Andrey Kaluzhinskiy
The war is tearing us apart, inflicting new severe wounds. Unfortunately, our chronic diseases have not disappeared either. The opinion that a great misfortune cured everyone of corruption is an illusion. Didn't heal. And this is perhaps one of the most terrible conclusions of the conversation with the head of the main detective unit of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU). Andrey Kaluzhinskiy is in the team of the first founders 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 with ZN.UA.
Unlike the ex-director of NABU Artem Sytnyk and the current acting director Gizo Uglava, our interlocutor is a procedural person. While the director of NABU holds the media form, the chief detective determines the legal content. According to his duties, it is Andrey Kaluzhinskiy who controls the investigations in all criminal proceedings of the main division of NABU detectives and can influence the course of any of them. But (!) 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, you be the judge.
Blitz
— What determines a person’s choice in favor honesty?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy:— Upbringing, moral convictions and their stability.
— Which corruption is worse for the state — domestic or in the highest echelons of power?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy: — In the higher echelons.
— What case did you put the most pressure on?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy:— The strongest pressure was felt in cases involving the heads of law enforcement agencies or oligarchs with a large media resource.
— What is your greatest achievement in the profession?
Andriy Kaluzhinsky: — We do things that no one in the law enforcement system of Ukraine did before us. We bring to justice those people whom no one has ever punished.
– The biggest “fee” that you were offered in order to avoid punishment?
Andrei Kaluzhinskiy: — Five million dollars for the closure of criminal proceedings on suspicion of Pan Zlochevsky.
— Do you really believe that corruption can be overcome?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy: — Completely — no. But it can be reduced to a controlled level, which will not have a destructive effect on the life of the state.
—What is the key tool in this case?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy: — Integrity of power.
— Do you believe that power can be honest?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy: — Yes.
— NABU is still an alien body in the law enforcement system ?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy: — Unfortunately, for now, yes.
— Why didn’t you apply for the competition for the position of director of NABU?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy: — There are several reasons.
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy about old cases, “Lyubovich’s flash drive” and Mikitas’ roof
—“There will be no corruption, it doesn’t exist now, of course, because we are all united. Many corrupt officials left with their money…. This was recently said by President Volodymyr Zelensky. Andrey Vladimirovich, what are you doing in this office then?
— I think that the president said this rather figuratively, rather than literally. Our work shows that corrupt officials remain in the country. Alas.
– Now the subject of conversation is the topic of Judge Vovk. Vovk's tapes were written by NABU detectives, and his shameful case is finally in anticorsud. The District Administrative Court of Kyiv (OASK) was liquidated, but the gestalt was still not closed. First, because Vovk is still a judge. And secondly, those who covered him did not answer. There is a “flash drive of Lyubovich”, which on July 16, 2020, was literally taken away from her deputy by the then Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova. Andrey Lyubovich at that time had already prepared the suspicion of Vovka and was ready to sign it.
According to our information, NABU opened a case on Venediktova's unauthorized intervention. But in order to block the case, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) double-opened its proceedings. Are these cases being investigated now? How often do other law enforcement agencies use such a scheme to prevent NABU from moving forward?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy:– This fact really took place. On the day when Lyubovich signed the suspicions to the judges of the OASK 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 interfere somehow, but it was not successful. Because not a single flash drive will prevent the prosecutor from exercising his powers. On that day, Lyubovich signed the suspicions, and the prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP), together with the detectives, handed them over.
Head of NABU Detective Unit Andrei Kaluzhinskiy //NABU Press Office
However, these suspicions were to be served by prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (OGPU). At that time, they carried out the procedural management, and the SAPO prosecutors were only part of the group. The fact of interference was made public. A record was even posted on the Internet, in which the then head of the department of the Office of the Attorney General, referring to the instructions of the leadership, forbade his subordinates to participate in the presentation of suspicion. Therefore, we were forced to urgently negotiate with the prosecutors of the SAPO so that they would pick up this baton and instead of the prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General, they would hand over a suspicion.
—So NABU started the case?
– There are several things to do. A case was registered on the fact of interference in the activities of the OGPU prosecutor. It is being investigated by us. There was also a case on the fact that they tried to prevent Lyubovich from exercising his official powers. It was this case that was transferred by SAP to the State Bureau of Investigation. But recently, the new head of the SAPO Alexander Klimenko demanded it and returned it to NABU. And on the same fact, the OGPU registered the criminal proceedings, having determined the jurisdiction of the main investigative department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). However, this proceedings, on the initiative of the new head of the SAPO, were also demanded from them. And today we have all these production facilities. We recently received them, so we will think about how and where to move.
—So, Irina Venediktova will answer for her actions? Wherever she represents the state of Ukraine now?
— While I can say that these cases are not closed, they will be investigated. What decision will be made will depend on the evidence that we collect.
— Parallel cases in other bodies — is this 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 bodies. This scheme does not stop our investigations, but sometimes it significantly complicates our work. If, for example, we register proceedings, and other authorities do the same for the same fact, then as part of their investigation, they can withdraw evidence, and then, under some far-fetched pretexts, not provide us with this evidence for quite a long time. But we are trying by all legal means to demand such proceedings, and attach the evidence they contain to our investigations. For example, I cannot recall any case where a parallel investigation blocked the opportunity to complete our investigation.
— NABU entered 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 Paseniuk. Why?
– First, we reported suspicion to six participants in the scheme. And they expanded the circle to 15 suspects at the expense of members of the National Commission responsible for state regulation in the fields of energy and utilities, who voted for the formula, but did not actively promote it. In the actions of those who actively promoted it, we have seen the corpus delicti before, 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), then, based on the results of discussions with prosecutors, we came to the conclusion that their actions also constitute a crime, albeit a different one, namely, professional negligence (Article 367 of the Criminal Code). What they were charged with.
—And what about those three personalities that I named?
—I cannot comment on the investigation in the context of personalities. We can say that suspicions have been communicated to those people in respect of whom detectives and prosecutors have collected enough evidence. But the investigation is not completed.
– Pan Mikitas appeared again in the information space – the mayor of Dnipro did his best: the developer was detained while trying to give Boris Filatov a bribe of 22 million euros. But Mikitas is a big fish that once escaped from your net. Not without the help of the deputy head of the presidential office, Oleg Tatarov, of course. When we talked with Artem Sytnik about the first case of Mikitas, we agreed that the Mikitas case could be no less cynical than the OASK in terms of significance and scale. This is not only the case of the apartments of the National Guard, but there are many more episodes related to the construction world in Kyiv. Mikitas spoke not only to detectives, he clearly told in his posts how his chief lawyer Tatarov, deputy Mayboroda… torn apart “Ukrbud”.
So what about the construction world of Kyiv and not only? On December 14, 2021, the Shevchenkovsky court quietly closed the Tatarov case.
Head of NABU Detective Unit Andrei Kaluzhinskiy //NABU Press Office
– Firstly, I would not agree that “Mikitas broke out of our net.” The criminal proceedings against the said person are under consideration in the Supreme 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 term of the pre-trial investigation has expired. According to the Criminal Procedure Code, if the deadlines for a pre-trial investigation are missed, they are not subject to renewal. But at that time, this proceeding was taken away from us and before the expiration of the pre-trial period, it was transferred to the SBU. As far as I know, the Security Service still applied to the court for an extension of the deadlines, but the court did not extend it. In such circumstances, it is necessary either to open the case materials with the subsequent sending of the indictment to the court, or to close it.
– “Mikitas' testimonies are 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 proven,” these are the words of Sytnyk. That is, the SBU, not paying attention to the fact that NABU had already proved everything, preferred to close the case rather than go to court for a guilty verdict? body of pre-trial investigation (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. (Speech about the Prosecutor of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Hrytsan. — I.V.)
—But these are not at all the signals that society should receive from a state declaring the fight against corruption.
—I can say that if we are not given a legal way to complete the work , then, of course, it upsets us. We are taking all possible measures within our powers to prevent this from happening.
— And what business do Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov go to NABU lately? There are also questions about the searches that took place at one of them in Dnipro last week.
—I will not comment, since the active stage of the pre-trial investigation and investigative actions are now underway.</p
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy about Kaufman's bunker, Trukhanov's karma and schemes of local feudal lords
– If you look at the local level, then all our regions and regional centers are feudal estates. Somewhere more, somewhere less, but Kaufman and Granovsky in Odessa completely lost the coast. How long have these gentlemen businessmen been in development?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy:– Detectives received information about the illegal influence of certain individuals on the entire city and regional authorities about a year and a half ago. This influence was used for the purpose of personal enrichment of these persons in a criminal way. Detectives began to develop and received 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 of the regions has its own more or less influential players, but we have no information that someone “monopolized” local authorities as much as in Odessa.
– Kaufman and Granovsky got into trouble in Odessa, while the NABU is still investigating 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 from impunity, from permissiveness already under the current government, or because you poorly investigate the first case?
– In addition to the previous case on the activities of a criminal group in Odessa, which NABU is really 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 against the current mayor of Odessa and other officials, the VACS had not yet been created. Therefore, we sent the case to the local court (Malinovsky District Court of Odessa. – I.V.), which considered it at a “Stakhanovite” pace and acquitted our defendants. Perhaps this is also not the signal that makes other people not want to do such things. But the acquittal was later canceled, and now this case is being considered in the Supreme 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 conspire as much as possible, they had special rooms equipped with protection against wiretapping, and the like. There they held the most important meetings and meetings. This indicates that measures were taken not to be documented by law enforcement agencies.
– Before the local elections of 2020, ZN.UA did the “Country on the shelves” project, where we laid out everything, including the business stories of each regional center. Therefore, the “institute of beholders” in Odessa, as in other cities, is not news to us. We were waiting for the results from you. But two years have passed, and the scheme is working. There is an array of wiretaps, there are arrests, searches have been carried out, equipment and documents have been confiscated… Where else can these threads lead? The regional administration, and this, for a moment, is the presidential vertical, is also in business.
NABU Press Office
— In our opinion, to date, a sufficient amount of evidence has been collected specifically in relation to those persons who were informed of the suspicion. However, the pre-trial investigation continues.
—And Trukhanov continues to run 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 answer. And if it is not confirmed, then all charges should be dropped. In general, we now have many productions in Odessa related to different schemes. Detectives are also constantly monitoring whether similar schemes are being used in other regions.
– And what templates are you already applying to any bulk? Deputies on salaries, buyout of utility companies…
“Our corrupt officials are quite resourceful. Real estate of a small area is bought out, for example, and huge tracts of land are taken out of communal property for this real estate. This is a scheme according to which we have investigations and certain individuals have already been brought to criminal responsibility. (We are talking about the Galanternik case, where he is the organizer, and among 15 other suspects are the mayor of the city Gennady Trukhanov, deputy mayor Petr Ryabokon, director of the department of communal property of the Odessa City Council Alexei 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 build liquid communal property plots for a pittance for a 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 build, but not to local governments. Since the amounts amaze the imagination, the attractiveness of the vacant position of the “watcher” is stronger than the fear of being exposed. Rather, this fear encourages more resources to be allocated to safeguards against exposure by law enforcement.
There are also schemes of so-called joint venture activities. Commercial enterprises sign various contracts with some utilities and actually receive all the income from their property. And the territorial bulk is left with nothing. And this is the best case. More often – with losses and debts. In the future, such property, also often at a reduced cost, 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 about land histories, but you don’t take on everything. Why? Because you have little strength? Because you are not sure about 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 related to our jurisdiction, then we register the 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.
And the forces are actually very limited. Currently, there are 241 detectives in the main division according to the staffing table. There are ten more vacancies. More than ten detectives have been mobilized in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other paramilitary formations. That is, in total, about 220 detectives are now working throughout the country. Each of the detectives is both an investigative and operational worker. That is, each of them must himself identify crimes, investigate them, draw up indictments, and so on. Only 14-16 detectives work in each of the NABU territorial departments in Kharkiv, Odesa and Lvov. Compare this with other law enforcement agencies, where the staff of investigators has thousands of people.
NABU Press Office
—Are there any losses among the detectives at the front?</p
—Unfortunately, there is already one detective, seriously wounded in the Kharkov direction. I think he may be declared unfit for military service. God grant that he can return to his official duties at NABU, but I don’t know if there will be such an opportunity.
— Did you also have a business trip? For what purpose?
– With the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation, we remained in Kyiv with about 30 detectives to participate in the defense of the capital. On February 25, detectives, along 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. Later, together with the SBU, they 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 the territories occupied by the enemy, carried out sweeps of liberated settlements, identified persons who aided the aggressor, took measures to document war crimes committed by the occupiers, and so on.
In parallel with this, they arranged to receive information from various sources about the places of concentration of equipment and manpower of the enemy, 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 a 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 “grey zone”, even came under artillery fire.
Later, I and a number of other detectives were sent to work in the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. Some of the detectives worked (still work) at the Interdepartmental Coordination Center for the use of special units of the security and defense sector, and some were engaged in certain work in the temporarily occupied territories, which cannot be disclosed at present. From what both NABU and GUR have already reported, it is possible to announce the evacuation of five servicemen (marines) who were hiding behind enemy lines.
—When NABU and the entire anti-corruption bloc were created, they meant such a healthy tool that would subsequently have to qualitatively reformat our entire law enforcement system. By your example. By dealing with the Odessa case, you are sending the right signal to both society and local elites. Maybe it's time to wave to some of them?
– From the very beginning of our activity, we send a signal to all elites not to do such things. And we are trying to constantly increase the pace.
On relations with other security forces, problematic 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?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy:We have some cooperation with various law enforcement agencies. It cannot be said that in all law enforcement agencies there are only scoundrels. There are always people who are trying to achieve some kind of positive result – for which, in fact, all law enforcement agencies were created. They periodically transmit information to us, somewhere we cooperate and implement successful cases. Now we do not have such a confrontation with other law enforcement agencies as we did three years ago.
—Why? Are the people within the system changing, or has the government changed?
– How to answer 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, they put forward false suspicions to our employees. They registered absolutely groundless criminal proceedings with which they tried to put pressure on us. And it was a fairly common occurrence when all law enforcement agencies circled around us and tried by any means, including illegal ones, to somehow compromise somewhere. Now, fortunately, I don't see that. At least they don’t interfere with our work openly.
— NABU has always found it difficult to conduct examinations.
– With expert examinations, problems, as they were, remain. But for NABU, the law provides for the possibility of creating its own expert institutions for a more effective pre-trial investigation. We should not depend on the experts of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the SBU, who have such institutions under their control. It is necessary to ensure this norm 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 influencing the law enforcement system—Smirnov or Tatarov?
— I cannot answer this question, it is not my job to give such assessments… For a 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.
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy about envelopes to deputies, the factor of the Prosecutor General and the quality of political elites
– Back in 2020, in the same interview with Artem Sytnik, we discussed the practice of envelopes for current deputies under the 5-10-15 program. The pre-war rates of the “assistance fund” for deputies for loyalty during the voting were significantly raised, and there was already talk of the “20-30-50” program. But systematic leaks of information, the inability to find a witness who will actually testify, block investigations. The ex-director of NABU spoke about these obstacles. And, according to our information, under Sytnik, the Bureau did not have enough just a few weeks to bring this matter to its logical conclusion. Is this true?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy:I can neither confirm nor deny this information. But I can say what is the problem with bringing people's deputies to criminal responsibility. Only the Prosecutor General can register criminal proceedings against a deputy. And we have had very unhealthy precedents. Under one of the previous general prosecutors, we sent materials for registration of 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.
This is a wild and egregious case for people working in law enforcement or involved in it. In fact, the person documented himself in saving the deputy from criminal proceedings. (We are talking about the case of the deputy of the ruling party “Servant of the People” Pavel Khalimon, who was saved at that time by Prosecutor General I. Venediktova. – 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. Operation failed.
There were other cases that gave reason to believe that there was a “leakage of information” that we were working for one or another people's deputy. Therefore, it is obvious that the law should eliminate the monopoly of the Prosecutor General on entering information about deputies into the ERDR. The head of the SAPO Alexander Klymenko also mentioned this in his interview.
– Therefore, you do not have access to places where corruption, which is backbone for the state, has already formed/is being formed. What are we talking about then?
<img src="/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/90f8d756eaea453015992649c612d0eb.jpg" class="wpg_image" title="Head of the main NABU detective unit Andrey Kaluzhinskiy" width="1920" height="1280" alt="Head Head of NABU Detectives 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 be. 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 the criminal proceedings and begin a pre-trial investigation. If the legislator wants to give additional guarantees to certain persons, a procedure for a special procedure for bringing them to criminal liability is provided for this. This, in my opinion, is logical, since certain categories of persons should 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 registering a production in no way restricts either their rights or their freedoms. The beginning of the investigation is recorded, then the law enforcement agency conducts an investigation and comes to some conclusions. That's when guarantees should be included, where a certain person in the prosecutor's office should check the sufficiency of the grounds.
—There was such a people's deputy from the mono-majority Anton Polyakov, who stated that deputies were paid money in parliament. But, unfortunately, he is gone.
– I can't talk about specific names, but speaking in general, many high-profile statements turn out to be just statements when checked. Like, I know that somewhere out there someone is giving something to someone. That's all the information. It is 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 interfere?</p
— I can’t say the same about Sytnik, he may have known something that I don’t know.
— Is this possible?
– Theoretically – it is possible, since we have units that do not report to me. I mean those people who say that they know: someone is transmitting to someone. 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”. Often such public statements are actually just PR.
—But even the hypothetical possibility of corruption at the level of the state legislature is a signal to everyone: everything is possible.
“The supreme power must really want it to be impossible. This is first. Secondly, people who make important decisions should receive a salary that ensures a normal level of their existence. It happens with us that an official who makes decisions worth billions receives a salary that is not able to support his family. But not many people, not having 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. but the quality of justice has not changed in our country. The anti-corruption block is an exception. NAPC, SAP, NABU, VAKS were immediately built and selected according to other principles, but the SBI was not. Therefore, the result is different there.
– 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 power by punitive methods alone, especially by such a small unit as ours. We can pinpoint corruption in one area or another, but this must be followed by administrative, organizational and political decisions. The system must be rebuilt, because the process of catching bribe-takers, unfortunately, will not lead to the complete eradication of bribery.
NABU Press Office //Head of the Main Detective Unit of NABU Andrey Kaluzhinskiy
—Are we talking about the quality of the current political elites now?
– In general, about building a system, about the level of tolerance for corruption, which, in my opinion, is still quite high among society, elites and authorities. People who are accused of corruption in Ukraine remain completely shaking hands. They are promoted, they are interviewed by the media, they are invited to public events. It was indicative 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 taking a $36,000 bribe. (We are talking about Sergei Novachuk, who in July 2016 was caught on a bribe. – I.V.). But during the time that this case was being investigated and heard in court, he first went on 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, even worked in the main investigative department. Such things, in my opinion, should not happen at all.
About new cases, “Big Construction” and customs from the tax office
— Andrey Vladimirovich, we were just talking about old ones cases, and new ones? What do corruption-tolerant Category A officials dressed in khakis earn now?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy: — The trends, unfortunately, have not changed much. There are budgetary funds that someone is always trying to embezzle, to put illegally in their pocket. There are people who take bribes. As they say, nothing new. But now it all looks extremely cynical… When some steal money, while others sacrifice their lives.
– Under any government, there are always people-markers. Everyone knows everything about them – neighbors, investigative journalists, human rights activists… other than law enforcement. So you are talking about the budget, and let me tell you the names that everyone is talking about. Golik, Timoshenko, Reznichenko, Arakhamia… Haven't you heard?
Of course, you can use the usual language pattern, they say, an investigation is underway, or you can give hope to the society right now.
– Hearing or knowing and proving in terms of criminal procedure are completely different things. It is one thing to prove according to the standards of conditional journalistic investigation, to formulate some ideas about certain circumstances in society. It is quite another thing to bring it to the point where you first report a suspicion, and then the court passes the appropriate verdict. This is first. Secondly, regarding certain things that you said, the information was public: the 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 taking over budget funds, this is already 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 about and write about, we all know and see it too. And all the facts that may indicate the presence of corpus delicti, we study and give them a proper assessment. I will not talk about specific facts and names, but we do not close our eyes to the corruption processes taking place within the boundaries of our jurisdiction.
– Please name a few more key most popular schemes that feed our cynical corrupt officials.
– For example, the supply of goods or services to the state at inflated prices through various “shim” companies.</p
“By the way, I can also add here the name of the famous Fistal dynasty, who both before the war and now buy medical equipment as part of the same “Great Construction”. Enormous funds are washed out of the budget in wartime. Equipment on a large scale is delivered many times more expensive than purchased.
NABU Press Office //Head of the Main Unit of NABU Detectives NABU detectives Andrei Kaluzhinskiy
— We know about 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 amount of work performed. Sometimes there is a purchase on paper of non-existent things that are not supplied to the state. These are the main and most common trends that we identify in our line 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 name names.
— And what about customs? There is still a marker – Pan Pavlyuk. Odessa is closed due to the war, but the west of Ukraine is hard at work. Lviv, Transcarpathian, Volyn regions… Checkpoints Krakovets, Shehyni… Nothing changed. Why? What are you doing to change this, and when can we expect results?
– We have already tried to figure out why it hasn't changed. Some people decide for themselves that they can continue to do what they did before during the war. Others do not prevent them from doing this. Do we deal with customs issues? Yes. When to 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 are taking every possible measure to make it harder for us to find these weaknesses and document their illegal actions. There are probably more such officials than 220 detectives investigating top corruption in the country. However, despite the limited resource, 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.
— And what about conversion centers?
— This is more about 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 for our investigations.
– That is, you are engaged in blocking tax invoices? There is also a big problem right now. I recently listened to Pan Vysotsky, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy, tell farmers that officials can do nothing at all about this, they say, let anti-corruption agencies work. The state does not hear the farmers at all, the land has been taken away, and even overhead officials are blocking it. To the people who pulled both the sowing campaign and the occupation on their shoulders… This is another future front of Ukraine.
—In fact, the easiest 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, then you're interested? They are just throwing money into the shadows. People say that they want to work white-handed, but they are simply not allowed to.
—So, the thoughts here are not entirely pure. And we have cases on facts of corruption of representatives of the tax authorities.
– At what stage out of a hundred possible percent are these cases? Farmers are not alone. Here, the beaten Nasirov was caught up with suspicion for a bribe back in 2015. According to this logic, will the tax authorities be responsible for the massive extortion of money from exporters in 2029? >— This is a normal question.
— This is not a building object, about which we can say that the degree of its readiness is conditionally 66%.
— The degree of readiness collected evidence.
—It is not measured that way.
—Measure competently.
— We brought seven customs officials to justice as part of the investigation into the cases of one well-known Odessa smuggler. Among them are the head of the Kyiv customs and his deputy, director of the department for the administration of customs payments of the State Fiscal Service. (Among these officials are the acting head of the Kyiv city customs Sergey Tupalsky, the deputy head of the Kyiv city customs Yuriy Kovalenko, the acting head of the WTO No. 1 of the customs post “Capital” of the Kyiv city customs Sergey Osipov and others – I. B.) There are still a number of developments. As for the tax, we brought the former head of the State Fiscal Service and the head of one of the departments to justice. But we are also working on other corruption schemes with the participation of tax service officials. I cannot give details yet, but I hope that soon there will be results in the form of reports of suspicion to those 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 when people have changed? Before, they acted badly, but now, when there is a war, is it good?
—I can give an example of one of the accused in our case, who became an accuser. He helped expose a criminal scheme with the participation of 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 a person has 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.
— About accusers. Evgeny Shevchenko. By the way, he was the first to write a post on Kaufman and immediately made a reference to Bankova. How to take it? Is this James Bond or an adventurer?
—Eugene is an accuser 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 individual, he is not an employee or agent of NABU.
— Does NABU receive appeals 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 state of the NABU team now? Did Gizo Uglava manage to keep the team solid, or are there different centers of influence, including ex-director Sytnyk?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy: — 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 it is one. We do not have the practice of creating separate teams of our own. This is one of the unique features of NABU. And, I hope, this will remain with the new director.
NABU press office //Head of the main unit of detectives of NABU Andriy Kaluzhinsky
— There are very few strong representatives of NABU submitted to the competition. Why didn't you go? Don't believe in yourself? In NABU? Or is it something else?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy:— I believe in NABU and in myself. But, firstly, I don’t want to give unnecessary reasons for insinuations that, they say, Sytnik left a close person in his place. Secondly, the work of 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 Kaluzhinskiy:– Because when an official tries to do something useful, and in return receives only endless streams of dirt, then this, perhaps, really looks like masochism. The same goes for the level of publicity that would be excessive for me in that position today.
Well, the third reason is purely rational. Even if I had entered the top three superfinalists, 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. And the result would still not be. So I don't see the point in that.
—What leader are you waiting for? There are different versions of how the authorities prescribed the conditions for their candidate in the law. But can NABU be shaken if a person comes who will try to nullify all your achievements?
Andrey Kaluzhinskiy: — We all hope for a respectable leader. If a person is dishonest and begins to engage in sabotage, then the team will not allow everything to be sharply deployed, broken. Of course, the collective will resist illegal actions. However, the authority of the director is still enough to nullify all our developments over time. But we all hope that this will not happen and that a worthy and professional person will become the head of NABU.
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