Anatoly Danilenko: The Path from Policeman to Feudal Lord
Anatoly Danilenko demonstrates whether it is possible to become a true landlord or latifundist after serving the "sovereign" for a lifetime. Published on the website Anticorrosive
The former police officer and former Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine proved by his example that it's possible. The key is to get on the right team at the right time. Danilenko managed to jump on board with Yuriy Lutsenko and To Vitaly YaremaToday, he might well get confused listing the elite land plots and apartments that he and his family members have become the proud owners of.
Danilenko Estate Museums
Anatoliy Vasilievich Danilenko isn't shy about concealing his sudden wealth, honestly listing his properties in his tax returns. Now in his third retirement, he gazes out the window of his residence in the village of Khlepcha in the Vasylkiv district of the Kyiv region. His wife, Natalia, looks out from an equally cozy palace across the street, also delighted to own an estate in one of the most expensive places per square meter in Ukraine. The prosecutor and his wife's neighbors include the family of former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and several other figures from the political elite. Not far from Khlepcha, between the villages of Mala and Velyka Saltanovka, the successful heir, Vyacheslav Danilenko, purchased 140 hectares of land on the shores of beautiful lakes, and a little further, in the village of Vorzel, the land of a former tourist camp, where he plans to erect his own 21st-century architectural landmark. The head of the Danilenko family doesn't explain to anyone why he needs so much land and real estate. It wouldn't hurt to have more, period. He's the only one registered to own two houses and three apartments. He also has shares in nine more plots of land and five apartments, which constitute joint property. The elite real estate of the prosecutor general turned out to be a red flag for the former head of the SBU. Valentina Nalyvaichenko, who was trying to solve the mystery of his sudden enrichment. The head of the secret service served in his post only a few months longer than Danilenko himself served as First Deputy Prosecutor General. In June 2015, President Poroshenko dismissed Nalyvaichenko. Now he is trying to find answers to long-plagued questions in the "Anti-Corruption Committee" he organized. Danilenko escaped with a minor scare from the head of the SBU, who handed over a folder containing incriminating evidence against him to the Prosecutor General's Office. He was forced to briefly leave Khlepcha, hiding in Germany, but after receiving safety guarantees, he returned to Ukraine. He had too many influential friends in Poroshenko's inner circle, whose protégé he had always been considered.
Prelude
Danilenko started out as a simple police officer, achieving no particular distinction in the service. Moreover, he retired rather quietly and early, with the rank of mere lieutenant colonel. He owned no land, houses, or apartments at the time, just a standard pension. He also had some savings, some substantial, which he was afraid to legalize for a while. A mere lieutenant colonel clearly shouldn't have been boasting about his real estate. The fact is, the unpromising operative had briefly served as a department head in the State Tax Administration. He was placed there by Oleksandr Bondarenko, who later became Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs under Yuriy Lutsenko. The transfer was deliberate. Danilenko, a tax official, was involved in VAT laundering. One of his clients was Vladimir Deinega, the CEO of Argo-Trading Ltd. and an insider in the company of high-ranking police officers. Danilenko's services were quite expensive—up to $50 monthly—but no one was offended. It was then that he met Gennady Ilyin, the former "foreman" of the Kyiv Salokha organized crime group, then head of Petro Poroshenko's personal security, and later a high-ranking official in the capital's Main Directorate of Internal Affairs. Life can be so unpredictable. For Danilenko, this unpredictability was initially unpleasant. It's unclear what happened within the tax administration, but the forty-year-old department head was dismissed.
Yuriy Lutsenko
Anatoly Danilenko. The Second Coming
The Orange Revolution brought him back from oblivion. Petro Poroshenko became head of the National Security Council, and he immediately began to appoint reliable people. The new Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko He interceded for Vitaliy Yarema, who became the head of the Kyiv Main Police Department. Anatoliy Danilenko, who was soon promoted to colonel, was brought back from retirement as his assistant, again through Oleksandr Bondarenko's patronage. The "team" was complete. At the Kyiv Main Police Department, Deputy Chief Danilenko first showed an interest in land relations. Using his connections in the Kyiv Reconstruction Department, he managed to sell several plots of land where the Kyiv traffic police departments were located to businessmen for development. His oversight of the traffic police didn't stop there. Danilenko was interested in shady trading operations involving license plates and driver's licenses. Rank-and-file inspectors learned well that the "right" approach to the Deputy Chief of the Main Police Department could lead to unscheduled summer vacations. Together with Chief of the Main Police Department Vitaliy Yarema, he facilitated the process of ensuring that all Kyiv police officers became clients of the Knyazha insurance company. From 2007 to 2008, Danilenko spent most of his working time close to Minister Lutsenko, serving as his assistant. It was then that his son became the owner of lakes near Saltanovka.
Vitaly Yarema
Previously, 300 hectares of land were occupied by a fish farm. In the late 1990s, through a clever manipulation, the entire land was transferred from public to private ownership. With Danilenko's help, the plot was divided equally into two parts. One half went to Saltanovka-Kaskad LLC, whose founder was his son, Vitaly. A young businessman, Vitaly Danilenko, who had quickly started his own business, somehow managed to acquire a stake in Prestige-Invest-Group LLC before purchasing the land. This stake was valuable because it owned a building in the capital, inherited from the Kyiv-based Generator plant. Together with the son of a close family friend, Gennady Ilyin, who also worked in the Kyiv Main Directorate of Internal Affairs, Danilenko Jr. purchased a 5-hectare forestry camp near the village of Vorzel. A pause in the expansion of land holdings came in 2010, when Yarema resigned, followed by his loyal ally Danilenko. They had already lingered in their positions. Their main patron, Petro Poroshenko, whose supporters they had always been, had long since left the government. High-ranking positions had to be vacated for people from the "team" of the new president, Yanukovych.
Anatoly Danilenko. The Third Coming and the Finale
It's unknown what Anatoliy Danilenko did for almost four years. Apparently, he twitched nervously at night, expecting someone to remember him, or rather his lands, and force him to return everything. Everything was heading in that direction. A lawsuit was filed seeking to declare the transfer of land near Saltanovka to private ownership illegal. Half of the plot had to be returned to another owner, and the judges decided not to offend Saltanovka-Cascade LLC. In March 2014, under the new government, Vitaliy Yarema took over as Deputy Prime Minister, and Anatoliy Danilenko returned to public service with him. It couldn't have come at a better time. The former police duo joined forces in the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine. During his six months in office, Danilenko immediately tried to make up for lost time under Yanukovych. He secured permission for his son to build an elite residential complex in Vorzel. Danilenko also distinguished himself by lobbying for the interests of the BRSM-Neft company. In the same beloved Vasylkiv district, like-minded businessmen built an oil depot, locating it close to a strategic facility of the Ministry of Defense. The military attempted to ban the construction, but their protests to the Prosecutor General's Office were stubbornly rejected. Yarema's first deputy, in response to accusations of personal interest in the outcome of the case, confidently replied that he merely served as a personnel officer and quartermaster at the Prosecutor General's Office. He had no connection whatsoever with procedural or investigative work, so pointing a finger at him would be, at the very least, inappropriate. Only the escalating inter-clan conflict within Petro Poroshenko's inner circle between Yarema and Danilenko on one side and SBU head Valentyn Nalyvaichenko on the other forced the boss, regardless of who was right or wrong, to sweep away the entire gang locked in battle.
Valentin Nalyvaychenko
In February 2015, Anatoly Danilenko retired once again. He has no complaints about his life. His son, Vitaly, continues his father's business. His property is not under threat of expropriation. He has a home (and in his case, more than one), a family, and children. What more could a person need to enjoy a peaceful retirement?
In topic: Yuriy Lutsenko. The "Terminator" of Ukrainian Politics
Valentin Nalyvaichenko: Spy, Diplomat, and Corrupt Official
Vitaly Yarema, "Honest Cop" and Sergei Dumchev's godfather
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