Ilya Pavlyuk: customs mafia “Servants of the People”. PART 1

Zelensky’s team, which seemed monolithic and united to Ukrainians, actually consists of many groups created by their sponsors. Now they are squabbling with each other for power, influence and money. One of them, a group of people’s deputies from the Servant of the People faction, controlled by the Chernivtsi “customs official” Ilya Pavlyuk, seems to have already been defeated. After she directly went against her comrades and failed a number of important bills, Bankova’s wrath fell upon her. However, the final point in this scandal has not yet been reached…

Since the spring of 2019, Pavlyuk has been called a very influential figure in Zelensky’s election headquarters, and then in his Servant of the People party. And even then, journalists became interested in who this little-known, but such an important person was, ensuring the “ZE-team” victory in several regions of Ukraine? Alas, very little was found out, and this increased the intrigue around his person.

Ilya Pavlyuk and gangs of athletes: the story of one kidnapping

Pavlyuk Ilya Nikolaevich was born on July 3, 1973 in the village of Horishni Sherovtsi, Zastavnovsky district, Chernivtsi region. Despite its antiquity (the remains of a local settlement are more than a thousand years old), this village is small – only 2.7 thousand inhabitants, of whom almost forty bear the surname Pavlyuk. And dozens of Pavlyuks live in neighboring villages, so it is very difficult to identify Ilya Nikolaevich’s relatives among people from those places. However, rumors include among them Viktor Igorevich Pavlyuk (mayor of Chernivtsi in 1991-94, deputy minister of economy of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in 2003-2005, deputy head of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration in 2006-2010) and his son Mikhail Viktorovich Pavlyuk (acting head of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration Regional State Administration in 2018-2019). Whether this is true or not has not yet been confirmed. It is reliably known that Ilya Pavlyuk has a brother Vasily, and he has a son Maxim (born in 1992), whom he made a people’s deputy, including in his group in the Servant of the People.

Usually we always try to tell where this or that character in the Kunstkamera started and how he “rose” Skelet.Info. Unfortunately, there is practically no information about Ilya Pavlyuk’s early life. The media briefly mentioned that in the 90s he brought clothes from Turkey, then chicken (having received the nickname Ilyukha Chicken Coop), during which he made his first important acquaintances at customs, and then “seized” a poultry farm in the village of Tarasovtsi (Chernivtsi region) . This is an extremely non-public and secretive person, always diligently avoiding any communication with journalists, and remained completely unknown until 2011 – when Pavlyuk became the victim of a high-profile kidnapping: a ransom of 2 million dollars was demanded for him! This amount was immediately collected by Pavlyuk’s relatives (they didn’t borrow it, but “scraped together”), which attracted even more attention than the kidnapping itself: where did a modest businessman who owns a mediocre poultry farm get such a lot of free money?

What happened then? According to the official version, which was adhered to by the kidnapped Pavlyuk, his guards, and the investigation, subsequently published by Zerkalo Nedeli journalist and Censor editor Yuri Butusovit was like this… Late in the evening of October 4, 2011, in Kyiv, Ilya Pavlyuk in a jeep, accompanied by two security guards, arrived at his home at Lipskaya-15a. Leaving the guards in the yard, Pavlyuk went into the entrance – where three kidnappers were waiting for him, who struck him several times, threw a bag over his head and dragged him back out into the street. The kidnappers allegedly put a gun to his head, so the guards just stood there in confusion. Then (attention!) the three kidnappers, together with Pavlyuk, got into the Lanos car, driven by the fourth criminal, and stepped on the gas… Here readers who imagine this miracle of the Ukrainian automobile industry will probably be surprised: five healthy men can squeeze into the Lanos (one of which is with a bag on his head) is very difficult, this is the worst car for kidnapping (only the Tavria is worse). How was the overloaded Lanos able to escape pursuit? And she wasn’t there, because, according to the guards, while they were wailing, watching the kidnapped boss being stuffed into the Lanos, another criminal punctured the tires on their jeep. Therefore, instead of a chase, there was only the “Interception” plan, and only on a call from Pavlyuk’s wife. And here’s what’s surprising: already in the morning, the Lanos was found burned out not far from the place of the theft, and the car had been listed as stolen since 2008, that is, it was gathering dust somewhere in garages or in a parking lot.

What happened next was even more interesting. On the morning of October 5, the kidnappers called Pavlyuk’s wife and demanded a ransom of $2 million. The money was found literally right away, they practically pulled it out from under the sofa, as if they had prepared it in advance. The police began preparing the seizure operation, even allegedly copying down the numbers of all the banknotes – and this is 20 thousand banknotes, the copying of which would have taken several hours! However, already on the afternoon of October 5, the operation began: the Organized Crime Control Department organized an ambush at the agreed upon place for the transfer of money. But at the last moment the kidnappers changed the place, then again and again. Subsequently, the ubopovites made excuses, saying that they did not have time to wander around the city and set up ambushes. Finally, near the entrance to the zoo, one of the attackers on a motorcycle took possession of a bag with money – and was gone. The Ubopovites only blinked after him in confusion. And on the evening of October 5, Ilya Pavlyuk, very frightened, returned home.

Aren’t you funny yet? Oh, the most ridiculous ending of this story was! So, according to information from the Organized Crime Control Department, on October 8, 2011, one of the Kiev crime lords, nicknamed Kazakh, who at one time led the “brigade” in the Kisel organized crime group, entered one of the Kyiv car dealerships. And, taking out 150 thousand dollars in cash from his bag, he bought himself a brand new Mercedes in luxury trim. The owner of the car dealership allegedly immediately informed the Organized Crime Control Department (his money and Mercedes were crying), and the police began searching for the criminals. They were allegedly found in Crimea, in Yalta, from where they were planning to go abroad – but for some reason through Kyiv and Dnepropetrovsk. And on the way there they were arrested. Let’s quote the ending of this story from Yuri Butusov:

“…one group flew by plane to Kyiv, the other went by train to Dnepropetrovsk. The bandits were taken quietly and absolutely suddenly, and they did not have time to offer any resistance… During the search, most of the money received as a ransom for Pavlyuk was discovered – after all, all the banknote numbers were rewritten. Observation of the criminals allowed us to collect other very convincing evidence. Thus, the record crime was solved in record time…”

Further, it was Butusov who told the Ukrainians that Pavlyuk was the “king of smuggling,” that he allegedly knew Kazakh from “joint activities in Chernivtsi,” that Kazakh offered him to enter his business, that Pavlyuk’s $2 million was the “black cash” of smugglers. Well, in the end he expressed the hope that at the trial of the criminals the secrets and schemes of the smuggling business would be revealed… In general, the material turned out to be beautiful. By the way, Yuri Butusov is an active participant and fan of both Maidans, the author of the film script “Orange Sky”friend of Turchinov, in 2014-2016. member of the NABU competition commission.

What else is surprising in this story, besides the confusedly inactive bodyguards, the dashing bandits in a Lanos stolen three years ago, and the UBOP members absurdly rushing around the city? Oh, a lot! Much of what for some reason was not said either by Butusov or the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Firstly, it is strange that then no one named the Kazakh – who was quite famous in Kyiv, Yuri Nikolaevich Pleskachevsky, a former football player (let’s note this fact), who in the 90s joined Kisel’s organized crime group and actually rose to the rank of “foreman” there. He was also known for his connections with Sergei Kalinovsky, the stepson of Dmitry Firtash, whom Pleskachevsky helped escape from Ukraine after accident caused by the majorin which two people died.

Secondly, in 2010, Yuri Pleskachevsky committed a similar crime – kidnapping a Kyiv businessman (the media never named him), who was “ordered” by his business partner Vitaly Alekseevich Makovetsky. These are the real names of the “heroes,” but in publications of that time their names were changed (to Plikachevsky and Marovitsky). By the way, the descriptions of this abduction were also fascinating – and they featured as many as two Lanos, which were “driven” by the Kazakh people. But not five of them in one car, and only one of them was stolen (one day before the events). But the second “Lanos” belonged to Sergei Garnaga, chairman and founder of the ATEK children’s sports school, the Kyiv Kickboxing and Thai Boxing Federation, and the Kyiv Equestrian Federation. And through Garnaga, Makovetsky and Pleskachevsky were connected with the famous Kyiv “schemer” and “sand queen” Larisa Ilyenko.

Vitaly Makovetsky, who in 2010 was not only a businessman, but also the vice-president of speed skating in Ukraine, had a long-standing close relationship with Pleskachevsky – they were even godfathers. But it’s not this that’s interesting, it’s that according to media publicationsPleskachevsky was arrested in this case at the end of 2010 in Uman! That is, it turns out that he was later released – otherwise how could he then kidnap Pavlyuk in October 2011?!

Thirdly, Pleskachevsky finally received his term in 2012, but got it him together with his godfather Makovetsky for the kidnapping of businessman Yu in 2010. But there is no information that he was tried in the case of Ilya Pavlyuk, or that such a trial took place! This case had no continuation at all, it was “lost” – perhaps because it was initially falsified, and everything was completely different from how Butusov described it.

Fourthly, the kidnapping (or imitation kidnapping) of Ilya Pavlyuk was only one episode of the events that took place at that time. A couple of days later, on October 7, 2011, in Chernivtsi, the head coach of FC Bukovyna Vadim Zaits was attacked. An unknown person with a shotgun wounded him in the leg when Hare was getting into his car. It would seem, what is the connection between these events that happened in different cities? It is obvious: previously Ilya Pavlyuk was one of the founders of FC Bukovyna, which in 2010 was sold to certain businessmen (supposedly from Kharkov, but in fact it was given to Firtash).

In this story with “Bukovina”, another person was named – Mykola Klim, who became the president of “Bukovina” after its redistribution. They called in a muffled voice, looking around cautiously. Because he previously bore the surname Zagursky, and together with his younger brother Vladimir Zagursky headed one of the most terrible organized crime groups in Chernivtsiengaged in racketeering, contract killings and kidnappings, debt collection, and protection rackets for smuggling. This gang was responsible for many crimes, including the murder in 1995 of the director of the Ukrainian-German joint venture “Svoboda-Burgas” Leonid Schwartzberg.

All this, of course, remains in the past, buried in archives and forgotten. In 2011, Nikolai Klim was already a “respected businessman and philanthropist,” the president of everyone’s favorite football club, a deputy of the Chernivtsi City Council from the Party of Regions, and his brother Vladimir headed the local Boxing Federation (all sportsmen-bandits). Why “Bukovina” was headed by Klim-Zagursky was understood by everyone: his old “curator” was Ivan Mirny, the former head of the criminal police of the Chernivtsi region, who then worked as the head of Firtash’s security, and then twice became a people’s deputy on the list of the Party of Regions, and in 2014 -year according to the Opposition Bloc list.

Participants in this dirty deal also included then-governor Mikhail Papiev (a former Chernivtsi Social Democratic Party member who joined the regionals) and businessman Yuri Borisov, associated with Firtash’s financial group. Moreover, Borisov, who at one time represented the interests of the offshore company Collide Limited in Ukraine and was involved in Boyko’s oil schemes and then Firtash’s gas schemes, was called a very influential coordinator of smuggling flows. And that allegedly in the field of this very smuggling he became close to Zagursky, as well as Pavlyuk. Yes, yes, here we come to the very essence of this story: Pavlyuk knew Zagursky since the 90s, and, as they say in Chernivtsi, was engaged in shadow business under his “roof,” including smuggling. That’s why Ilya Pavlyuk always preferred to be in the shadows and not stick out, and Zagursky completely changed his last name. However, as you can see, secrecy is generally a tradition of the Chernivtsi elite; they even gave “Bukovina” to Firtash on the sly!

So what really happened in October 2011? Judging by the collected Skelet.Info According to information, Ilya Pavlyuk was a participant in a scam with FC Bukovyna, during which he either “hidden” part of the property or money, or staged some kind of adventure and went against his old accomplices. And they decided to “punish” him with two million, at the same time giving him a good scare. They also wounded (also “warned”) the head coach of the club, Zayats, who may have known too much or was stubborn (there is also information that Zayats had previously also had problems with the law and was even allegedly a member of Zagursky’s gang). Pavlyuk, who knew well what Zagursky was capable of (with his regional patrons), was really very scared. And the only question remains the participation in these events of Yuri Pleskachevsky, who should have been in jail since December 2010, and not continue to kidnap people and buy luxury Mercedes for cash dollars. If it was really him, then why didn’t he suffer any punishment for Pavlyuk’s kidnapping? Was the Kyiv Organized Crime Control Department also involved in this?

Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Info

CONTINUED: Ilya Pavlyuk: customs mafia “Servants of the People”. PART 2

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