The Ukrainian government's anti-corruption strategy means taking the fight to the very roots of corruption. This isn't an exaggeration, but since Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk believes the Anti-Corruption Bureau's mission is to combat corruption at the highest levels of government, and since the heads of this agency are being considered for positions tainted by corruption, there's no more effective way to permanently entrench it. As one classic once said: "You're on the right path, comrades."
New body - the official's fear?
On October 7, our legislators supported the President's initiative to create the so-called Anti-Corruption Bureau. Bill No. 5085, "On the System of Specially Authorized Entities in the Sphere of Combating Corruption," which was adopted in the first reading (it will 100% be supported in the second, as Poroshenko has already easily signed the Law on the Purification of Power), establishes a new (similar to the new government) state law enforcement agency tasked with combating criminal corruption offenses committed by senior officials authorized to perform state or local government functions and which pose a threat to national security.
The Prosecutor General of Ukraine and prosecutors authorized by him coordinate the activities of specially authorized entities in the field of combating corruption, as well as supervise their compliance with laws.
We won't go into detail about the functions that this "brainchild" of the revolution is now taking away from the prosecutor's office, but we will note that the director of the National Bureau will be appointed and dismissed by the President of Ukraine for a seven-year term.
The same person cannot hold this position for two consecutive terms, and a person who was a member of the governing bodies of a political party two years ago or was in an employment or other contractual relationship with a political party cannot be appointed.
The Director of the National Bureau shall annually, no later than 10 February and 10 August, report to the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the activities of the National Bureau over the previous 6 months.
The bureau's employees will be paid very high salaries—from 18 to 60 hryvnias—and the agency will employ 700 people. This well-heeled group, armed with intelligence obtained through intelligence operations, will harass ministers, deputy ministers, prosecutors, judges—officials in categories 1-3—or anyone who has received a bribe exceeding 600 hryvnias. I wonder who will be standing there with a calculator? Probably someone who will receive a hefty kickback.
Urgent necessity or personal gain?
From the very beginning, Viktor Chumak's project was a higher priority for the President than the one pushed by Tatyana Chornovol, the Maidan-appointed anti-corruption figure. This was because it envisioned assigning virtually the entire security apparatus to him.
This is on the one hand.
On the other hand, we have a cloud hanging over us like the IMF, which previously threatened that if the National Anti-Corruption Bureau isn't created, we won't see any rain of money or lightning bolts of aid. So, legislators have worked hard for the benefit of the Ukrainian people.
But following this logic, it turns out that the only institution that's even trying to combat corruption in our country is the International Monetary Fund! After all, since the "victory of the revolution," not a single corrupt official has been arrested or imprisoned.
The IMF has formulated formal requirements to issue us a loan, and one of them is the National Bureau.
Anyone familiar with our business understands that every new anti-corruption agency merely increases the amount of kickbacks, as there's additional risk and new "anti-corruption fighters" are added to the chain, with whom the money must be shared. True, these days they're of higher caliber and wear more expensive suits.
So, on the IMF's urgent advice, this is a new and serious body. Yes, for now, this doesn't include the candidates already under discussion for the position of Director of the National Bureau.
"Oh, those familiar faces!": Deputy Prosecutors General Viktor Shokin and Alexey Baganets
Here's the crux of this story: two candidates are currently being considered for the position of Director of the National Corruption Bureau: Viktor Shokin and Alexey Baganets, deputies of Prosecutor General Vitaliy Yarema.
These figures have absolutely nothing to do with the fight against corruption, except perhaps at the dawn of their professional careers, when they still had to walk to work.
Viktor Shokin is a "faithful dog" of the Yanukovych regime, the "any friends" regime, and any other regime this 62-year-old pro can still fit into. This pro demonstrated itself in the fact that Shokin helped the "BYuT" party monopolize the right to negotiate gas deals with Gazprom, meet his future godfather, Petro Poroshenko, and open criminal cases against Kolesnikov, Akhmetov, and Kolomoisky.
Wait a minute, Poroshenko's godfather? Yes, that's right. It wasn't for nothing, it wasn't for nothing that Petya and Piskun were arguing back then: "We should create a National Bureau of Investigation for the people and appoint Shokin as its head." Well, it's becoming increasingly likely that "dreams will come true."
And what about Baganets? He really screwed up that high-profile jewelry store robbery in central Kyiv, and although he and investigator Lodochnikov weren't held accountable, he didn't gain any respect from Petya, only, excuse me, a headache. Heck, the poor guy even complained about his salary at the GPU, as if to imply he wasn't holding on to his job.
And so, having put the puzzle together, the presidential choice is clear: Viktor Shokin, pack your bags! Take him, punish him, and break up corruption.
Considering our politicians' love of placing their families and godparents in leadership positions in government, the question of who should be chosen for this position should not have been asked...
In connection with the above, the Prosecutor's Truth has the following questions:
— Was the idea of a police state, which essentially emerged after the law creating the National Bureau, inspired by Putin, or does Petro Poroshenko see this as the source of his long rule?
What will Viktor Shokin do in his proposed position, given all his "services to the fatherland," and will he turn the punitive body into yet another "money-grabbing institution"?
— Is it true that Poroshenko needed the Anti-Corruption Bureau law to secure positions for his relatives and godfathers, in particular Shokin, who was no longer of age for the "new" Prosecutor General's Office?
Prosecutor's Truth
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