Head of the main detective unit of NABU Andrey Kaluzhinsky: “We have people suspected or accused of corruption who shake hands. They are promoted, interviewed and invited to events.”

The war tears us to the quick, inflicting new severe wounds. Unfortunately, our chronic diseases have not gone away either. The idea that a big disaster has cured everyone of corruption is an illusion. Didn’t cure. And this is perhaps one of the most terrible conclusions of a conversation with the head of the main detective unit of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU). Andrey Kaluzhinsky is on the team of the first creators of the anti-corruption bureau. It’s just that he is as non-public as possible, and his first interview in seven years of work is ZN.UA.

Unlike the ex-director of NABU Artem Sytnik and the current acting director Gizo Uglava, our interlocutor is a procedural person. While the NABU director holds the media form, the chief detective determines the legal content. According to his duties, it is Andrey Kaluzhinsky who controls investigations in all criminal proceedings of the main division of NABU detectives and can influence the course of any of them. But (!) up to the limits of the powers of each of the 241 detectives, whose unprecedented level of independence is determined by law.

During the interview, Andrei Kaluzhinsky, of course, tried to defend his procedural boundaries, and we tried to violate them. What came of it is up to you to judge.

Blitz

— What determines a person’s choice in favor of honesty?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: — Upbringing, moral beliefs and their stability.

— Which corruption is worse for the state – everyday corruption or in the highest echelons of power?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: – In the highest echelons.

— In what case did they put the most pressure on you?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: — The strongest pressure was felt in cases involving heads of law enforcement agencies or oligarchs with large media resources.

— What is your greatest achievement in your profession?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: — We are doing things that no one has done before us in the law enforcement system of Ukraine. We bring to justice those people whom no one has ever punished.

— What is the biggest “fee” you were offered in order to avoid punishment?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: — Five million dollars for closing criminal proceedings on suspicion of Mr. Zlochevsky.

— Do you really believe that corruption can be overcome?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: – Completely – no. But it can be reduced to a controlled level that will not have a destructive impact on the life of the state.

— What is the key tool?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: — Integrity of power.

— Do you believe that power can be honest?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: – Yes.

— Is NABU still an alien body in the law enforcement system?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: – Unfortunately, yes for now.

— Why didn’t you submit documents for the competition for the position of director of NABU?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: – There are several reasons.

Andrey Kaluzhinsky about old cases, the “Lubovitch flash drive” and Mikitas’s roof

— “There will be no corruption, there is none now, of course, because we are all united. Many corrupt officials left with their money…”. This is recent said President Vladimir Zelensky. Andrey Vladimirovich, what are you doing in this office then?

“I think the president said this more figuratively than literally. Our work shows that corrupt officials remain in the country. Alas.

— Now the subject of conversation is the topic of Judge Vovk. Vovka films NABU detectives wrote, and his shameful case is finally in the anti-corruption court. The District Administrative Court of Kyiv (DASC) was liquidated, but the gestalt is still not closed. Firstly, because Vovk is still a judge. And secondly, those who covered for him did not respond. There is a “Lubovich flash drive,” which on July 16, 2020, was literally taken from her deputy by the then Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova. At that time, Andrei Lyubovich had already prepared a suspicion against Vovka and was ready to sign it.

According to our information, NABU has opened a case of unlawful interference by Venediktova. But in order to block the case, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) opened its proceedings in duplicate. Are these cases currently being investigated? How often do other law enforcement agencies use such a scheme to prevent NABU from moving forward?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: – This fact really happened. On the day when Lyubovich signed the suspicions to the judges of the OASC and tried to enter information about the suspicions into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations, he saw that his flash drive was blocked. But after that, as far as I know, he filed a corresponding report, and it was unblocked for him on the same day. That is, it was an attempt to somehow interfere, but it was not successful. Because not a single flash drive will prevent the prosecutor from fulfilling his powers. That day, Lyubovich signed the suspicions, and prosecutors from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) together with detectives handed them over.

Head of the main detective unit of NABU Andrey Kaluzhinsky // Press office of NABU

However, these suspicions had to be served by prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (OGPU). At that time, they were in charge of procedural management, and SAPO prosecutors were only part of the group. The fact of the intervention was made public. A recording was even posted on the Internet in which the then head of a department of the Office of the Prosecutor General, citing instructions from management, forbade his subordinates to participate in the presentation of suspicions. Therefore, we were forced to urgently negotiate with the SAPO prosecutors so that they would pick up this baton and instead of the prosecutors of the Prosecutor General’s Office, hand over the suspicion.

— So NABU opened a case?

– There are several things to do. A case was registered regarding interference in the activities of the OGPU prosecutor. We are investigating it. There was also a case on the fact that they tried to prevent Lyubovich from fulfilling his official duties. This case was transferred by SAPO to the State Bureau of Investigation. But recently the new head of the SAPO, Alexander Klimenko, requested it and returned it to NABU. And on the same fact, the OGPU registered criminal proceedings, assigning jurisdiction to the main investigative department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). However, this production, on the initiative of the new head of SAP, was demanded from them. And today we have all these productions. We recently received them, so we will think about how and where to move.

– So, Irina Venediktova will answer for her actions? Wherever she now represents the state of Ukraine?

“For now I can say that these cases are not closed, they will be investigated. What decision is made will depend on the evidence we collect.

— Are parallel cases in other bodies a scheme?

— Yes, there are quite a lot of such facts: approximately 15–20% of all cases investigated by NABU detectives have “clones” in other investigative agencies. This scheme does not stop our investigations, but sometimes it makes our work much more difficult. If, for example, we register a proceeding, and other authorities do the same on the same fact, then as part of their investigation they may seize evidence, and then not provide this evidence to us under some far-fetched pretext for quite some time. But we are trying by all legal means to demand such proceedings, and to attach the evidence they contain to our investigations. For example, I cannot remember any case where a parallel investigation would have blocked the opportunity to complete our investigation.

— NABU has reached the second round in the “Rotterdam+” case, which was recently buried. The circle of participants was expanded from six to 21 people. Among them there is neither Poroshenko, nor Akhmetov, nor Pasenyuk. Why?

“We first reported the suspicion to six participants in the scheme. And they expanded the circle to 15 suspects by including members of the National Commission that carries out state regulation in the fields of energy and utilities, who voted for the formula, but did not actively promote it. We have already seen the elements of a crime in the actions of those who actively promoted it; they were charged with Article 364 of the Criminal Code – abuse of power or official position. But as for the others (nine more involved in the crime), based on the results of discussions with prosecutors, we came to the conclusion that their actions also constituted a crime, albeit a different one, namely, official negligence (Article 367 of the Criminal Code). This is what was presented to them.

— What about the three personalities I named?

— I cannot comment on the investigation in the context of personalities. We can say that suspicions are communicated to those people in respect of whom detectives and prosecutors have collected enough evidence. But the investigation is not completed.

– Pan Mikitas has appeared in the information space again – the mayor of Dnepr tried: the developer was detained while trying to give Boris Filatov a bribe of 22 million euros. But Mikitas is a big fish that has already escaped from your net once. Not without the help of Deputy Head of the President’s Office Oleg Tatarov, of course. When we talked with Artem Sytnik about the first Mikitas case, they agreed that Mikitas’s case, in terms of significance and scale, could turn out to be no less cynical than the OASC. This is not only the case about the apartments of the National Guard, but also many episodes related to the construction world of Kyiv. Mikitas spoke not only to detectives, he clearly told in his posts how his chief lawyer Tatarov, Mayboroda’s deputy… tore apart Ukrbud.

So what’s going on with the construction world in Kyiv and beyond? On December 14, 2021, the Shevchenko court quietly closed Tatarov’s case.

Head of the main detective unit of NABU Andrey Kaluzhinsky // Press office of NABU

– Firstly, I would not agree with the idea that “Mikitas broke out of our net.” Criminal proceedings on charges against this person are pending in the High Anti-Corruption Court. Secondly, regarding the other case you mentioned, as far as I know, the court did not close, but did not extend the investigation, and then the prosecutor’s office closed it. And this decision cannot be revised, unfortunately. Because the period for pre-trial investigation has expired. According to the Criminal Procedure Code, if the pre-trial investigation deadlines are missed, they cannot be resumed. But at that time, this case was taken away from us and, before the pre-trial period expired, it was transferred to the SBU. As far as I know, the Security Service nevertheless applied to the court for an extension of the deadline, but the court did not extend it. In such circumstances, it is necessary either to open the case file and then send the indictment to the court, or to close it.

– “Mikitas’ evidence is a springboard for a jump that can end in completely different ways… But as for the situation with the expert and Tatarov, everything has already happened and been proven“These are the words of Sytnik. That is, the SBU, not paying attention to the fact that NABU had already proven everything, chose to close the case rather than go to court for a guilty verdict?

— Making one of these two decisions is beyond the competence of the pre-trial investigation body (SBU in this case. — I.V.), these are the powers of the prosecutor. The law gives him five days to make a decision from the moment the court refuses to extend the pre-trial investigation. However, he made no decision. Why he did this, I don’t know. (We are talking about the prosecutor of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andrey Gritsan. — I.V.)

“But these are not at all the signals that society should receive from a state that claims to fight corruption.

“I can say that if we are not allowed to complete our work in a legal way, then, of course, this upsets us. We are taking all possible measures within our powers to prevent this from happening.

— What kind of business have Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov been going to NABU lately? There are also questions about the searches that took place at one of them in Dnieper last week.

— I will not comment, since the active stage of the pre-trial investigation and investigative actions are currently underway.

Andrei Kaluzhinsky about Kaufman’s bunker, Trukhanov’s karma and the schemes of local feudal lords

— If you look at the local level, all our regions and regional centers are feudal fiefdoms. Somewhere more, somewhere less, but Kaufman and Granovsky in Odessa are completely lost shores. How long have these gentlemen businessmen been in development?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: “Detectives received information about the illegal influence of certain individuals on the entire city and regional government about a year and a half ago. This influence was used for the purpose of personal enrichment of these individuals in a criminal manner. Detectives began to develop and obtained evidence that, in our opinion, confirms that these individuals actually influenced the adoption of all decisions of the local authorities and actively used this influence. I probably agree with you – each region has its own more or less influential players, but we have no information that someone has “monopolized” the local government as much as in Odessa.

— Kaufman and Granovsky sat down on traffic in Odessa, while NABU is still continuing to investigate the case of the criminal group Galanternik, the founder of big business on the budget and land of Odessa. Why did the tumor grow again in the same city? Is it because of impunity, because of permissiveness already under the current government, or because you poorly investigated the first case?

— In addition to the previous case about the activities of a criminal group in Odessa, which NABU is indeed still investigating, there are several more cases. In our opinion, we have collected enough evidence to hold top local government officials accountable for uncovered facts of corruption. But you probably know that at the time, for example, the so-called case of the Krayan plant was sent to court on charges of the current mayor of Odessa and other officials, HACS had not yet been created. Therefore, we sent the case to the local court (Malinovsky District Court of Odessa – I.V.), which examined it at a “Stakhanovist” pace and acquitted our accused. Perhaps this is also not a signal that helps other people not want to do such things. But the acquittal was later overturned, and the case is now being considered in the High Anti-Corruption Court. I hope that VAKS will make a legal decision.

— Kaufman and Granovsky used the bunker to exclude wiretapping, they had 100 people in their personal security service… This is some kind of cosa nostra.

“Indeed, the suspects tried to remain as secretive as possible; they had special premises equipped with protection against wiretapping, and the like. There they held the most important meetings and meetings. This indicates that measures were taken to avoid being documented by law enforcement.

— Before the 2020 local elections, ZN.UA did the project “Country on the shelves“, where we laid out everything, including the business history of each regional center. Therefore, the “institute of observers” in Odessa, as in other cities, is not news for us. We were waiting for results from you. But two years have passed and the scheme is working. There is an array of wiretapping, there are arrests, searches have been carried out, equipment and documents have been confiscated… Where else can these leads lead? The regional administration, and this, for a moment, is the vertical of the president, is also in action.

Press office of NABU

“In our opinion, today a sufficient amount of evidence has been collected specifically in relation to those persons who were informed of suspicion. However, the pre-trial investigation continues.

— And Trukhanov continues to govern the city.

— The justice system must work. And if it is confirmed that a person has committed a crime, he must answer for it, and he will. And if it is not confirmed, then all charges should be dropped. In general, we now have many proceedings in Odessa related to various schemes. Detectives are also constantly monitoring whether similar schemes are being used in other regions.

— And what patterns do you now apply to any community? Deputies are on salaries, utility companies are being bought out…

“Our corrupt officials are quite inventive. Real estate of a small area, for example, is purchased, and huge tracts of land are taken away from communal property for this real estate. This is a scheme according to which we have investigations and specific individuals have already been brought to justice. (We are talking about the case of Galanternik, where he is involved as an organizer, and among 15 other suspects are the mayor of the city Gennady Trukhanov, deputy mayor Pyotr Ryabokon, director of the department of communal property of the Odessa City Council Alexey Spektor, head of the legal department Inna Popovskaya, deputy head of the department of communal property Vladimir Radionov and others. — I.V.)

Companies are given the right to develop liquid plots of municipal property for a pittance for the territorial community, but a criminal organization can receive millions of dollars for such services (depending on the size and location of the land plot). That is, developers generally pay the market price for the right to develop, but not to local governments. Since the amounts are amazing, the attractiveness of the vacant position of “supervisor” is stronger than the fear of being exposed. This fear, rather, motivates the allocation of more resources to security measures against detection by law enforcement agencies.

There are also schemes for so-called joint venture activities. Businesses sign different agreements with certain utilities and essentially receive all of the revenue from their properties. And the territorial community is left with nothing. And that’s the best case scenario. More often – with losses and debts. Subsequently, such property, also often at a reduced value, is alienated in favor of certain people.

And, perhaps, the simplest scheme is the privatization of real estate or property complexes of enterprises at a reduced cost.

— I know that Boris Filatov submitted several applications to NABU specifically regarding land stories, but you don’t take on everything. Why? Because you don’t have enough strength? Because you are not sure of the effectiveness of this or that investigation, but you need to show the result?

— We have clear work criteria. If we see signs of a crime within our jurisdiction, we register criminal proceedings and investigate. If we do not see sufficient data indicating the existence of such a crime, we do not deal with this case.

But the forces are actually very limited. Currently, according to the staffing table, the main unit has 241 detectives. There are still ten vacancies. More than ten detectives have been mobilized into the Ukrainian Armed Forces and other paramilitary forces. That is, in total there are now about 220 detectives working throughout the country. Each of the detectives is both an investigative and operational worker. That is, each of them must identify crimes themselves, investigate them, draw up indictments, and so on. In each of the territorial departments of NABU in Kharkov, Odessa and Lvov, only 14–16 detectives work. Compare this to other law enforcement agencies, which employ thousands of investigators.

Press office of NABU

— Are there any casualties among the detectives at the front?

“Unfortunately, there is already one detective who was seriously wounded in the Kharkov direction. I think he may be declared unfit for military service. God grant that he will be able to return to his official duties at NABU, but I don’t know whether such an opportunity will exist.

— Did you also have a business trip? For what purpose?

— With the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism), about 30 detectives and I remained in Kyiv to participate in the defense of the capital. On February 25, detectives, together with employees of the Special Operations Directorate of the National Bureau, were sent to participate in the protection of a particularly important facility in the government quarter of Kyiv. Subsequently, together with the SBU, we worked to identify saboteurs, traitors and collaborators. Then, as part of operational combat groups with SBU employees, they participated in carrying out filtration measures among the population leaving enemy-occupied territories, carried out cleansing of liberated settlements, identified persons who assisted the aggressor, took measures to document war crimes committed by the occupiers, and so on.

In parallel with this, we established the receipt of information from various sources about the locations of concentrations of enemy equipment and manpower, which was transferred to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, as well as directly to military units and formations that needed this information. The result is the confirmed defeat of dozens of columns of equipment of the Russian occupation forces, places of concentration of personnel and weapons, and the like. In addition, cases of our troops falling into ambushes prepared for them by the invaders were prevented. We also directly participated in aerial reconnaissance, moved into the “gray zone”, and even came under artillery fire.

Subsequently, I and a number of other detectives were sent to work at the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. Some of the detectives worked (still work) in the Interdepartmental Coordination Center for the use of special units of the security and defense sector, while others were engaged in certain work in the temporarily occupied territories, which cannot currently be disclosed. From what both NABU and the Main Intelligence Directorate have already reported, it is possible to announce the evacuation of five military personnel (marines) who were hiding behind enemy lines.

— When NABU and the entire anti-corruption bloc were created, they had in mind such a healthy instrument, which would subsequently have to qualitatively reformat our entire law enforcement system. By your example. By taking up the Odessa case, you are sending the right signal to both society and local elites. Maybe it’s time to wave to some more of them?

“From the very beginning of our activities, we have been sending a signal to all elites not to engage in such things. And we are trying to constantly increase the pace.

About relations with other security officials, problem expertise and the Bankova factor

— You said that NABU still feels like a foreign body in the law enforcement system. Is there a risk that the system will reformat you, and not you it?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: “We have some cooperation with various law enforcement agencies. It cannot be said that all law enforcement agencies contain only scoundrels. There are always people who are trying to achieve some positive result – which, in fact, is what all law enforcement agencies were created for. They periodically provide us with information, and in some cases we collaborate and implement successful cases. Now we do not have the same confrontation with other law enforcement agencies as we did three years ago.

– Why? Are the people within the system changing or the government has changed?

– How can I answer this correctly… Under the previous government, we felt direct pressure from law enforcement agencies – the SBU, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor General’s Office. They disrupted our operations and raised false suspicions against our employees. They registered absolutely groundless criminal proceedings with which they tried to put pressure on us. And this was a fairly common phenomenon, when all law enforcement agencies circled around us and tried to somehow compromise us by any means, including illegal ones. Now, fortunately, I don’t see this. At least they don’t interfere with our work openly.

— NABU has always had difficulty conducting examinations.

— Problems with examinations, as they were, remain so. But the law provides for the possibility for NABU to create its own expert institutions for a more effective pre-trial investigation. We should not depend on experts from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Security Service of Ukraine, who have such institutions under their control. It is necessary to ensure this provision in the law on forensic examination. But, as far as I know, this issue is already being discussed with international partners.

— Who is more terrible in terms of influence on the law enforcement system – Smirnov or Tatarov?

– I cannot answer this question, it is not my job to give such assessments… For large-scale reform, systemic changes based on political will are important.

— And when you look at the Office of the Prosecutor General or pass by, do you feel partners there or not so much?

– I will refrain from answering.

Andrei Kaluzhinsky about envelopes for deputies, the prosecutor general factor and the quality of political elites

— We are still in the same place in 2020 interview with Artem Sytnik discussed the practice of sending envelopes to current deputies under the “5-10-15” program. The pre-war rates of the “relief fund” for deputies for loyalty during voting were significantly raised, and talk was already about the “20-30-50” program. But systematic leaks of information and the inability to find a witness who will actually testify are blocking investigations. The ex-director of NABU spoke about these obstacles. And, according to our information, under Sytnik the Bureau did not have just a few weeks to bring this matter to its logical conclusion. This is true?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: — I can neither confirm nor deny this information. But I can tell you what the problem is with bringing people’s deputies to criminal liability. Only the prosecutor general can register criminal proceedings against a deputy. And we had some very unhealthy precedents. Under one of the previous prosecutors general, we sent materials to register criminal proceedings on the fact that one of the people’s deputies extorted a bribe of 40 million hryvnia from our applicant. However, instead of registering with the ERDR, the answer came that there were no grounds for registering criminal proceedings.

For people working in law enforcement or involved in it, this is a wild and outrageous case. In fact, the man documented himself that he saved the deputy from criminal proceedings. (We are talking about the case of Pavel Khalimon, a deputy of the ruling Servant of the People party, who was saved by the Prosecutor General I. Venediktova at that time. – I.V.). True, after some time, when this story became public, this production was registered. But, of course, the deputy stopped communicating with our applicant. The operation failed.

There were other cases that gave reason to believe that there was a “leaking of information” that we were working on this or that people’s deputy. Therefore, it is obvious that the law must eliminate the monopoly of the Prosecutor General on entering information about deputies into the ERDR. The head of SAPO Alexander Klimenko also mentioned this in his interview.

— Consequently, you do not have access to where systemic corruption for the state has already formed/is being formed. What are we even talking about then?

NABU Press Office // Head of the main detective unit of NABU Andrey Kaluzhinsky

“These cases that I spoke about took place under the previous leadership of the Office of the Prosecutor General. We have not had such cases with the current leadership. But I cannot rule out that they may exist. In order to eliminate such risks, it would be logical and correct to grant these powers to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

Moreover, the current norm contradicts the concept of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides that any investigator, having received information about a crime, without even checking this information, must register criminal proceedings and begin a pre-trial investigation. If the legislator wants to give additional guarantees to certain persons, for this purpose a special procedure is provided for bringing them to criminal liability. This, in my opinion, is logical, since certain categories of persons must be additionally protected due to the high risks of illegal interference in their activities. But this should not happen at the stage of registration of criminal proceedings. Because the mere fact of registration of proceedings in no way narrows either their rights or their freedom. The beginning of the investigation is recorded, then the law enforcement agency conducts the investigation and comes to some conclusions. It is then that guarantees should be included, where a certain person in the prosecutor’s office must check the sufficiency of the grounds.

— There was a people’s deputy from the mono-majority, Anton Polyakov, who stated that deputies in parliament are paid money. But, unfortunately, he was gone.

— I can’t talk about specific names, but speaking in general, many high-profile statements, when verified, turn out to be just statements. Like, I know that somewhere out there someone is giving something to someone. That’s all the information. It’s very similar to how grandmothers discuss the news on a bench.

— Are you talking about Polyakov now or about Sytnik, who said that an investigation is underway and only plums are getting in the way?

“I can’t say the same about Sytnik; he may have known something that I don’t know.”

– Is this possible?

— Theoretically, it’s possible, since we have divisions that do not report to me. I mean those people who say that they know: someone is passing it on to someone else. When you ask them the question: when, where, to whom and under what circumstances and whether they are ready to assist, they begin to “blink their eyes.” Often such public statements are actually just PR.

“But even the hypothetical possibility of corruption at the level of the state legislative body is a signal to everyone: anything is possible.

— The supreme power must really want it to be impossible. This is the first thing. Secondly, people who make important decisions should receive a salary that ensures a normal level of their existence. It happens in our country that an official who makes decisions worth billions receives a salary that he cannot support his family with. But not many people, without a sufficient level of payment, will be able to resist the temptation if they are offered astronomical sums for one decision, for one signature or for one vote.

“Judges’ salaries have been increased astronomically, but our quality of justice has not changed. The anti-corruption block is an exception. NAPC, SAP, NABU, VAKS were immediately built and selected according to different principles, but the GBR was not. Therefore the result there is different.

“That’s why I say that this is one of the elements.” The main thing is political will and the inevitability of punishment. But it is impossible to eradicate corruption in government using punitive methods alone, especially for such a small unit as ours. We can accurately expose corruption in one area or another, but this must be followed by administrative, organizational and political decisions. The system must be restructured, since the process of catching bribe-takers alone, unfortunately, will not lead to the complete eradication of bribery.

NABU Press Office // Head of the main detective unit of NABU Andrey Kaluzhinsky

— Are we talking about the quality of the current political elites now?

— In general, about building the system, about the level of tolerance to corruption, which, in my opinion, among society, elites and authorities is still quite high. People who are accused of corruption in Ukraine remain quite handshake. They are promoted, they are interviewed by the media, they are invited to public events. It was significant for me when, while receiving a bribe, we detained the head of the investigative department at that time of one of the district departments of the State Fiscal Service in the city of Kyiv. He was suspected of receiving 36 thousand dollars in bribes. (We are talking about Sergei Novachuk, who was caught taking a bribe in July 2016. — I.V.). But during the time this case was being investigated and heard in court, he first went for a promotion – in the status of acting he began to lead the investigation of the State Fiscal Service of the entire city of Kyiv, and then, as far as I know, he even worked in the main investigative department. Such things, in my opinion, should not happen at all.

About new cases, “Big Construction” and customs and tax

— Andrey Vladimirovich, we were just talking about old cases, but what about new ones? How do corruption-tolerant category “A” officials dressed in khakis earn money now?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: — The trends, unfortunately, have not changed much. There are budget funds that someone is always trying to appropriate and put in their pocket illegally. There are people who take bribes. As they say, nothing new. But now all this looks extremely cynical… When some steal money, while others sacrifice their lives.

— Under any government there are always marker people. Everyone knows everything about them – neighbors, investigative journalists, human rights activists… except law enforcement agencies. Now you’re talking about the budget, but let me tell you the names that are on everyone’s lips. Golik, Timoshenko, Reznichenko, Arakhamia… Haven’t you heard?

You, of course, can use the usual language template, saying that an investigation is underway, or you can give hope to the public right now.

— Hearing or knowing and proving in criminal procedural terms are completely different things. It’s one thing to prove by the standards of a conventional journalistic investigation, to formulate some ideas about certain circumstances in society. It’s quite another thing to go so far as to first report suspicion, and then the court pronounces an appropriate sentence. This is the first thing. Secondly, regarding certain things that you said, the information was public: criminal proceedings were registered by the prosecutor’s office, it came to us, and we are investigating it.

And when I said that there are schemes for appropriating budget funds, this is based on the fact that we react to these schemes within the framework of our powers. And, believe me, what is in the media, what journalists talk and write about, we all know and see this too. And we study all the facts that may indicate the presence of a crime and give them a proper assessment. I will not talk about specific facts and names, but we do not turn a blind eye to the corruption processes occurring within the boundaries of our jurisdiction.

— Please name a few more key, most popular schemes that feed our cynical corrupt officials.

– For example, supplies to the state goods or services at inflated prices through various “gasket” companies.

— By the way, I can also add here the name of the famous Fistal dynasty, who, before the war and now, purchase medical equipment as part of the same “Great Construction”. In wartime, colossal funds are washed out of the budget. Equipment on a large scale is supplied at several times more expensive than purchased.

NABU Press Office // Head of the main detective unit of NABU Andrey Kaluzhinsky

– We are aware of such facts, they are being investigated. By and large, such schemes exist in all areas. Cases with medical equipment are just some of them.

Another fairly common scheme is to overestimate the volume of work performed. Sometimes there is a purchase of non-existent things on paper that are not supplied to the state. These are the main and most common trends that we identify in our area of ​​work.

— What level of officials are you currently developing for these schemes?

— Most of our developments cover senior officials.

— Are these ministers, deputy ministers? The Ministry of Defense, for example, are you interested in? There are also bright surnames here – Sharapov, Shapovalov.

– You understand that I cannot give names.

— What about customs? There is still a marker here – Pan Pavlyuk. Odessa is closed due to the war, but the west of Ukraine is working hard. Lviv, Transcarpathian, Volyn regions… Checkpoints Krakovets, Shegini… Nothing has changed. Why? What are you doing to change this, and when can we expect results?

“You and I have already tried to figure out why it hasn’t changed.” Some people decide for themselves that even during the war they can continue to do what they did before. Others do not interfere with this. Do we deal with customs issues? Yes. When can I expect results? We collect evidence. As soon as there are enough of them, society will certainly know about it. You understand that officials, especially from law enforcement agencies, are well informed about their “weak points.” And they take every possible measure to make it difficult for us to find these weak spots and document their illegal activities. There are probably more such officials than the 220 detectives investigating top corruption in the country. However, despite limited resources, we do not stop. Although, of course, if the staff of detectives at NABU were larger, we could cover much more, and the results would be faster.

— What about conversion centers?

— This is more a part of the Bureau of Economic Security. But if we are talking about corruption in the tax administration, then if the subject has certain criteria, this may be of interest to our investigations.

— So you are involved in blocking tax invoices? There is also a very big problem there now. I recently listened to Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy Mr. Vysotsky told farmers that officials cannot do anything about this, they say, let the anti-corruption authorities work. The state does not listen to the farmers at all, the land has been taken away, and even the officials are blocking the invoices. To the people who carried both the sowing season and the occupation on their shoulders… This is another future front of Ukraine.

— In fact, the simplest and most effective way to resolve this issue is administrative. The management of the tax service sees everything that happens in the regions and can influence it.

— And if it doesn’t influence, does that mean you’re interested? They are simply withdrawing money into the shadows. People say they want to work like a white man, but they are simply not given the opportunity.

“So, the intentions here are not entirely pure.” And we have cases of corruption of tax authorities.

— At what stage, out of a hundred percent possible, are these cases? Farmers are not alone. Now Nasirov, who was beaten by everyone, was caught up with suspicion for a bribe back in 2015. By this logic, will tax officials be held accountable for the massive extortion of money from exporters in 2029?

— I cannot estimate the “degree of readiness” of the case as a percentage.

– This is a normal question.

— This is not a construction project, about which we can say that the degree of its readiness is conditionally 66%.

— The degree of readiness of the collected evidence.

“It’s not measured that way.”

– Measure competently.

— We brought to justice seven customs officials as part of the investigation into the cases of one well-known Odessa smuggler. Among them are the head of Kyiv customs and his deputy, director of the department of customs payments administration of the State Fiscal Service. (Among these officials are: O. Head of the Kyiv City Customs Sergei Tupalsky, Deputy Head of the Kyiv City Customs Yuri Kovalenko, and. O. Head of WTO No. 1 of the customs post “Stolichny” of the Kyiv City Customs Sergey Osipov and others – I.V.) There are also a number of developments. As for the tax authorities, we brought to justice the former head of the State Fiscal Service and the head of one of the departments. But we are also working on other corruption schemes involving tax officials. I can’t voice the details yet, but I hope that soon there will be results in the form of reports of suspicion to the persons involved.

— Ten months of war, the first shock has passed… But the corruption system does not change. What about people? Do you have an example of people changing? They acted badly before, but now, when there is war, they acted well?

“I can give an example of one of the accused in our case who became an accuser. He helped expose a criminal scheme involving a group of bribe takers, after which he himself went to fight. From the very beginning he fought near Kyiv, and now – in the eastern direction. And I have a feeling that the person realized: something really needs to be changed in life. There are such people. As for the system as a whole, unfortunately, it does not change.

— Regarding the accusers. Evgeniy Shevchenko. By the way, he was the first to write this fast according to Kaufman and immediately made a reference to Bankova. How should we perceive it? Is this James Bond or an adventurer?

— Evgeniy is a whistleblower in a number of criminal proceedings that we investigated. As for his public activities, this is his area of ​​​​responsibility – we as an institution have nothing to do with it. Yevgeny Shevchenko is a private person, he is not an employee or an agent of NABU.

— Does NABU receive requests about pressure and bribery of people’s deputies when voting for the scandalous bill No. 5655, which, thanks to the tough lobbying of the head of the ruling party Elena Shulyak, cements corruption in the urban planning sector?

— Not yet, as far as I know.

About the competition, the atmosphere in the team and expectations from the new leader

— What is the current state of the NABU team? Has Gizo Uglave managed to keep the team monolithic, or are there different centers of influence, including ex-director Sytnik?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: — In my opinion, the Bureau did not feel any special changes after the end of the director’s tenure. The team is still working. The NABU team is monolithic and united. We do not have the practice of creating separate in-house teams. This is one of the unique features of NABU. And I hope this will remain the same under the new director.

NABU Press Office // Head of the main detective unit of NABU Andrey Kaluzhinsky

— There are very few strong representatives of NABU submitted to the competition. Why didn’t you go? Don’t believe in yourself? At NABU? Or is there something else here?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: — I believe in both NABU and myself. But, firstly, I don’t want to give unnecessary reasons for insinuations that Sytnik left a close person in his place. Secondly, working as an official in Ukraine at such a high level is very politicized. But, in my opinion, in the position of director, the level of a certain “masochism” should be somewhat higher than mine.

– Why?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: – Because when an official tries to do something useful, but in return receives only endless streams of dirt, then this, perhaps, really looks like masochism. The same applies to the level of publicity, which today would be excessive for me in that position.

Well, the third reason is purely rational. Even if I had made it into the top three super finalists, I am 99.9% sure that I still would not have been appointed. That is, I would learn a lot of new things about myself, and not only me – from the media, all kinds of custom materials, and so on. But there would still be no result. So I don’t see the point in this.

— What kind of leader are you waiting for? There are different versions of how the authorities prescribed in the law the conditions for their candidate. But can NABU be shaken if a person comes who tries to nullify all your achievements?

Andrey Kaluzhinsky: “We all hope for a respectable leader.” If a person is unscrupulous and begins to engage in sabotage, then the team will not allow everything to suddenly turn around and break. Of course, the team will resist illegal actions. However, the director’s powers are still sufficient to eventually nullify all our achievements. But we all hope that this will not happen and that a worthy and professional person will become the head of NABU.

Irina Venediktova

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