Lyudmila Denisova: An Ombudsman with a Criminal Twist, or the Story of Lyudochka the Cannibal. Part 1
The current ruling coalition in the Verkhovna Rada has surpassed itself in cynicism and chutzpah by turning the once-respected post of Human Rights Commissioner into a haven for hardened corrupt officials. Lyudmyla Denisova, appointed to the post, has long been known for her schemes to embezzle budget funds from the elderly and disabled, her connections in the criminal underworld, and her high-ranking patrons who have kept her out of prison and promoted her to new positions. But the most absurd thing is that Ukraine's current chief human rights defender is effectively a protégé and member of the political clan of the Minister of Internal Affairs. Arsen AvakovAnd it is unlikely that he will defend the rights of Ukrainians from the lawlessness of his comrades.
To the Crimean shores
Lyudmila Leontyevna Denisova was born on July 6, 1960, in Arkhangelsk (RSFSR, now the Russian Federation), to Nina and Leonty Ankudinova. Lacking a keen interest in academics and lacking any clear plans for her future, she left school after eighth grade and enrolled in the Arkhangelsk Pedagogical College, graduating in 1978 with a degree in preschool education. It's worth noting that this "school" in Arkhangelsk had a special reputation (like many other "women's" vocational schools in the country), so young men flocked to its walls. Perhaps it was there that young Lyudmila Ankudinova learned how to skillfully manipulate the stronger sex. She herself, far from foolish in such matters, took her time choosing a husband, which is how she hit the jackpot. He became a young military lawyer, Alexander Denisov (born 1961).
At first, the young teacher was assigned to the middle of nowhere: the Arctic village of Andeg (Nenets Autonomous Okrug), to babysit the children of reindeer herders and fishermen. A few months later, she miraculously escaped this hellish situation and returned to Arkhangelsk, where she worked as a kindergarten teacher for another year—and then quit forever. In 1980, a new life began for her: Lyudmila found work as a court secretary, and two years later, as the head of the clerk's office at the Arkhangelsk Regional Court. Her husband was often cited as the reason for this sudden transformation, but he was only a cadet at the time, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't have found a job for his wife (even his fiancée) in court. It seems logical to conclude that Lyudmila got her job with the help of Alexander Denisov's parents, who also helped her earn a law degree from Leningrad State University. She enrolled there in 1982 and graduated only in 1989, apparently taking two maternity leaves (she gave birth to her daughter Elena in 1985 and her daughter Alexandra in 1987). During her final years, she was listed as a consultant for the Arkhangelsk Regional Court—in fact, she was only listed, and not only because of her "maternity leave."
Lyudmila Denisova, her youth
In 1989, Alexander Denisov was transferred to Simferopol, Crimea, where the whole family went to live. Sources Skelet.Org It was reported that he had received a new job not only as a military lawyer, but also with either the KGB or military counterintelligence. Apparently, Alexander's new position was quite high-ranking, or his parents had very strong connections in Crimea: in Simferopol, they were immediately given an apartment in a nine-story building on Mate-Zalki Street, and Lyudmila Denisova was hired as a legal consultant for the Crimean Regional Committee of the Komsomol. It was there that she became closely acquainted with the regional committee's second secretary, Andrei Senchenko, and another Komsomol official, Sergei Velizhansky, who became her close friends, associates, and business partners. And given their numerous corrupt and downright criminal dealings, they were also her accomplices.
Lyudmila Denisova, Andrey Senchenko, Sergey Velizhansky
After the collapse of the USSR, the Denisov family never returned from sunny Crimea to Arkhangelsk. However, Alexander Denisov's subsequent career remains unknown: whether he swore allegiance to Ukraine or transferred to work at a Russian Black Sea Fleet base, and what exactly he did, remains unknown. It is only known that a few years later he retired and became a businessman (he owns the Olivier small restaurant) and headed the Crimean office of the Foundation for Disabled Persons of Regional Conflicts and Special Forces Units. Again, whether his wife, by then the family's driving force, arranged for him to work there, or whether Alexander Denisov actually had some connection to the special forces, is also unknown. However, it is well known that this Foundation is not a Ukrainian, but a "CIS" entity; its branches operate in several post-Soviet republics, and it is effectively under the complete control of Russia. It's also curious that Lyudmila Denisova always kept her husband's identity a secret, and in her last autobiography, she even wrote that she was single. I wonder why?
Lyudmila Denisova, Salem, Krymkredit-Bank and the Pension Fund
The period 1989-91 was a turbulent one for Crimea. Firstly, the resort peninsula became a gold mine for all sorts of cooperatives, profiting handsomely from vacationers. Many cafes, video salons, discos, and other food and entertainment establishments were opened under Komsomol protection and financed by Komsomol funds. However, their proceeds ended up in the pockets of the cooperative chairmen and Komsomol leaders. Secondly, political unrest erupted in Crimea, initiated from Moscow and supported by local authorities, party and Komsomol bodies, as well as the military and security services. This unrest aimed at separating Crimea from what was then the Ukrainian SSR and rejoining the Russian SFSR. The climax of this unrest was the Crimean referendum, held on January 20, 1991. Then, 93% of Crimeans voted in favor of re-establishing the Crimean ASSR. The next, even more radical steps were not taken due to the power crisis that had begun in Moscow, and the new leader Boris Yeltsin was not eager to “return Crimea.”
So, the Simferopol regional committee of the LKSMU was also involved in the preparation of the then "Crimean Spring," including Andrei Senchenko (who would have been the second secretary) and, quite possibly, Lyudmila Denisova, who had just recently arrived from Russia and was unlikely to have sympathized with the Ukrainian "independence" that was already being used to frighten Crimeans. Naturally, her husband, Alexander Denisov, was also involved. But neither of them, of course, tries to remember this now.
However, Denisova and her new friends, Senchenko and Velizhansky, were much less interested in politics than in money. With the dissolution of the LKSMU, they were forced to seek new sources of income, and they settled in quite well: Velizhansky went into business, Senchenko became chairman of the Committee on Youth Affairs under the Crimean Council of Ministers (1991-93), and then deputy prime minister of the Crimean government (1993-97), while Denisova found work in the Crimean office of the Pension Fund. She started as a personnel inspector (1991), a few months later became deputy head of the department of receipts and commercial activities, and in 1993, she headed the Crimean office of the Pension Fund. Sources Skelet.Org It was reported that she owed her new career not only to Senchenko, but also to some of her husband’s friends, as well as her personal connections in the leadership of the autonomy.
In the 90s, Senchenko actively collaborated with the Salem organized crime group and was even considered their man in the Crimean government. Through him, Lyudmila Denisova also met the group's leaders and criminal businessmen. According to sources, Salem served as their criminal "roof" for a time, but Denisova had many other "roofs": in the police, the security services, government, and the prosecutor's office. However, between 1996 and 2000, Denisova's relationship with the Crimean prosecutor's office deteriorated significantly—it was during this period that Vladimir Shuba, who had arrived from Dnipropetrovsk, took over the office.
Vladimir Shuba
One of the reasons cited for this was Shuba's war against the Salem organized crime group, during which he also developed grievances against Senchenko and Denisova. It was precisely at that time (1996-1997) that Salem was being crushed by its main competitors, the Bashmaki organized crime group. The showdown was bloody, with not only bandits and businessmen but also officials being killed. An attempt was made on Senchenko's life, and he fled to the border in terror, where he hid until better times. However, the then head of the Crimean Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (GUMVD) was able to defuse the situation to some extent. Gennady Moskal, who had his own views on the organized crime group, and therefore saved many of the “Salemites” (including the future “head of Crimea” Sergei Aksyonov).
Denisova and her accomplices subsequently erased information about their scams and frauds while heading the Crimean Pension Fund so thoroughly that only fragmentary details remained. It is known that the main schemes were based on the actual theft of budget and pension funds. During 1993-94, when inflation was raging in the country, social payments were simply delayed, siphoned off through commercial and banking transactions. Between 1995 and 98, money was stolen through mutual settlement systems. For example, non-cash funds were transferred from Kyiv to Crimea for pension payments, which were then deposited into the accounts of commercial firms, which, in return, "bought" food products (cereals, sugar, butter, etc.) to the elderly to offset their pensions. Moreover, the retail price of these products was much higher than the market price! Later, prosecutors established that such offsetting schemes, used not only by the Pension Fund but also in settlements with public sector employees and state-owned enterprises (where they were no longer "selling" pasta, but equipment or fuel), allowed fraudsters to supply goods and services at prices 2-2,5 times higher, effectively stealing 50-60% of budget funds. You might ask, what does Salem have to do with this? It's because commercial firms controlled by this organized crime group also participated in these schemes.
Some of these schemes operated entirely legally, although they were, as they say, completely unrecognizable. For example, the United Payment System of Ukraine LLC officially worked with Crimean authorities (the Ministry of Finance). However, despite its pretentious name, it only encompassed two Swiss-registered companies (through which the money was siphoned off), one or two Crimean LLCs, and a small joint-stock bank, Krymkredit. Nevertheless, enormous sums of money were circulated through this scheme. Moreover, in violation of all laws and regulations, the Crimean Pension Fund office (meaning Denisova) conducted pension fund transactions not through Aval or other pension banks, but through the unauthorized Krymkredit.
After the spring elections of 1998, the players at the trough changed. Anatoly Franchuk (whose son Igor was the first husband of Leonid Kuchma's daughter) took over as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Sergei KunitsynKunitsyn then fired Finance Minister Mikhail Vitkov (who claimed to be Leonid Grach's man) and appointed Lyudmila Denisova to the post. With power thus "renewed," the United Payment System's machinations escalated even further. They even launched their own plastic card system (collectors still have some), which had a distinctive feature: the cards weren't connected to any international payment system (Visa or MasterCard), and were effectively serviced only by Krymkredit Bank. According to sources, Skelet.OrgThe scammers had big plans for these cards, even going so far as to launch currency exchange schemes. Furthermore, they planned to introduce payment cards for pensioners and public sector employees. But here's the problem: Krymkredit ATMs on the peninsula could be counted on one hand, and others didn't accept these cards. How then would Crimeans be able to receive their salaries and pensions? Or was the idea to funnel them with these cards to the same stores for cereals and pasta? The scammers' plans remained undisclosed, as Krymkredit Bank went bankrupt back in 2002, and then the United Payment System also shut down its operations and was painstakingly forgotten.
More well-known was the scandal surrounding the bonds issued by the Crimean government in 1996-99. The first issue (for 120 million hryvnias) was carried out under Crimean Prime Minister Arkady Demidenko, the second under his successor, Franchuk, and the final issue was completed under Kunitsyn. The purpose of the bond issue was to raise funds for the creation of the Black Sea Bank for Reconstruction and Development (BSBRD), whose founders were the Crimean Ministry of Finance, the State Property Fund, and Slavyansky Bank. The issuer of the loan was the Crimean Ministry of Finance, Slavyansky Bank was the manager, and the funds were supposed to go to the BSBRD and be spent on budget projects. But this loan turned out to be somewhat tricky, as the interest rate was constantly changing. For example, when the majority of the bonds were owned by the Ukrainian NPO im. Frunze, the bonds were set at a minimum yield (11,5% per annum), but when their main owners were foreign offshore companies Xenon Marketing Limited and Data Technology SA, the yield exceeded 200% per annum! Clearly, there was some kind of scam to funnel money out of the country, and in foreign currency at that, the treasury ended up owing the offshore companies 495,163 million hryvnias—or about 250 million hryvnias at the exchange rate at the time. However, Lyudmila Denisova, with Kunitsyn's consent, refused to pay them this amount, effectively triggering a mini-default for Crimea. Why? Despite Denisova's claims that she was trying to protect state funds from embezzlement, everyone understood that this was a struggle over this enormous sum between the old (Franchuk-Vitkov-Grach) and new (Kunitsin-Denisova) government teams—backed by a wide variety of people. According to sources, Kunitsin and Denisova offered their "predecessors" a share of the profits, but when they refused, they decided to block all bond payments altogether.
Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Org
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