The insurance market is bracing for another wave of stress. Recent behind-the-scenes discussions about personnel changes at the Motor (Transport) Insurance Bureau of Ukraine, commonly known as MTIBU, have brought to mind Natalia Gudyma, who seemed to have faded into obscurity.
The fight isn't really for lives, much less for the lives of accident victims, but for the Bureau's guarantee funds, which currently amount to approximately 600 million hryvnias. And despite the fact that the current General Director of the MTIBU, Volodymyr Shevchenko, recently narrowly won a court appeal, thereby regaining his full powers, the MTIBU Presidium is still considering replacing a player on the field.
The last few meetings of the Presidium have shown that top insurers have their own plans for plundering the Bureau's guarantee funds.
The incompetent, unprofessional, and corrupt work of the MTIBU Presidium continues to astonish all sensible market participants. Recently, MTIBU President Yuriy Grishan personally lobbied for payments to PJSC USK GARANT-AVTO, and finally achieved his goal. This insurance company had already been "milked" by Gudyma in 2014, but hadn't managed to milk it all. Now, under the guise of this Presidium, the same story of derebanization is repeating itself. A decision was made to "quietly" pay out the insurance company, without waiting for official bankruptcy and the official register of creditors, which directly violated current legislation and consumer rights. In the Bureau's 20-year history, this is the first time they have so brazenly "legally robbed" victims. In one interview, Grishan foolishly admitted that not all victims of the insurance company "GARANT-AUTO" can receive insurance payments, but only those identified and approved by the National Commission for Financial Services by the insurance company's temporary administrator. However, the Commission knows nothing about this, and doesn't want to know, because such decisions are absurd and illegal.
Nevertheless, relying on "some" lists that no one has seen, with a little push from Grishan, regular payments are being made to the Bureau for the troubled insurance company GARANT-AUTO. It's clear, in my opinion, that only a privileged list of victims receives payments, while kickbacks go to Mr. Grishan and the members of the Presidium. Moreover, the dire financial situation of Ilyichevskoye Insurance Company, which experts predict will soon collapse, as the company's shareholders have recently been actively seeking a buyer, is simply "forcing" Yuriy Petrovich to seek new income and a new job. Incidentally, he clearly sees both the money and the new position at the MTIBU. Everyone in the market has long known about Grishan's ambitious plans to head the MTIBU, and his obsessive activity as MTIBU President has nothing to do with a desire to "improve the insurance market." Pure calculation, and no illusions, gentlemen!
It's worth noting that Mr. Grishan is a longtime friend and close associate of Mr. Oleksandr Feodosievich Filonyuk from the League of Insurance Organizations (LIOU). However, Mr. Filonyuk, who positions himself as a shrewd and calculating man, isn't used to putting all his eggs in one basket. While he's stroking Grishan with one hand, he's trying to restore Natalia Gudyma to the post of MTIBU CEO with the other. It's worth noting that some of the top members of the Presidium are also hatching plans to get their hands on the Bureau's funds. The simplest and most proven way is to bring Natalia Gudyma back.
Rumor has it that recently, the Bureau held a secret discussion regarding the replacement of the Deputy General Director. Gudyma's candidacy was also mentioned, and even by the new head of the National Commission for Financial Services, Igor Pashko. But he's new and we don't think he's even acquainted with Gudyma. The question remains as to whose orders he made this. It's worth noting that Mr. Pashko's proposal was met with laughter and indignation. But this is unlikely to deter this obsessive woman. If she can't get in the door, she'll try the window, either with the help of insurers or with her connections in the Presidential Administration, which she flaunts at every turn. In this regard, we'd like to open the eyes of both the regulator and other government officials who are discussing Gudyma's candidacy for this position.
Why Gudyma would try to re-enter the CEO chair is no mystery. Judge for yourself: a woman accustomed to living high on the hog and feeding off insurance companies won't be around for long. The Gudyma-Burlaenko family's wealth acquired during their "collaboration with the insurance market"—four apartments in Kyiv, a house in Vorzel, and three cars (a Subaru Outback, a Volkswagen Touareg, and a Mitsubishi Pajero)—seems to speak for themselves: "It won't be enough."
Natasha was raised, educated, and taught the "art of insurance seduction" by the same Alexander Filonyuk, president of the League of Insurance Organizations (LIO), with whom Gudyma still shares a business - the Institute for Strategic Economic Research LLC.
Within two months of her new position, Gudyma carried out personnel changes and installed "her" people in key positions within the Bureau. Thus, Elena Kovaleva, former financial director of Nasta Insurance Company, and Pavel Andreyev, an investment manager with strong connections at the NBU, were appointed to oversee the MTIBU funds. In May 2014, they organized the MTIBU Investment Committee, through which they implemented deposit agreements for quarterly placements of the Victims' Protection Fund's funds totaling UAH 45,6 million in banks with interest rates 4,5-6,5% below the market rate (Ukrsotsbank, CreditAgricoleBank), as well as UAH 25 million in a bank with a high risk of financial monitoring (Pravex). I believe there is no point in further explaining to insurers or financiers how Gudyma and Co. were sitting on the “golden egg.”
She also didn't offend her own husband, Sergei Burlaenko, by tailoring the staffing schedule to suit him, including the position of advisor to the general director, with a salary of 31 hryvnias, monthly bonuses of the same amount, and dubious business trips, on which she spent about 20 hryvnias over a couple of months.
Natasha didn't forget about herself either. First, she set her official salary at 68 hryvnias and a bonus of the same amount. She leased her personal Volkswagen Touareg from the MTIBU, meaning she rented it herself, and the insurers paid for it. The monthly rental price, incidentally, was 27 hryvnias. Then, she actively engaged in personal PR, purchasing awards and other accolades. One of the most financially striking examples of PR was the purchase of a "Person of the Year" award from Ukraine Business Publishing House for 78,3 hryvnias.
During her tenure as CEO, Ms. Gudyma did everything for her patrons, but as for real consumer protection—no, we haven't heard of it.
For example, with the help of insurers' money, which Gudyma finally managed to get her hands on in 2014, the International Black Sea Financial Forum, whose organizer, Oleksandr Filonyuk, has always been, was sponsored to the tune of over 90 hryvnias. According to reports, he managed to pocket 50 USD for hosting just one Forum. Besides this Forum, the President of LSOU's collection of image-building events includes numerous other international conferences, forums, and seminars. So, it's not difficult to calculate how much Mr. Filonyuk fleeces insurers annually.
While the issues of financing insurance parties are trivial compared to the true reasons for Filonyuk's friendship with Gudyma, the long-standing plans to make LIOU the unified insurance association of Ukraine, siphon off the multi-million-dollar funds of the MTIBU, and control the entire insurance market, including all its reinsurers, accident commissions, service stations, and factoring companies—these are the underlying reasons for both the past and current situation of Gudyma's promotion to the Bureau. Incidentally, Filonyuk once attempted to seize control of the insurance market and become the head of the State Financial Services Commission, but it didn't work out. His failure to secure a government post himself—no big deal—was successful in getting another of his deputy and ally, Alexander Nikolayevich Zaletov, a member of the National Financial Services Commission. But that's a topic for another day, and now let's return to Ms. Gudyma.
Having gained leverage at the MTIBU, Gudyma began actively assisting "her" insurance companies, members of the LIOU. Turning a blind eye to the conclusions of the MTIBU Risk Committee, ignoring dumping and deteriorating solvency on the part of insurance companies, and even actual debts to the Bureau's funds from MTIBU members, and negotiating with insurance company management for kickbacks and gratuities. In the final days of insurance companies such as STZDV Garantiya, PJSC SK Status, and PJSC SK InterExpress, Gudyma, according to confirmed data, "shipped" them over 10,5 MTPL policy forms.
The overt lobbying of companies such as TDV SK NASTA, PAO SK Universalnaya, AO UOSK, AO SG TAS, STZDV Garantiya, and PAOSK LEMMA also had a dual meaning. On the one hand, they bent to the market's will, "helping" it in every possible way and boosting their own standing. On the other hand, they openly discredited the MTIBU in the eyes of consumers, as most of the companies that received "humanitarian aid" from the CEO subsequently went bankrupt and disappeared from the market, thereby cheating thousands of consumers.
It's noteworthy that after the insurance companies PJSC "USK GARANT-AVTO," PJSC "SK INKOMSTRAKH," and PJSC "SK Status" lost their membership in the MTIBU, the CEO decided to quickly gain publicity. Having declared war on factoring companies, which are not prohibited by law at all, and ostensibly protecting consumer rights, Gudyma paid 860 hryvnias for these companies. But in reality, she violated the contractual terms for the use of basic security deposits. Simply put, she took someone else's money and transferred it to "someone else's accounts"—in her case, there weren't even any creditor lists! Everything was done crudely and stupidly! Behind the scenes, the market was buzzing about this scandal for quite some time. She failed to report to any of the insurance companies on the funds used or to provide a list of victims to whom payments were made. According to the same scheme, in 2014, payments were made for insurance companies that lost their membership in the MTIBU in the amount of 10,7 million UAH.
Incidentally, the insurance market, alarmed by the prospect of Gudyma's return, commissioned the MTIBU Expert Group to conduct an audit of scheduled payments during her tenure. The expert report revealed thousands of payment violations, meaning thousands of victims were simply defrauded. The document is so scandalous that it could ruin Natasha's entire reputation if it were to reach law enforcement or the media. Another interesting internal MTIBU document, hidden from the media but bound to attract the attention of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) sooner or later, is the 2014 MTIBU Inspection Report on Scheduled Payment Cases. Of the 300 insurance cases randomly reviewed for scheduled payments signed by Gudyma, 28 were found to contain critical violations, resulting in overpayments totaling 175 hryvnias. Thus, the violations uncovered during the audit significantly impacted the amount of scheduled payments and, as a result, led to the average scheduled payment significantly exceeding the average insurance indemnity in the market. It's terrifying to imagine the figures if all the cases signed by Gudyma during her tenure were audited.
The Bureau's official website also contains an interesting document,Report on the audit of financial and economic activities of MTIBU for 2014, which perfectly displays the complete professional incompetence, corruption and lies of Gudymi.
A detailed examination of the Act raises questions about the competence of the commission members who signed it. Therefore, I recommend that journalists and lawyers carefully review this document and then ask the relevant questions of the MTIBU. This legally and financially incompetent report, with numerous grammatical and mathematical (!) errors, is an official document intended to whitewash Gudyma and the period of her "reign." The Act is confusing in everything from deadlines to terminology.
For example, Gudyma's bravado about the transparency of depositing funds in banks, and the audit commission's comment on the legality of such deposits based on the Regulation on Investment Activities of the MTIBU, are completely false. MTIBU funds credited to bank deposits, which were allegedly approved by the MTIBU Presidium based on the Regulation, are reflected in the Report as of December 31, 2014, but the Regulation on Investment Activities of the MTIBU itself was approved by Presidium Protocol No. 318/2014 dated July 10, 2014. In other words, only six months after the funds were deposited! The criteria for selecting the banks, the volume of funds deposited, and the interest rate are not specified in the report. However, Natasha received "investment income" that could easily have been used to purchase a fifth apartment.
It's interesting to examine the Victims' Protection Fund, which, among other things, displays the legal fees provided by the MTIBU and the amounts of recourse payments, which totaled UAH 12.9 million in 2014. In reality, this amount was a "gratitude to representatives," something the Audit Commission was well aware of and which insurers often whispered about. The actual scheme is that the MTIBU didn't fully reimburse funds for recourse and litigation activities; that is, out of 100%, the Bureau received 60%, and it's not hard to understand where the remaining 40% went. Furthermore, the MTIBU didn't have (and, incidentally, still doesn't have) a standard, streamlined system for recording the UAH 3,5 million advances for legal services (representing the MTIBU in courts and enforcement agencies), so it's impossible to track exactly where the three million went.
A notable item in the report is the Bureau's Financing Fund, which is the easiest to siphon off, as it's brimming with unaccounted funds. The "Information and Consulting Services Expenses" item contains a total of almost 600,000 UAH, while "Other Expenses" contains 850,000 UAH. The total comes to approximately 1,400,000 UAH. However, this amount is explained with a single-paragraph list of activities. No additional documents confirming the use of these funds are provided. Moreover, if you read carefully, it becomes clear that "Information Services" in the "Information and Consulting Services Expenses" item is duplicated in the "Other Expenses" item, only there they are scattered across items: "Advertising Services" (although the Bureau has never advertised anything; it is a non-profit organization, remember) and "Periodicals and Specialized Literature."
In general, the "duplication" of expense items in different articles, confusion in terms and dates, the lack of even basic detail, the strained financial indicators, and the Bureau's Investment Policy, which is sewn with "white thread," should have long ago attracted the interest of not only journalists, but also law enforcement agencies.
A very interesting picture emerges from the above. Filonyuk is the president of the LIOU. Grishan is the president of the MTIBU, and his company, PJSC IC Illichivske, is a member of the LIOU; he is a close friend and associate of Filonyuk. Natasha Gudyma is the former general director of the LIOU and the former general director of the MTIBU. Oleksandr Zaletov is a member of the National Financial Services Commission and Filonyuk's former deputy at the LIOU. All these people are connected, some by family, some by friendship, and some by business. Members of the current presidium of the MTIBU—PJSC IC PZU UKRAINE, PJSC IC UKRAINSKAYA INSURANCE GROUP, PJSC IC UNIQA, PJSC IC TAS, and GLOBUS STDV—are also members of the LIOU. And, willy-nilly, a clear sense of a "monopoly of interests" is emerging in the insurance market. It would be very interesting to hear the opinion of law enforcement agencies on this issue and, specifically, on Gudyma's performance as CEO of MTIBU.
Gudymi's supporters are zealously covering up her corrupt dealings, conducting behind-the-scenes negotiations and hiding all scandalous documents from the public. But how the insurance elite will ultimately negotiate, who they will entrust their "hard-earned money" to, and whether they will even consider the victims in their decision-making process—time will tell. For now, they stubbornly turn a blind eye to all the mistakes that occurred in 2104, because they are so deeply ensnared in the quicksand of free money.
Ruslan Yakushev, Antikor
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