Mikhail Radutsky
Mikhail Radutsky's Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors
Observing Mykhailo Radutskyi's actions as Kyiv's Deputy Mayor, it's hard not to ask a fair question: what abilities or achievements led this man to be appointed to lead Kyiv's healthcare sector? And the most important question: how will a municipal insurance company be created in Kyiv, given that there's no money in the capital's budget.
Five years before the birth of Mykhailo Radutsky, the president of the private clinic "Boris" and current deputy mayor of Kyiv, a wonderful children's film based on the story by Vitaly Gubarev, "The Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors," was released on Soviet screens in 1963.
Little Misha probably watched it with admiration too. And like all children, he had no idea then that this work was actually a subtle satire on the political system of the time. A satire on the leaders of the state, who for over 70 years had been "fabricating" "crooked mirrors" that distorted reality for both their fellow citizens and the rest of the world. In them, the evil and the ugly appeared beautiful, while the good and noble, conversely, were falsely presented as ugly. Little could that boy have imagined that, as an adult, he would make "crooked mirrors" himself...
Reform for the chosen few
The incompetence of newly appointed official Mykhailo Radutsky was evident from his very first steps in his new position. From the day of his appointment (September 1, 2014) until late autumn, Deputy Chairman of the Kyiv City State Administration Mykhailo Radutsky stalled on the procurement of hemodialysis medications for Kyiv residents suffering from kidney failure. As a result, hundreds of chronically ill patients, condemned to suffering, began protesting last November.
Given the catastrophic nature of the unfolding situation, the Ministry of Health approached Mykhailo Radutsky with a proposal to draft a Cabinet of Ministers resolution on Kyiv receiving additional funding from the reserve fund. The problem is that only local budgets have the authority to manage public funds for the procurement of hemodialysis medications.
However, Mykhailo Radutsky, personally responsible for healthcare and social protection, ignored the government's initiative: for a long time, the relevant ministry had been unable to obtain estimates from Kyiv officials for the quantity of medications required for Kyiv.
During those tense days, Radutsky's boss, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, "wisely" went on vacation. And Mykhailo Borisovich, instead of promptly addressing the mounting problems, tried to redirect the justified outrage of sick Kyiv residents to the Cabinet of Ministers, shifting the blame onto the head of government. And here, incidentally, his numerous media connections came in handy: everywhere—in the press, online, on television, and on the radio—one heard nothing but the government's culpability for the lack of medications that the state should provide free to the seriously ill.
But it wasn't possible to simply brush the issue under the rug; a number of organizations representing patients with kidney failure filed a petition with the prosecutor's office, demanding that a criminal case be opened against Radutsky.
Nevertheless, Mikhail Radutsky continued, without blinking an eye, to expose the corruption "in white coats" that had permeated state medical institutions, and he waxed eloquent about reforms in medicine in general and in the capital in particular.
Mr. Radutsky believes that one of the keys to improving the industry's health is the transition to insurance-based healthcare. Moreover, without waiting for it to be introduced at the national level, he has actively pursued its local implementation in Kyiv. According to the deputy mayor's plan, the new entity—a municipal insurance company—will serve at least 250 Kyiv residents. Anyone can obtain a health insurance policy by making a monthly payment of 50 hryvnias. All medical care provided to insured patients in municipal clinics and hospitals was planned to be provided at commercial rates, which have recently become standard in almost all Kyiv medical institutions.
This means that the municipal insurance company's annual revenue could reach 150 million hryvnias. Moreover, according to Mykhailo Radutsky, up to 25% of each insurance claim should be paid to the treating physician to motivate them. The author of the idea hopes this will increase medical staff salaries and, thus, curb corruption in Moscow's hospitals.
However, experts warn that the utility insurer, at the expense of public sector employees, will be able to acquire many "voluntary-compulsory" clients, who will simply be forced to take out policies.
Experts continue that Mykhailo Radutskyi's initiative offers other opportunities for illegal profiteering. For example, certain clinics will be able to treat insured patients at "special" rates higher than those charged to regular patients. Furthermore, kickbacks for access to insurance funds will likely continue to exist. There are several hundred medical institutions in Kyiv, and not all of them are likely to be on the list of those cooperating with the municipal insurance company.
Well, the main question is: what funds will be used to create a municipal insurance company in Kyiv, since there is no money in the capital's budget.
Once again, privatization "according to Yanukovych"
Observing Mykhailo Radutsky's actions as Kyiv's Deputy Mayor, it's hard not to ask a fair question: what abilities or achievements led him to be appointed to lead the healthcare sector?
Officially, Vitali Klitschko explained this appointment by Mr. Radutsky’s “extensive experience” in this area, referring to his many years of management (and ownership) of the private clinic “Boris.”
However, according to another, unofficial version, as rumor has it, Mikhail Radutsky's appointment as deputy mayor was lobbied for by private companies—leaders of the domestic pharmaceutical market, which frequently win state tenders for the purchase of medications and medical equipment. For them, having "their man" in charge of the fate of the vast capital market is practically their number one priority.
And their efforts were not in vain. For example, at the end of 2014, the municipal enterprise "Engineering Center" announced a tender for the purchase of medical equipment for the Aleksandrovskaya Clinical Hospital. According to the medical facility's chief physician, Roman Vasilishin, a group of medical specialists had written and submitted technical specifications for the necessary equipment to officials. However, on December 17 (two days before the bids were to be opened), it was discovered that the municipal enterprise "Engineering Center" had been issued completely different technical documentation!
One Kyiv City Council member (who spoke on condition of anonymity) told reporters that there was no technical error in this case—the documentation was intentionally written to benefit a specific company.
"There's only one Yanukovych regime operator left in Ukraine who controls the lion's share of all medical tenders (he's Dmytro Podturkin, a Yanukovych protégé)," the deputy told investigative reporters. "The former dictator placed him in the Ministry of Health in 2011 to collect kickbacks from pharmacists."
In October 2014, he met with Mayor Vitali Klitschko to discuss his companies' participation in equipping intensive care hospitals, which was planned for that year. Klitschko referred all questions to his deputy, Mykhailo Radutsky, who then gave instructions to the Engineering Center municipal enterprise. You might be surprised, but Podturkin's office and the Engineering Center municipal enterprise are located 50 meters away on Georgievsky Lane! And how do you think the conversation ended? They reached a wonderful agreement, and equipment from Podturkin's companies will be supplied to all these hospitals. "Yanukovych should be proud of his protégé," the source added at the end of the conversation.
However, the bids were never disclosed. One of the defrauded bidders filed a complaint with the Antimonopoly Committee. The Engineering Center, having learned that their plan had been compromised, cancelled the auction on December 19.
There are other unofficial theories about how a successful private clinic owner suddenly found himself in a government position. Rumor has it that Vitali Klitschko, together with Mykhailo Radutsky, allegedly intended to privatize and buy out a number of attractive medical facilities in the capital's center for a pittance, "under the guise" of healthcare reform. It's no coincidence, they say, that both hold degrees from the National University of Physical Education and Sports of Ukraine—each of their "colleagues" intended to exploit their official power to expand their businesses.
However, following the announcement by Health Minister Alexander Kvitashvili in late 2014 of the upcoming reforms to the healthcare sector (following Georgia's example, the plan was to transfer all state-owned medical institutions to private hands) and the subsequent negative reaction in Ukrainian society, the reformers shelved any talk of privatization. "No privatization in the near future," the minister backtracked. This, of course, greatly upset the plans of Mykhailo Radutsky, who, together with Mayor Klitschko, had secured Kyiv the status of the first "testing ground" for the impending reforms.
It was disappointing, but not derailed. After all, in addition to hospitals and clinics, the Kyiv community has other attractive properties "under the jurisdiction" of the Deputy Mayor for Social Protection and Healthcare. For example, in March 2015, the Kyiv City State Administration put a 29,9% stake in the PJSC Scientific and Production Center "Borshahiv Chemical and Pharmaceutical Plant" up for sale. The starting price was 143,2 million hryvnias, and the authorities planned to raise at least 200 million hryvnias for the "city budget." However, instead of the expected price, the auction brought Kyiv only 171,844 million hryvnias, paid by the winning bidder, the pharmaceutical company "Darnitsa."
Interestingly, by the end of the auction preparations, only two bidders remained (both domestic). Although, as Kyiv authorities had previously acknowledged, foreign investors were actively interested in this auction. However, as during the "targeted" privatization under Yanukovych, serious foreign companies were left out of the Ukrainian privatization.
Multi-vector policy
Political scientists have put forward another theory for the appointment of Mikhail Radutsky as Klitschko's deputy. The basis for their close ties (which are not widely discussed in the press or the public) may lie in Radutsky's provision of the Boris Clinic to Vitali Klitschko, the avowed leader of the Euromaidan, in late 2013 and early 2014.
In addition to the Borisov "ambulances" that evacuated wounded activists from the barricades, this private medical facility was also involved in the political backstage of the Euromaidan. Specifically, it was at the Boris Clinic that one of the Automaidan leaders, Dmitry Bulatov, was examined.
His abduction by unknown assailants, as we recall, became one of the most notorious scandals of the Revolution of Dignity. However, to this day, this young politician remains shrouded in suspicion that his abduction and torture (severed ear, nail-pierced hands, etc.) were staged. This was, in particular, stated back then—hot on the heels of the incident—by Serhiy Pashinsky, a member of parliament (Batkivshchyna faction). Confirming Pashinsky's claims, Dmytro Bulatov hid his hands from television and photo cameras at subsequent press conferences, forbade the publication of doctors' diagnoses, and his "severed" ear remained "in place."
Serhiy Pashinsky believes that the behavior of UDAR leader Vitali Klitschko and Batkivshchyna defector Anatoliy Hrytsenko (who, by some unimaginable coincidence, were the first to discover the surviving Dmitry Bulatov) indicates that these politicians are behind the staging.
It's also important to note that, in addition to collaborating with the former opposition, Mykhailo Radutsky maintained close ties with the previous government. And it's not just that ambulances from the Boris Clinic went to the Anti-Maidan protests in addition to the Euromaidan. After all, the Hippocratic Oath hasn't been abolished, and before a doctor, all wounded should be treated equally: those fighting for Ukraine's European future, their downtrodden opponents, Berkut officers, and so on. Worse still, Mr. Radutsky, now a representative of the new government, instead of fully facilitating a fair lustration, supports odious figures "from the past."
For example, it is thanks to Mykhailo Radutskyi's patronage that Alla Areshkovich, one of the most notorious figures of the Euromaidan era, is now acting director of the Kyiv City State Administration's Health Department. This same Areshkovich was involved in the Kyiv City State Administration's order to hand over wounded protesters to Yanukovych-era law enforcement.
Other dubious facts from the life of “Boris” also serve as reliable political “supports” for Radutsky’s incredible career.
More than once, Boris has been the place where allegedly acutely ill political defendants and accused politicians, as well as odious officials, attempted to slip away from pretrial detention centers or courtrooms. Then, without having fully recovered, they vanished into thin air.
As happened, for example, in October 2008 with the former head of the Obukhiv District Land Resources Department, A.B. Mogilny, who was tried for abuse of office and forgery in the signing and issuance of state deeds granting private land ownership. It was this official who provided many members of the Party of Regions with land near Kyiv, for which law enforcement officials ultimately intended to throw him behind bars. But it didn't work out that way...
Unidentified individuals and medical staff from the Boris Clinic, with the support of MP Vasyl Horbal and Oleksandr Omelyanenko, carried A. Mogilny out of the courtroom on a stretcher, placed him in an ambulance, and took him to 12A Bazhan Avenue, the Boris Clinic. Upon arrival at Boris, Mogilny refused hospitalization and disappeared in an unknown direction.
In February of that same year, the notorious former Minister of Transport, Nikolai Rudkovsky, also hid from justice in Boris. However, after repeated attempts, he was finally returned to pretrial detention.
Another blemish on the clinic's reputation—a fresh one—was the strange incident involving former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, who was beaten by Berkut officers in January 2014 during the Euromaidan clashes. Blood samples taken from the opposition leader, who was brought to the Boris Clinic, mysteriously ended up in another clinic, Sociotherapy. Its head physician immediately announced to the media that alcohol had been detected in Lutsenko's blood, thus hinting at the "immoral character" of the opposition that opposes Berkut.
Why didn't the Boris Clinic administration officially announce this? Mikhail Radutsky hasn't commented to this day.
(In the second part of our article, read about Mikhail Radutsky's millions and the sources of their origin, about his "patriotism" and much more, thanks to which today he confidently sits atop the capital's Olympus of power.)
Author: Maxim Perepelitsa, Elite of the Country
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