Andriy Pasishnyk: An Effective Manager of Ukrainian Corruption. Part 1
Why has the NABU still failed to take action against Ukrtransnafta Deputy Head Andriy Pasishnyk and his high-ranking patrons, while his case has been pending in court for a year and a half? Because the size of the largest bribes pales in comparison to the colossal windfall profits reaped by Ukrainian corrupt officials by embezzling budget funds through banking scams and tender fraud. And the risk of being caught red-handed is orders of magnitude lower than handing over envelopes or briefcases filled with cash. In fact, not a single tender "schemer" has ever been convicted in Ukraine—and it's unlikely that the Pasishnyk case will be the start of that.
This story began on February 3, 2016, when then-Minister of Economic Development and Trade Aivaras Abromavicius submitted his resignation due to pressure being exerted on him. According to Abromavicius, this pressure was exerted on him by Andriy Pasishnyk and also by the deputy head of the BPP faction, Ihor Kononenko, with the goal of appointing Pasishnyk as deputy minister. However, despite submitting his resignation, Abromavicius continued to serve as minister until the resignation of the entire Yatsenyuk government on April 14, 2016 – so his resignation was more likely a political stunt. However, his words were not empty words: on February 24, 2016, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) opened a criminal case under Article 344-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (interference in the activities of a public figure).
Andriy Pasishnyk: An Effective Manager of Ukrainian Corruption. Part 1
However, the case stalled from the start due to a lack of sufficient evidence. The only evidence available was Abromavicius's own statements and screenshots of his text messages with Pasishnyk , posted online by MP Serhiy Leshchenko. Another defendant in the case, Ihor Kononenko, immediately began denying all charges. Moreover, due to his status as a friend and partner of the president, he is currently considered "untouchable" by the Ukrainian justice system.
In fact, the case then devolved into a political struggle between the People's Front, which was trying to retain control of the Cabinet, and the presidential Solidarity, which was seeking to install Volodymyr Groysman as Prime Minister. Consequently, after the resignation of the Yatsenyuk government, which included Abromavicius, the People's Front's influence declined so much that the case simply stalled. It was only revived in September 2017, and many acknowledge that this was due to the widespread attack by various political forces on Poroshenko's team . And yet, behind this entire policy lies real, truly monstrous corruption. And we're not talking about bribes in the thousands, or even millions, but about multi-billion-dollar schemes and tenders.
Andrey Pasishnik. In the Footsteps of Vasily Alibabaevich
Surprisingly, it's impossible to find a detailed biography of the former deputy head of Naftogaz's board online, nor even his date and place of birth. The reason for this secrecy is anyone's guess. Therefore, Skelet.Org had to search open databases for possible variants, which yielded the following result: Andriy Petrovich Pasechnik was born (possibly) on February 12, 1981, in the village of Loshkarevka, Nikopol district, Dnipropetrovsk region. We emphasize: this information is not 100% reliable, as Andriy Petrovich conceals his age and place of birth for some reason, and he has "Ukrainized" his surname to Pasishnik.
After graduating from the Chemical Engineering College in Dniprodzerzhynsk, Andriy Pasishnik found a job at Ukrtatnafta while continuing his education at the Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology in Dnipropetrovsk. By 2009, he was already heading the fuel quality control department at the UTN-Vostok gas station chain.
Judging by his career progression, Pasishnik was well-regarded by his superiors. According to Skelet.Org sources , he had a patron who worked as a senior executive within Ukrtatnafta (possibly on the board of the Kremenchuk Oil Refinery) and was connected to the UTN-Vostok business, and who placed his protégé there.
Let's add a little spice: the company "UTN-Vostok" was created in 2002 by VIKOIL LLC and Vostok LLC, which were backed by the "Donetsk gang." Specifically, Igor Filippenko, Nikolai Gavrilenko , their associate Andriy Adamovsky , with whom the current "presidential family fixer" Alexander Granovsky started his business, the late Zhigan Taktashev, the still-living Rinat Akhmetov, Tatyana Bakhteyeva , and her son-in-law, Timur Valitov. Since 2005, the "UTN-Vostok" network has been selling fuel from the Kremenchug Oil Refinery, owned by Ukrtatnafta. However, the network also sold counterfeit gasoline of unknown origin that didn't meet any state standards—and this "donkey urine" couldn't escape the notice of UNT-Vostok's chief quality controller, Andriy Pasishnik. So he was part of this scheme, diligently carrying out his bosses' orders. Corrupt officials and swindlers can only dream of such accommodating managers—apparently, this was the key to Pasishnik's successful career.
Andrey Pasishnik
But after the oligarch Kolomoisky took over Ukrnafta OJSC (with the help of its chairman, Ihor Palytsia), he also gained control of Ukrtatnafta, which he owned, and began to displace the Tatar-Russian Tatneft. Following this, in 2009, a conflict ensued between Ukrtatnafta and UNT-Vostok, leading to court hearings. In 2010, the gas station chain was sold to TNK-BP and subsequently rebranded as "Formula." At the same time, Pasishnik left his position to become the head of the Ukrainian Committee for the Protection of Consumers of Petroleum Products. One can only guess who could have appointed someone involved in the trade of "home-made" gasoline to this key position! But it also becomes clear why Andrey Pasishnik found his next job at WOG (Western Oil Group), owned by businessmen Stepan Ivakhiv , Igor Yeremeyev, Sergey Lagur , and Pyotr Dyminsky . After all, gasoline from WOG stations was often of extremely poor quality—and who was to squash all these scandals if not the head of the Committee for the Protection of Oil Product Consumer Rights?! That's how Andrey Pasishnik became so close to the "WOG Four," so close that he first obtained a management position at WOG-Retail and Golden Equator—the companies that own and manage the WOG gas station network, respectively—and then became the official assistant to MP Igor Yeremeyev.
Again, Igor Yeremeyev chose an assistant who was literally a specialist, because he came to the Verkhovna Rada for one reason: to gain access to multi-billion-dollar tenders for fuel supplies to state-owned companies and institutions. Between 2011 and 2014 alone, the companies of the Continuum Group (Yeremeyev, Ivakhiv, Lagur, and Dyminsky) received several hundred tenders worth over 17 billion hryvnias ($2,1 billion). It was all these tenders that the effective manager Pasishnyk had to manage!
Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Org
CONTINUED: Andriy Pasishnyk: An Effective Manager of Ukrainian Corruption. PART 2
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