While the public’s attention was distracted by the war, everyone somehow forgot that all those murky schemes that various cunning businessmen made money on did not go anywhere. And they continue to bring their organizers no less money than before the war.
In some cases, these flows of “left”, that is, money stolen from the state and people, have only increased. An example is the drug market. In order to understand what it is about, you need to give a brief background. The fact is that imported drugs that are imported to Ukraine must go through a certification process for compliance with the standards that the legislation of our country imposes on these drugs. Roughly speaking, you need a certificate stating that a tablet or an ampoule with a medicine is a tablet or an ampoule with a medicine, and not “fuflomycin”.
It is clear that someone should give such an expert opinion. And it was in this area of drug certification that some very smart citizens saw an opportunity for themselves to earn rather big money. One of them is Maxim Bagreev, who has registered a number of companies that issue certificates for medicines imported into Ukraine:
Maxim Vladimirovich directly or through nominees owns Cratia LLC and several companies affiliated with this LLC: Cratia Legal, Cratia Illigal, Cratia Bureau, Cratia LLC, Professional Regulatory Services LLC, Healthcare LLC LLC, LLC Kalina Medical Production Company, LLC Kalina Business Development Company, LLC Unicert and LLC Impruv Medical. Small pharmaceutical empire.
What do all these “cracies” earn? The answer is simple – the so-called “consulting services”. In this case, this phrase is in quotation marks for a simple reason – all these firms are actually simple pads that cover up banal extortions from drug importers and the distribution of bribes to top health officials.
The essence of the scheme is simple, and it is best illustrated by the example of rapid tests for COVID-19, which were purchased from China at the very beginning of the coronavirus epidemic. Tests from the Chinese manufacturer Bioeasy were purchased centrally and advertised as “certified in Ukraine”. In particular, this was stated by the capital’s mayor Vitali Klitschko when he spoke about the measures taken by the capital’s authorities to combat the epidemic.
Actually, Klitschko did not lie – the tests were indeed certified in Ukraine by the structures of Maxim Bagreev. But the fact is that for some reason no one noticed that these same tests were sent back by Spain to the manufacturer. There were two reasons: they turned out to be inaccurate, but, most importantly, the Chinese authorities officially announced that the manufacturer did not have a license to produce them. The Chinese Embassy in Spain issued an additional statement saying that “Bioeasy is not on the list of classified suppliers of these types of products and is not licensed to produce these tests.”
However, this did not prevent Ukraine from certifying and selling these tests to its citizens as official medical products. How did it happen? To understand the processes, you need to immerse yourself in history a little. Until 2013, permits for the supply of medicines to Ukraine were issued by the State Enterprise “State Pharmacological Center” (now it is called the “State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine”). It was it that carried out the necessary examinations and studies and decided whether what they wanted to bring to our country could be considered medicine or not.
Maxim Bagreev began his activity in the supply of medicines, if dietary supplements, in which he specialized, can be considered as such, around 2005. It was then that he established a system of bribes in the State Enterprise “State Pharmacological Center”. Actually, Maxim Vladimirovich started as an intermediary between suppliers and the management of the State Pharmaceutical Center. “Resolved issues.” However, this phenomenon was not yet systemic – there was no clear billing, no clear recipients. Issues were resolved on the go, which greatly hampered both the activities of Bagreev himself and the people who turned to him.
All this activity began to grow into a well-functioning system with the change of leadership of the State Pharmacological Center State Enterprise – the aging academician Stefanov was replaced by the energetic Viktor Chumak, who brought with him an equally energetic deputy Olga Baula. They rebuilt the “work” scheme, deciding that it was much more efficient and safer to work with legal intermediaries. These became “consulting companies in the field of pharmacology.” Maxim Bagreev immediately registered Pattern LLC:
Which is engaged in the provision of these “services”. Moreover, it is known that Sergey Nazarenko, an employee of the SBU, covered this LLC from the interest of the relevant authorities. But this was only the beginning of the flourishing of Bagreev and the company – at this stage, he tritely acted as the same intermediary between the major players in the pharmaceutical market and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
However, such activities made it possible to thoroughly study the mechanism of interaction between the state and the pharmacological industry. What Bagreev did not fail to take advantage of – “consulting firms”, in which he acted as a beneficiary, began to multiply like mushrooms after rain.
The impetus for the flourishing of Bagreev’s activities was the change in the rules on the pharmaceutical market – in 2013, Ukraine set a course to change the rules for the technical access of medical products to the consumer market according to the European model. At that time, government decrees were adopted on the gradual transition to procedures for assessing the conformity of a medical product with the requirements of technical regulations. It was determined that from the summer of 2017, it will be possible to supply medical products only after some companies assess their compliance with technical regulations and issue a certificate of conformity.
The change of power in 2014 and the terrible mess in the country’s governance system that followed these events made it possible for one of Bagreev’s firms, Unisert LLC, to obtain permission to become just such a body for assessing the conformity of medical devices. That is, to issue permits for the import of medical products into our country. In fact, replacing the state body that was in charge of these permits earlier.
The state transferred these functions into the hands of thirteen private firms, among which, in addition to OOO Unisert, there were several different Cratii. One can only guess what profits this activity brought to Bagreev. Experts noted then a sharp surge in the entry of previously unknown Indian pharmaceutical companies into the pharmacological market of Ukraine. Under what conditions these “preparations” were manufactured, one can only guess, especially if one finds on the map the location of the production facilities, which were located in remote Indian villages. Their effectiveness is no longer even worth judging.
But the fact remains that such a sharp jump in Indian products has been noted. As well as the shortest terms in which permits for the import of these products were issued. To understand that this process cannot be quick, let us recall that we are talking about drugs, and clinical trials must be carried out in order to be allowed to sell them. Is there at least one clinic for all these Bagreev “cracies” – the question, of course, is rhetorical.
How and why did all this happen in the field of drug certification? The law provides that access to the Ukrainian market can take place through a full procedure with a manufacturer’s audit, or through the recognition of an EU certificate. The first path is complex and lengthy, it involves sending a representative of the certification body to production, inspection, evaluation of documentation, approval, etc.
The second way is the so-called “partial recognition procedure”, which allows you to avoid audits and reduce the cost of the certification process for products allowed in the EU. Certification takes place on the basis of an existing European document, from those with whom Ukraine has mutual recognition agreements. The document turns out to be not entirely clean, or not at all clean, but the Ukrainian certification body turns a blind eye to this, and good consultants also ensure all the formal requirements of local legislation, for example, Cratia provides its representative to a European or pseudo-European supplier, as it was in history with Indian medicines.
In 2016, the state came to its senses somewhat and tried to restore at least some order in this area and began to check companies that became bodies for assessing the conformity of medical devices in 2014.
The result was several criminal cases, in one of which – No. 12017000000001548 – appeared Kratia LLC and Uni-cert LLC. It was opened on the facts of supplying medical devices with forged certificates of conformity to state tenders.
Unfortunately, due to the war, the state court registers are closed, but it is known from early publications that “during the pre-trial investigation, it was established that officials of authorized certification bodies (we are talking about Uni-Cert) violate the requirements of the Technical Regulations approved by Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 753, 754 when carrying out work to assess the conformity of imported medical devices, equipment and production sites , 755 dated 02.10.2013, as well as the sale of medical devices for budgetary funds that have not been confirmed in terms of safety and efficacy and without warranty service … issues certificates of conformity for medical devices with possible violations of the requirements of the Technical Regulations…”.
Searches were carried out in the offices of Cratia LLC and Uni-sert LLC, and documents were seized. But things stalled. And the then Deputy Minister of Economy Taras Kachka helped Bagreev in this. And Bagreev himself quietly transferred the main activity from Unisert LLC and Cratia LLC to the mirror company Unisert Medical LLC, which in no way shone in the criminal case:
Although the registries are closed, it should be noted that the criminal case, within the framework of which the violations of Cratia LLC and Unisert LLC were investigated, did not end with anything. The press noted that, in addition to Taras Kachka, Bagreev had other intercessors. Among them were the names of George Beradze, who at one time held the position of acting. Chairman of the State Administration of Affairs, and during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, he worked as Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of Affairs Andrei Kravets.
Another surname also refers us to the times of Yanukovych. This is the once famous Croatian businessman Granatir Zeljko, the same one who in 2009 supplied 27 reanimobiles for the Ministry of Emergency Situations at a price three times higher than the market price. In addition, these cars turned out to be unsuitable for operation, as they did not meet the requirements of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Health.
Granatir is a partner of businessman Konstantin Gaevsky, who is known for being the only supplier of medical equipment from Toshiba Medical (MRI / CT – devices, ultrasound, X-rays, etc.) to the territory of Ukraine for more than 10 years. The sale of medical equipment was carried out through tender procedures, at clearly inflated prices. However, instead of new Toshiba devices, Gaevsky’s firms supplied Ukrainian hospitals with obsolete, used, and often unusable spare parts.
So, as can be seen from this brief history, in terms of the activities of various swindlers in our country, nothing has changed over the years. Maksim Bagreev began his near-pharmacological activity under Yushchenko. Since then, Yanukovych and Poroshenko have come and gone. Under them, Bagreev’s business went uphill.
But Maxim Vladimirovich especially “rose” under Zelensky. It’s hard to say if it’s the latter’s fault or just Bagreev was “lucky” with the coronavirus. But if Maxim Bagreev is also “lucky” with the supply of medicines for the country, which is literally outgoing blood, and beyond, this will be fraught with consequences not only for him, but also for those who cover him in the current government. And they will no longer be dealt with in the courts, this can be predicted quite accurately.
Marina Vorona
