On September 22, the militant leader of the Radical Party, Oleh Lyashko, staged another show right on the steps of the Central Election Commission. Immediately after the candidates were registered, Lyashko declared that the members of the Radicals' list were as pure as a baby's tear. But if any bad apples got in, they would be ousted. Lyashko appealed to the public for help in lustrating the party list. We took this call literally and decided to lustrate the Radical Party's number 16 candidate, Andriy Artemenko, who for many years has been crying out for prison, not parliament.
Andrey Artemenko
According to political expert and former Party of Regions MP Taras Chornovil, Lyashko's Radical Party is a "100% corrupt list, where anyone could end up." "The rule here is: whoever pays the piper gets to fill the list," Chornovil says.
This, of course, doesn't apply to the classic "workers and collective farm women": field commanders, the singer Ognevich, and the activist Kosheleva. Also in the top twenty are Lyashko's aides, his former and current party deputies—classic button-pusher types, little different from the MPs who were drivers, security guards, and mistresses of the "big boss" who flourished in the previous parliament. Only then, they were protégés of the "criminal regime." Now the Radical Party is following in their footsteps.
But Lyashko wasn't content with just button-pushing. After all, someone had to fill the party coffers and shore up the leader's personal fortune. He was facing a financial crisis: he bought another apartment (two floors plus a winter garden) in the elite "royal village" on Kyiv's Protasov Yar, next door to Speaker Turchynov. The Kyivrembud company spent three months renovating the radical leader's nest, and he still hadn't paid up...
The list of radicals includes businessmen with a dubious reputation who could do with being vetted.
Ranked No. 22 is Serhiy Rybalko, who served as Deputy Minister of Ecology during Viktor Yanukovych's presidency. There's probably nothing to check or lustrate here: just jail him for ten years—you can't go wrong.
Konstantin Kondakov, founder of the MMCIS financial pyramid, is the RDPL's 28th candidate in parliament. A month ago, an unknown client delivered a pile of manure adorned with a photograph of the businessman to Kondakov's headquarters in Dnipropetrovsk. This pile of manure could become the starting point for Kondakov's purge.
But the most colorful character on the radical list is number 16: Andrey Artemenko, deputy general director of Global Business Group GmbH. In the line "conviction," instead of "has no criminal record," he should have read "has no criminal record by pure chance." It's also worth remembering Artemenko's two-year prison sentence under four articles of the Criminal Code, alleging large-scale financial fraud.
We have no doubt that Lyashko, when forming his team, knew about the complex biography of No. 16 on his list: we wrote in detail about how Artemenko ended up in pretrial detention and why he was released, and many publications reprinted our publication.
The prosecutor's investigation into Mr. Artemenko's activities centered on multimillion-dollar fraud involving the transfer of football players from FC CSKA Kyiv. It's worth noting that at the time, the club was a state-owned enterprise of the Ministry of Defense. As a result, nearly $4 million disappeared from its accounts, ending up on the bank cards of Artemenko and his wife, as well as in family-controlled bank accounts in Italy, Austria, and Israel. The club's funds were withdrawn through an offshore company, Denvell Trading LLC, controlled by Artemenko. Thus, the current defender of the Fatherland and its army was actively stealing from that same army 15 years ago.
Here's how it sounds in the rough language of the indictment: "Artemenko A.V., occupying, in accordance with the order of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine No. 291 of September 22, 1999, the position of head of the state enterprise of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine "Football Club CSKA-Kyiv" and thus being an official according to the criterion of a permanently held position related to the performance of organizational and managerial and administrative and economic duties, in the period from March 15, 2000 to June 29, 2000, committed theft by appropriation, embezzlement and abuse of his official position of property (money) entrusted to him in the amount of 3,954,459 US dollars."
In 2002, Artemenko was arrested. The investigation lasted two years, and the prosecution was preparing a ten-year prison sentence. But instead, after two years in pretrial detention, the court released the financial fraudster on bail from a whole cohort of MPs. Kyiv's formidable prosecutor, Renat Kuzmin (Read more about it in the article Renat Kuzmin: The Family Business of Outlaw Prosecutors) personally participated in Artemenko's release from custody! The basis for this was the defendant's serious illness. According to the defense, Artemenko was terminally ill, his days numbered. After his release, he was hospitalized, but then suddenly recovered. Afterward, he began to destroy the case against himself with renewed vigor. In 2007, the court, through sheer force of law, dismissed the case, and the judge who made this decision had obviously significantly improved his financial situation.
Artemenko's trail then vanishes. Rumors had it that his company was participating in a program to donate computers from the US to Ukrainian schools.
But barely had the latest Ukrainian revolution ended when Artemenko suddenly resurfaced… at the right hand of Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh! This transformation shocked many who knew Artemenko personally. A pathological liar and financial fraudster who had left Ihor Bakai's team and served as an advisor to then-Kyiv mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko in 2001, he suddenly found himself in charge of finances for a nationalist organization. Judging by Mr. Artemenko's appearance, he had completely recovered and was feeling well.
Political life in the country is so turbulent that it's difficult to keep track of all the ups and downs of Artemenko, who has found himself caught in the political whirlwind. Just a few months after he joined the ranks of the victorious Right Sector, we find him listed at the bottom of Lyashko's list. Moreover, there's no mention of any joint activities between Artemenko and the militant radical Lyashko. Clearly, money played a role. Could it be the same money that was siphoned off from the FC CSKA Kyiv account to the offshore company Denvell Trading LLC?
We can't guess who needs Artemenko more: the Radical Party and his millions, or Artemenko's parliamentary seat on Lyashko's list. After all, some of the people who investigated Artemenko's machinations in the early 2000s still serve in the prosecutor's office. And the case, which was closed due to arbitrary action, could very well be reopened. Moreover, not all of Artemenko's schemes were the subject of a thorough investigation. Some incidents were simply not allowed to be investigated at the time. At literally every step, the investigation encountered titanic resistance from influential patrons of the defendant, who served merely as a technical facilitator for laundering and transferring funds stolen from the state by the powerful.
Today, the situation is somewhat different. No one is immune from the danger of being investigated for crimes committed in a "past life." And the best way to avoid criminal liability is to claim parliamentary immunity.
If investigators decide to bring the investigation into the machinations of Radical No. 16 to a logical conclusion, we'll give you some pointers. The case is sure to be high-profile, guaranteed to attract the attention of the press and the public.
It should be remembered that Mr. Artemenko received the position of president of the MO football club under the patronage of Igor Bakai, who was the head of the State Administration, the head of Naftogaz, etc. during the time of Kuchma. Igor Bakai He is known not only for his masterful schemes to embezzle millions of state funds, but also for one business venture: he and his partner and top-tier Moscow mafioso, "Rybka," brought the Klitschko brothers into the spotlight. At the time, they were merely acting as Rybka's bodyguards. The mafioso brought the brothers to New York and introduced them to Don King, who was interested in the promising young boxers. Bakai and "Ryba" were partners in the brothers' boxing business. And when this venture began to generate income, they began to employ people and companies controlled by their business partners. It's quite possible that tax minimization schemes were being developed.
And here Andriy Artemenko resurfaced. The author, quite by chance, came into possession of internal correspondence from the Kyiv Prosecutor's Office, which investigated Mr. Artemenko's financial crimes in the early 2000s. We present this text verbatim for use by the lustrators from Lyashko's Radical Party and investigators from the newly reorganized Prosecutor's Office.
REPORT
I confirm that in my case there is a criminal record on the right No. 50-2750 for the charges of a large body of the state enterprise of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine “Football Club CSKA-Kiev” Artemenka A.V. in the case of crimes committed, transferring part 3 of Art. 15, part 5 art. 191; Part 5 Art. 191; Part 1 Art. 208; Part 2 Art. 366 CC of Ukraine.
During the investigation, on April 10, 2002, a raid was conducted in the office of Artemenka A.V. at the office of the Kiev Municipal State Administration, the computer system unit “Version” serial No. 5497 (S/NO: 001371300) was installed as soon as possible.
The examination of computer equipment No. 1781 dated 13.05.2002 has been completed, for storage on hard magnetic disks (HDD) from the system unit of the computer Artemenka A.V., obtained during the search, the documents were found to be deficient (updated during expert investigation), which contains information about the functioning of the company “Denvell Trading LLC”.
Among such documents are license contracts between Klichko Vitaly, Klichko Volodymyr and the company “Denvell Trading LLC”, dated 03/05/2000 and 03/10/2000, respectively. Based on these contracts, the company “Denvell Trading LLC” purchased the rights to broadcast matches involving the Klitschko brothers in the territory of Ukraine for 2000 rubles. (until December 31, 2000). Also on the HDD there was a contract of a similar exchange between the company Denvell Trading LLC and the company Taurus Film GMBX & Co (Germany), dated at 2000 rubles.
As a result, sufficient evidence has been found that, in fact, the company “Denvell Trading LLC” is not a party to the relevant contractual agreements, but all activities related to their implementation are particularly relevant Artemenko A.V., vikory documents of the company “Denvell Trading LLC”.
With regard to the documents of the company “Denvell Trading LLC”, vikoristani Artemenko A.V. in the context of theft of the incriminated episodes of malign activity, in order to ensure the integrity of the investigation, to secure additional evidentiary confirmation of the connection between Artemenko A.V. It was purchased by the company “Denvell Trading LLC”, due to the need for additional drinks from the Klitschko brothers from the upcoming food:
1. How did they arrange the contracts, the short files with the text that were revealed on the computer of Artemenka A.V.? How did they settle - for what kind of conditions, what was the fate of A.V. Artemenka, and how, in their opinion, the text of such agreements was based on the HDD of A.V. Artemenka’s computer?
2. Do you know the smells of representatives (vlasniks, landowners, kerivniks, principals) of the company “Denvell Trading LLC”? So, who, in what circumstances, did you get to know them, how did you get to know them, how long did you encourage them? What do they know about Artemenka A.V.’s relationship? to the company “Denvell Trading LLC”?
3. Do you know the stench from Artemenko A.V.? How is it so—in what circumstances did the acquaintance arise, in what ways did they keep up with him, for what hour?
4. How small are the rights to broadcast matches for their participation by the company “Taurus Film GMBX & Co” (Nimechina) for 2000 rubles? Is it true that we are aware of the relationship between the said company and Denvell Trading LLC for the sale of these rights? What was the need for the Denvell Trading LLC company to enter into contracts from the same drive simultaneously with the company Taurus Film GMBX & Co (Nimechina) and with the Klitschko brothers themselves?
I ask you to keep in mind the results of the tests carried out on supplements, the fragments of evidence that may be taken away from their results, which have an important evidentiary value for the investigation of this criminal case established in it. objective truth."
We'd like to add: the Klitschko brothers were never summoned for questioning by the Kyiv prosecutor's office. Thus, one of the most notable episodes of Andriy Artemenko's activities remains uninvestigated. And surely more than a million dollars were at stake. And apparently, financial crime was involved. This case could be a good start for the National Bureau of Investigation, the law on which has passed its first reading in parliament. As for whether Artemenko will testify—as a private individual or as a member of parliament from Lyashko's Radical Party—Oleg Valerievich has the right to decide today. After all, he's determined, without PR, to lustrate his fellow party members with all his revolutionary determination, isn't he?
Ivan Stepanov, SUBJECT
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