodan, who is rightfully considered the record holder for the number of concepts of “corruption scheme” and “fraud” associated with his name, to the leadership of the structure. However, Prime Minister Groysman clearly knows better who to appoint and where: since he is not at all embarrassed by the fact that the person involved is under investigation by the Vinnitsa prosecutors under articles of abuse of official position and illegal enrichment in conspiracy with a group of persons, then taxpayers should be happy . And NABU is not at all against it, they didn’t say a word against it.

Skeletons in law

The fact that Arsen Avakov is not even his own decree is confirmed regularly: what normal, sane (let’s omit the word “law-abiding”) person would want to park his car in a place marked “for the disabled”? But the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is clearly not superstitious and does not worry about possible gossip. Just think, traffic is blocked for his motorcade, this is in the order of things, but what about the fact that at the place of arrival there was no place to park two luxury cars? Well, Ostap Bender also said that police officers can be equated to children and disabled people, which means everything is fine, you parked where necessary.

Who would have thought that the National Bank of Ukraine could take part in illegal shady transactions and frauds that ended in the illegal withdrawal of almost 500 billion hryvnia from Ukraine? And yet, NABU and the National Police claim that during the period from 2011 to 2015, a criminal group successfully operated in the country’s central financial institution, and was clearly in conflict with the leadership. Yes, yes, there is no mistake or typo here: we are not talking about long-standing frauds during the time of Yanukovych, but about practically current events related to the refinancing of private banks. True, not a word has been said yet about who the members of this criminal group were, and why attention was paid to the scandalous event only now, when several very large banks had already collapsed…

To paraphrase a well-known saying, we can safely say: “An oligarch is an oligarch in Austria too!” and apply it to Dmitry Firtash, who managed to take a bribe to avoid extradition proceedings to the United States. Apparently, corruption exists everywhere at the proper level, the only question is the amount of the bribe: for example, to bribe officials in Austria and Germany, the criminal needed to pay three quarters of a million euros. This became known from the diaries of the intermediary, ex-agent of the Ministry of State Security of the GDR, Christina Stasi. How these documents fell into the hands of law enforcement agencies is kept silent, and the further reaction of the local authorities to this information is unknown.

If you believe the letter from the residents of the Solomensky district, which looks like a cry from the soul of the local inhabitants, complete arbitrariness and lawlessness reign in this place of Kyiv, occurring with the full connivance of the authorities. The list of complaints includes the most complete set of bureaucratic tricks (including inaction, kicking and throwing chips), and the unheard-of scale of theft and dissipation of budget money, championing and bribes, as well as other crimes and abuse of power on the ground. Apparently, corruption has reached such proportions that the “King of Solomenka” Maxim Shkuro completely ceased to fear any problems from the law.

Skeletons in business

Do ATO fighters and conscripts complain about problems with their shoes? It’s okay, let them be patient, the state has more important things to do: for example, organize a fake tender for the purchase of uniforms for fighters, taking into account all the “graters” and “agreements” in the highest spheres. It’s just that sometimes some “unscrupulous” entrepreneurs begin to interfere with the process, write some complaints about discrimination, demand a prosecutor’s investigation, bother the Antimonopoly Committee with rude letters, attract the attention of the media, and generally interfere with the work of government bodies in every possible way. Irresponsible, in a word, citizens. People like Alexander Bozhagora, for example. So, dear warriors, wait with your boots – we urgently need to save the good name of military prosecutor Anatoly Matios and figure out why Elena Rotova was not given a warm place.

And again about raising tariffs. Do you know how much on average a Ukrainian spends on utility bills? Oh, not by hearsay and regularly? There is an opinion that not everyone knows the fact that this figure in percentage terms is twice as high as that for the average European, and then: subject to total savings on water and lighting, and a salary of at least 5,000 hryvnia. The fact that the same European has an income ten times higher ($2,400 versus $200) does not bother anyone: the authorities continue to shamelessly lie that for a country going to Europe, these are quite normal tariffs. However, the given numbers cannot serve as a guide, especially for pensioners and other socially vulnerable groups of the population with an income of 900 to 2,500 hryvnia per month.

It is very likely that the Burisma company will not be able to come out of the water cleanly, in which Nikolai Zlochevsky is involved, who confidently developed and promoted the “case of Yanukovych and Co.” under the cover of the above-mentioned holding. Already, 32 wells located on the territory of the Dnieper-Donets basin in the Kharkov region have been seized, and production activities at them have been suspended. And although Burisma representatives declare their desire to cooperate with law enforcement agencies and undertake to cover all losses from tax concealment, it remains questionable whether the criminal case against the former Minister of Environment will be brought to its logical conclusion.

A selection of top SKELETs (11.07 – 15.07) was prepared by Semyon Gorotov