Maksym Melnychuk: Who is the new Kyiv region's rich-boy governor?
On February 3, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appointed Maksym Melnychuk as the new governor of the Kyiv region. His name is little known to the general public, but it is well known to experienced politicians and businessmen with large landowners. During the last local elections, he was the Kyiv mayoral candidate for the Agrarian Party of Ukraine. He is also the current vice president of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine. Before his appointment as head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration, his highest position was Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy in Mykola Azarov's government. All of this is listed in his official biography and appears quite respectable, but what's not mentioned is more important.
In my father's footsteps
"Tell me who your father is, and I'll tell you who you are." To understand Maksym Melnychuk, it's necessary to study his family tree. His father, Dmytro Melnychuk, was the sole head of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NULES) for thirty years. This university is one of the largest and richest in our country. Melnychuk Sr. was personally acquainted with all of Ukraine's presidents, and his opinions were equally respected by both Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yanukovych. The reason for this is simple: Dmytro Melnychuk always generously shared what he managed to steal through his position. That's why no one touched him. Until then.
Dmitry Melnichuk
For such "devotion," he received numerous state awards from Ukrainian presidents and other high-ranking officials of various convocations. During his 30 years at the helm of the university, Melnychuk Sr. "pushed" almost his entire family into the university, from his sons Serhiy and Maksym to his second cousins.
His youngest son, Maksym Melnychuk, was vice-rector for research, innovation, and international activities, and Serhiy Melnychuk headed the Institute for the Quality of Bioresources and Life Safety. Their mother and approximately thirty other relatives worked at the university and likely began to consider it their property. But the elder Melnychuk's tenure as rector came to an end, and that's when problems began that continue to reverberate. Law enforcement agencies are still investigating dozens of criminal cases related to the criminal and corrupt activities of the former leadership of NUBIP. There is reason to believe that the former rector and his family caused colossal losses to the state, amounting to several hundred million (if not billions) of hryvnias.
"The Path of Melnichuk Jr."
Maksym Melnychuk's life was quite fortunate. He was born in 1973 in Kyiv. He graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in 1994. He spent the next three years as a graduate student in the Faculty of Biology at the same university, where he later worked in the Department of Virology. A turning point in his life came in 1998, when he joined NUBIP, where his father was rector. There, he quickly made a dazzling scientific career. In April 2003, Melnychuk Jr. was elected dean of the Faculty of Plant Protection and Biotechnology. A year later, he headed the Chemical Safety Department at the Ministry of Ecology, immediately receiving the fifth rank of civil servant.
In 2007, as a doctor of science, Maksym Melnychuk accepted a position as a lecturer in the Department of Ecobiotechnology and Biodiversity at his father's university. That same year, he was formally elected vice-rector for research at NUBIP. In May 2010, with the active support of Melnychuk Sr., he was appointed Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine. However, he didn't last long in this position, and a year later he returned to NUBIP, this time as director of the research institute for plant growing, ecology, and biotechnology. He later returned to the position of vice-rector and became an academician of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine. Furthermore, in 2014, he was officially appointed vice-president of the NAS's agrarian department.
Maxim Melnichuk
In 2010, Ukrainian media published the results of an audit conducted at NUBIP by a special audit commission. The financial and economic audit uncovered massive financial irregularities totaling over 100 million hryvnias at the university and its divisions. Specifically, it was established that, on the personal orders of Rector Dmytro Melnychuk, most of these divisions had not been transferred to treasury services, and the revenues generated from them were not included in the overall budget and ended up primarily in the pockets of the "Melnychuk family" through a network of private companies owned by the rector's sons, Serhiy and Maksym. The total losses incurred by the state were colossal – almost 80 million hryvnias. Furthermore, the audit revealed that as a result of the Melnychuk family's criminal activities, the university had lost approximately 400 hectares of land (most of which is located in the Kyiv region) belonging to the university. According to the Audit Department, Melnichuk Sr. deliberately failed to execute the state deeds required to secure the permanent use rights to land plots registered to NUBIP subdivisions. Had the deeds been officially executed, the Melnichuks would simply not have been able to sell off university lands with impunity. But as it was, they did. It should also be noted that Maksym Melnichuk personally oversaw the privatization of the Mukachevo Agricultural College lands, as well as the alienation of a 14-hectare plot of land in Crimea near Foros. The official reason given at the time was "violation of land legislation," but sources indicate the Melnichuks received a substantial sum for the transfer of these lands. Furthermore, companies owned by Maksym Dmitrievich were involved in siphoning off funds from the land sales abroad.
The Melnychuk family's "agricultural machinations"
Around the same time, it became known that Maksym Melnychuk, acting on his father's instructions, had deposited 20 million hryvnias of budget funds belonging to NUBIP into accounts at Tavrika Bank and Alfa-Bank. This money was intended for university improvements, but has not been seen since.
In the fall of 2013, a fire broke out at the university, almost completely destroying two floors where archives and documents were housed. Experts say it was arson, initiated by senior university management to cover up the crimes. Incidentally, it so happened that an inspection was scheduled to take place at that very moment. Incredibly lucky, right?
https://youtu.be/_GG3dSdikgs
All these schemes by the Melnychuk family allowed them to earn colossal sums of money and ascend to the "Ukrainian elite." For example, Maksym Melnychuk and his family already own four apartments in Kyiv and a small estate in the Kyivo-Svyatoshinsky district. He also owns a winter residence in the Alps and a small house in the United States.
Recently, Maksym Dmitrievich has been actively cultivating his reputation in both academic and political circles. Despite this, behind his back, he's often referred to as a "scientific tycoon" whose knowledge his father bought him. Needless to say, Melnychuk has enormous ambitions. Just a couple of months ago, he lost the local elections as a candidate for Kyiv mayor from the Agrarian Party, and now he's tied with Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, holding the governorship of the entire region.
Maksym Melnychuk's campaign video for the 2015 Kyiv mayoral elections
"Influential Patrons"
Yuri Kosyuk
Maksym Melnychuk is the leader of the Kyiv wing of the Agrarian Party, which, in the last elections, unexpectedly made it into the top five parties that elected deputies and village heads to city and town councils. One of the party's main sponsors is Yuriy Kosyuk, former deputy head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine and owner of the Myronivsky Hliboproduct holding company ( read more about Yuriy Kosyuk at the link ). Rumor has it that he was instrumental in Melnychuk Jr.'s appointment as Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy in Mykola Azarov's government in 2010 .
At one time, Kosyuk also lobbied for other "promising" officials. For example, during Yushchenko's presidency, he controlled the Minister of Agrarian Policy, Yuriy Melnyk, who was appointed to the post through a Communist Party quota. Remarkably, Melnyk is now the executive director of Kosyuk's Myronivsky Hliboproduct corporation, and is also the son-in-law of Mykhailo Zubets, one of the "ideological inspirers" and sponsors of the Agrarian Party. Such is nepotism.
Vadim Stolar
Another patron of the new head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration is said to be Vadym Stolar, a member of Vitali Klitschko's team ( read more about Vadym Stolar at the link ) . His connection to Stolar remains unclear, but behind the scenes, rumors suggest the appointment would not have happened without his patronage. It's even said that no personnel appointment is made without his approval. One source in the Petro Poroshenko Bloc called him Vitali Klitschko's much-needed "coach." His importance in the party is also evidenced by the fact that he led the negotiations that led to the merger of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc and UDAR.
Maksym Melnychuk: Who is the new Kyiv region's rich-boy governor?
Maksym Melnychuk certainly has extensive experience in embezzling state land. True, his actions were previously limited to lands controlled by the National Bureau of Law Enforcement and the Protection of Ukrainian Land. Now, however, he's essentially been handed over the entire Kyiv region. Seeing such personnel decisions from Poroshenko's team, one wonders: "Has our president lost his mind?" If things continue in this vein, it's highly likely that the next president of Ukraine will have nothing left to govern. Except, of course, an impoverished people.
P.S.: Last year, journalists discovered that the presidential company Roshen wants to build a biscuit complex near Boryspil in the Kyiv region. To do this, it needs about 20 hectares of land, which they are unable to obtain due to the Land Code of Ukraine. Nevertheless, the corporation is persistently fighting for it. In January, a representative even visited Boryspil, promising local residents "manna from heaven," but to no avail. It appears that former Kyiv region governor Volodymyr Shandra "stood back" by refusing to help, and was forced to resign. Now he's been replaced by Maksym Melnychuk, who is far less principled than Shandra and is quite willing to sell his reputation for big money. So, as they say.
To be continued…
Dmitry Samofalov, for Skelet.Org
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