The First Deputy Minister of Social Policy approached the Ministry of Finance with a proposal to reduce funding for social programs for ATO veterans and use the "savings" to increase the wage fund for its employees. Many in Ukraine believe that to stop officials from stealing, they need to be given a higher salary. So, Vasyl Shevchenko is keeping up with the times.
This publication is about how officials profit from prosthetics and travel vouchers, and cover up theft with "veteran" themes.
- As many as 39 ATO disabled people can count on housing.
Social protection must begin with oneself—what kind of defender of others are you, one wonders, if you haven't protected your own pockets and the ruling party's coffers? Not wanting to be the shoemaker's child without shoes, the First Deputy Minister of Social Policy sent a 12-page letter to the Ministry of Finance (a copy of the letter, dated April 21, 2016, No. 5977 "ORD," was submitted by concerned citizens), containing ideas for the redistribution of state funds, the primary administrator of which is the Ministry of Social Policy.
ATO veterans with disabilities will be interested to know that only 37 of those returning from the front lines require prosthetics abroad, while only 48, according to Shevchenko, require limb regeneration. Therefore, according to the First Deputy Minister, 56 million hryvnias of budget funding should be saved under this item. Interestingly, this information contradicts the information provided by the State Service of Ukraine for ATO Veterans – their database lists 418 Ukrainian defenders in need.
Among the items Vasyl Shevchenko wants to cut is the line item "State budget subvention for social assistance payments to orphans and foster parents in family-run orphanages based on the 'money follows the child' principle" by 63 million. But the most interesting item is "Provision of housing for persons who participated in the ATO and lost their lower limbs." Based on operational data known only to him, Shevchenko concluded that there are only 39 ATO veterans in our country who need housing! Therefore, as the First Deputy Minister writes, funding for this program could be reduced from 63,9 million UAH to 29.8 million.
So where does Vasyl Vasyliovych propose to use the savings? Throw 46 million toward the needs of ministry officials. Of that, he wants to buy almost 9 million hryvnias worth of computer equipment. Some "non-government person" might say that they could have provided computers to those same ATO veterans with disabilities—that would have been their rehabilitation. But Shevchenko is confident that the new equipment will be more useful at the ministry (as his colleagues and former minister Pavlo Rozenko gossip).Read more about it in the article Pavel Rozenko. The Story of the Minister of Subsidies and Pensions) He loved playing computer games. A "strong manager" will buy 400 system units at 8,5 hryvnias each and the same number of monitors at 4,5 hryvnias each. And it will surely console ATO veterans to know that their money will improve the lives of social security managers for the anti-terrorist operation participants, not just some other officials. As the saying goes, "a full stomach makes a better patient."
The First Deputy Minister also didn't forget about the psychological rehabilitation of soldiers, which some say is the sweetest topic for embezzlement. Shevchenko proposes increasing funding for this item by 48 million hryvnias, and hopes to embezzle another 11,9 million hryvnias under the "sanatorium and resort treatment of WWII veterans and victims of Nazism" (how many of them are real veterans left?).
Meanwhile, the funding shortfall for vocational rehabilitation of people with disabilities is 799 million hryvnias. Housing for Chernobyl victims is 949 million hryvnias short. And the shortfall for displaced persons is 645 million hryvnias.
Against this backdrop, the figure of 29 hryvnia that Vasyl Shevchenko (called "chief of ATO veterans and displaced persons" in the ministry) awarded himself last year as financial assistance certainly seems modest...
Judging by the official's asset declarations for recent years, Shevchenko's personal wealth has been growing year after year. In his 2013 declaration, he listed an annual income of 163 hryvnias. It's unclear where this civil servant, who doesn't own a business, got 25,2 square meters of land, a 546-square-meter house, a 118-square-meter garden plot, and an 80-square-meter apartment, as well as a 2013 Toyota Prado and a 2008 Land Rover. His wife, who has no income, then listed her bank accounts at 296 hryvnias.
And 2014 turned Vasyl Shevchenko into an official millionaire. Although he had repeated all the assets listed in his previous declaration, 1,587 million hryvnias suddenly appeared in his bank account. Meanwhile, the savings in his unemployed wife's account increased to 382 hryvnias.
Last year, this VIP official earned a rather meager 186,2 hryvnias, of which 154,6 hryvnias was his salary. Meanwhile, his account balance increased to 1,633 million (plus his wife's account). And then, out of nowhere, "other real estate" of 80,9 square meters appeared... For some reason, the first deputy head of the most important financial ministry didn't disclose his expenses (even though the law requires it). Apparently, Vasily Vasilyevich wrote out a financial aid order for himself for gasoline for premium cars...
2. Who monopolized the prosthetic industry?
Life is good for those who have deputy prime ministers as friends. Colleagues say that not a fly can fly through the ministry without Shevchenko's knowledge. This influential figure has reliable protection from his student buddies, now big shots in Groysman's government. Former dorm buddies Pavlo Rozenko and Vyacheslav Kyrylenko pushed for Shevchenko to become Minister for the Occupied Territories and IDPs. This would be a mockery of those under their protection, considering that human rights activists demanded Shevchenko's dismissal for stigmatizing statements about "internally displaced persons."
And the friends' logic is clear: the Ministry of Displaced Persons is seen as the number one beneficiary of billions for the reconstruction of Donbas. Many "great figures" are anticipating the arrival of foreign funds that can be "properly redistributed." But while the Ministry of Social Affairs controls the lion's share of the budget, Vasyl Shevchenko is needed at the Ministry of Social Affairs.
"After becoming deputy prime minister, Rozenko continued to backdate employment orders for about a month. There were no competitions for the positions, and salaries were up to $3000 per position. Shevchenko placed his cronies in key positions: Yuriy Laguta was appointed head of the human resources department, and Valeriy Zadnepryanets was appointed director of the finance department. Both were from Pavlo Rozenko's previous tenure at the Ministry of Social Affairs," a source in the ministry said.
When Rozenko served as First Deputy Minister of Social Policy in 2005-2006, Vasyl Shevchenko was the CEO of the industrial association Ukrprotez, and Yuriy Laguta served as Shevchenko's deputy CEO. Both were already implicated in tender fraud, but they paid off the prosecutor's office.
In March, Alexey Krasnoshchekov, chairman of the expert group on prosthetics at the public council of the Social Protection Fund for the Disabled, published a report from the State Regulatory Service, which found numerous violations in the use of budget funds for prosthetics for ATO veterans abroad.
"In 2015, two companies provided prosthetics to ATO participants abroad, and they—in particular, "CorporaS.url"—increased the cost of prosthetics assistance in foreign currency by 20,7 percent. This resulted in an inflated cost of prosthetics by more than 760 hryvnias," states the report cited by Krasnoshchyokov.
"Why are we allocating so much money abroad that we can't utilize, while failing to develop our own enterprises and specialists? Most of these services could be provided in Ukraine, and that would save tens of millions in budget funds," said an activist fighting for a modern domestic prosthetics industry, daring to challenge "the sacred."
According to Krasnoshchyokov, what's done abroad can be done in Ukraine four times cheaper, even with donor funds. However, officials prefer to write off 2 million hryvnias per artificial limb through two front companies: Otto Bock and Corpora Surl (we once wrote about Vasyl Shevchenko's love for these companies here: https://ord-ua.com/2016/03/04/asotsialnyij-ministr-pchyolka-majya-diskriminatsiya-separatizm-i-proteznyie-zavodyi_1/).
Cabinet Resolution No. 518, which created a closed club of "prosthetists," helped the First Deputy Minister lock himself into the exclusive control of ATO veterans. Thanks to this resolution, the State Service for ATO Veterans Affairs has only two supplier options. These monopolists are members of the commission that makes decisions on prosthetics. The composition of the commission, which divides up state funds by inflating the cost of products, is personally approved by Shevchenko. He also chairs the commission.
3. Shock "rehabilitation" of fighters from BPPshniks Berezenko and Lopushinsky
The rehabilitation of those returning from the ATO is the same murky waters in which it's easy to fish, and it also drains the state of millions. In 2015, the state budget allocated almost 50 million hryvnias for the psychological rehabilitation of ATO veterans. All these funds were received by the State Service of Ukraine for War Veterans and ATO Participants, which reports directly to Shevchenko.
The situation here is the same as with prosthetics: just before the New Year, 33 million hryvnias from the budget were hastily embezzled for spa treatment. 7,7 million went to the Geneva 4* sanatorium (Truskavets), which, according to https://24tv.ua, belongs to the Virgin Islands offshore company Bretherton Limited, and whose real owner is Andriy Lopushinsky, a member of parliament from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc. Furthermore, Geneva has a credit debt of over 98 million hryvnias. And the most disturbing thing is the level of "rehabilitation" provided to the soldiers there.
Volunteer psychologists took care of 1200 soldiers. Meals weren't included in the price of the trip. And the hotel services offered to "non-free" clients meant no hot water for the ATO soldiers, a broken elevator (people had to use crutches to get to the seventh floor), and "whatever food God provides" in the gym. When soldiers asked for a TV remote, they were sometimes told, "There are all sorts of ATO soldiers, you'll steal some."
This is the kind of "psychological assistance" fighters received at the illegally privatized Feofaniya LLC, which was promoted by BPP member Sergei Berezenko.
"The Feofaniya Clinical Hospital is just a grandiose name. The ATO service sent our shell-shocked soldier there through a tender," says call sign Yak from the Donbas battalion. "They housed him in a harsh Soviet-era building, a run-down facility with mold and mildew, and practically no heating (it was winter, after all). And the only psychological support he received was a daily conversation about nothing, and then a park. "Go for a walk—that's your rehabilitation. We inquired with the State Service for ATO Veterans and found out that the amount allocated to this facility per soldier is 5050 hryvnias for 14 days. No food or medical care. And the people who end up there leave emotionally damaged, not better off."
According to Kirill Sergeyev, head of the all-Ukrainian organization "ATO Veterans Society," the ministry's travel voucher purchasing procedure facilitates fraud.
"There are business groups that monitor all tenders at the Ministry of Social Affairs. Their lawyers subtly shape these tenders to rip off state funds, and they go through all the tender procedures. Sometimes these scammers approach a sanatorium's management: 'We won't be bringing anyone to you, just sign it,' and for a thousand dollars, the sanatorium director signs a contract. They recruit people with a psychology degree for a hundred dollars: 'Sign that you work for us.' Then they find soldiers who are paid 1500 hryvnias—for supposedly undergoing psychological rehabilitation—and pocket the difference. The procedure selects the cheapest bid, but the State Service for ATO Veterans Affairs has no right to verify how the money is spent, even if it has any doubts. And a psychologist's services aren't like socks you can hold in your hands. A competitive bidding process is needed to evaluate professionalism, not cheapness," says Sergeev.
War changes the lives of everyone who comes into contact with it. And even an experienced psychologist, according to Sergeyev (who himself fought in Aidar), can do harm if he hasn't previously worked with ATO veterans. Replacing comprehensive social, psychological, and medical rehabilitation of demobilized soldiers with "walks in the park" can push them into the noose rather than help them cope with the effects of trauma.
4. Officials devoted to corruption do not drown under any government
The head of the ATO service, Artur Derevyanko, responds to all criticism by claiming that it's the responsibility of senior management, who foisted Natalya Korolevskaya's people on him. People like Kot, the head of the procurement department, who is the stuff of legends.
"I don't need the money right now, I'll manage later. I wouldn't be a buyer if I couldn't feed myself," is how Alexander Kot allegedly responded to an accountant's "pestering" offer to finally collect his salary... for six months!
Under Pavlo Rozenko, more than one "brilliant purchaser" found sanctuary in the post-Maidan Ministry of Social Affairs. Two-thirds of the embezzlers from the "criminal power" team, who were supposed to be subject to lustration, found contact with Pavlo Valerievich. Among them was Serhiy Podorozhny, former director of the Department of Social Protection for Chernobyl Disaster Victims, who had secured record results in Kirovohrad for Korolevska's party. Recently, this chairman of the Kirovohrad regional organization of disabled people, the "Union of Organizations of Disabled People of Ukraine," and a member of the "Ukraine Forward" party, was sent to work in Kirovohrad. But Podorozhny also managed to work for the "Maidan" team. In fact, he was so well-liked that the former minister nominated him for a presidential award—last year, Podorozhny received the Order of Merit, 3rd Class.
"While serving as Rozenko's department director, Podorozhny, a close associate of Korolevskaya's, traveled to every region discussing the procurement of vouchers for Chernobyl victims. And wherever he met with governors, he conveyed Pavel Valerievich's instructions: to personally contact Alexander Kot on all procurement matters," a source in the Ministry of Social Policy recounts. "Everything purchased with ministry funds goes through this Kot. He serves the current leadership as faithfully as he served Korolevskaya. And the kickback on each voucher has increased from 30% to 40%."
Things have recently gotten heated for Natalia Zinkevich, who has served under all governments. She was a close associate of both Korolevskaya and Denisova. She served as acting head of the State Employment Service under Rozenko. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) opened a criminal investigation into the employment service's procurement of support services for the Unified Information and Analytical System between 2012 and 2015. It turns out that the service was never actually provided, even though a company associated with the Opposition Bloc was receiving the money for it. And with the help of this "air," $122 million was stolen from taxpayers' pockets over several years!
5. Activists are planning to sue the "Ministry of Sabotage"
Just like two years ago, concerned Ukrainians continue to chip in to help ATO fighters. Throughout the war, the Ministry of Social Policy has failed to organize a single exchange of experience with foreigners eager to share their ideas, has botched a joint Canadian-US project to support prosthetics, and has failed to develop a development plan. What good is the ministry and its numerous agencies, with their thousands of staff, if volunteers are taking care of ATO fighters and displaced persons?
"They don't say 'we're against it,' they simply don't sign the necessary orders, miss deadlines, and wait for volunteers and donors to lose their desire to help. They simply keep the orders on their desks and block them from going through the administrative process. The Ministry of Social Affairs itself is an unmanageable garbage dump. The country is facing the need to cut costs, but even a preliminary analysis of the Ministry of Social Affairs' expenditures shows that we can improve social standards not by increasing funding, but by increasing the efficiency of money use and curbing rampant corruption," human rights activist Yuriy Bogdanov, an activist with Pidmoga.info, said of the officials' work style at a press conference.
Recently, First Deputy Minister Vasyl Shevchenko (who previously said that the Donbas refugees are to blame for their own misfortunes—they elected Yanukovych, so they deserve it) called his critics, who attended a meeting of civil society activists at the Presidential Administration, a "disabled mafia." The activists took offense and filed a complaint. They threaten to take the matter to administrative court if Shevchenko isn't fired.
It's far worse when "servants of the people" publicly disgrace Ukraine. Such an embarrassing incident occurred at an event involving Canadian John Betzdorf and our own Vasyl Shevchenko. When the former offered the "statesman" the opportunity to draw up a five-year development plan and help raise funds, the "statesman" condescended to respond in the spirit of a crowned head noticing a petitioner: "You have my business card; contact me."
6. Two battalions of beneficiaries from the prosecutor's office and the SBU
What social protection, other than "recuperation" in "Geneva," can ATO heroes count on? Many "cyborgs," once the subject of much government publicity, are still trying to secure UBD ID cards. Those who have secured them say that the right to travel on public transportation is the only benefit of the state they experience (even though there are 22 benefits and guarantees provided by law for ATO veterans). And this benefit is accompanied by scandals. In Sumy, ATO veterans blockaded the bus station, and in Poltava, they picketed the city council, demanding free travel.
Hundreds of homeless ATO veterans whose homes remain in the occupied territory are unable to obtain even temporary shelter for free. Utility subsidies also don't apply to them. Employment is just as impossible for ATO veterans as it is for anyone else (just ask Natalia Zinkevich why).
There are also questions about obtaining UBD status. In less than a year, the number of registered ATO participants has increased fivefold, reaching 205,000! SBU officers and prosecutors have formed a couple of battalions from these "ATO" veterans. They are actively forming in the capital and cutting down forests in the Kyiv region...
"While crooks used to bring a suitcase to the mayor's office asking for land, now they're running corruption schemes in the name of ATO veterans. In Bykivnya, 6 hectares were allegedly allocated for distribution to the widows of ATO soldiers. Then, local community representatives came and presented some curious schemes: for 10 years, it turns out, the entire forest around the edge of the forest "for widows" has been cut into plots for judges and prosecutors... Previously, there was no legal basis for cutting down the forest, so they came up with the idea of taking 6 hectares of forest that hadn't yet been cut down and, under the pretext of installing utilities, pushing through a decision to cut down another 200 hectares around it," says Kirill Sergeev, describing one of the most notorious scams involving the allocation of 92 plots of land to the families of fallen ATO soldiers in the village of Bykivnya, in the Desnyansky district.
The way the State treats its defenders is how they will fight. Unfortunately, demoralizing stories from peaceful cities are all too often heard in the trenches.
Tatyana Zarovnaya, ORD
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