Vasily Gulyayev, a wealthy farmer from Odessa and mayor of Chornomorsk
When talking about former MP and mayor of Chernomorsk, Vasyl Gulyayev, one can't help but think of Valeriy Syutkin's song "Of Course, Vasya!" "Well, who doesn't know him?"—the best village head, who plundered the lands of the Odessa region, a member of the "Family," who quietly served in the Rada. Millions ended up in his pockets, but that doesn't stop the residents of his home village from loving and praising him.
Skelet.Org tells how Vasily Gulyaev made millions in Odessa, joined the "Family," deceived ordinary people, and became mayor of Chornomorsk.
How a member of the "Family" was extended
In September 2014, Petro Poroshenko called early parliamentary elections. For the fugitive Viktor Yanukovych's cronies in the regions, this was an excellent chance to jump on the last train of the new power. The "overseers" quickly got their bearings and defected to the "right" people, replacing their own faces with supposedly "new" ones.
One of the most prominent venues for the supposed regime change was Electoral District No. 140 in the Odessa region. During the vote count, the entire local district committee was renewed, and a little-known independent candidate, Vasily Aleksandrovich Gulyayev, celebrated victory. He is the chairman of the Molodezhnoye village council, unaffiliated with any political party, a colorful man from the provinces, active and fair. It would seem that the "Family" has finally retreated, and honest people have taken control. However, upon digging deeper, it becomes clear that Gulyayev is a member of the Yanukovych & Co. clan, which has successfully replaced the outspoken supporters of the fugitive president.
During Viktor Yanukovych's rule, the Odessa region was overseen by Ivan Ivanovich Avramov , a protégé and close friend of Yura Yekanievsky (Ivanyushchenko), a member of the Yenakiyevo gang. Avramov was referred to exclusively by his first name and patronymic. Within a matter of months, Ivan Ivanovich had consolidated control over all contraband flows entering the country through the Odessa, Ilyichevsk, and Yuzhny ports. To this end, he created fashionable brokerage firms that, for a bribe, cleared any cargo—from cigarettes and alcohol to weapons and drugs—through customs. Of course, this overseer didn't do this personally, but with the help of former Odessa Oblast Governor Eduard Matviychuk.
Ivan Ivanovich and Yura Enakievsky
After Yanukovych vanished, the young and daring "new government" decided to take over the smuggling business, but Ivan Ivanovich didn't give in. He became concerned about the problem and sent people to Kyiv to lobby for his interests. Thus, Eduard Matviychuk was sent to the capital. They planned to push him through the 140th electoral district. But as soon as the campaigning began and billboards featuring the governor adorned the city, it became clear he wouldn't win, as Matviychuk was so strongly associated with the previous government. Residents of Belyaevka, Ilyichevsk, and Ovidiopol reacted categorically to the candidate. Ivan Ivanovich then transferred Matviychuk to another district and found a replacement in Vasyl Gulyaev for the "right" one, the 140th.
To protect himself, the "overseer" demanded 30 hectares of land from Gulyaev. Thus, Ivan Ivanovich broke even on the expenses of the "right" candidate's election campaign.
Gulyaev's nomination was initiated by the Council of Chairmen of Village and Settlement Councils of the Ovidiopol District. The "supervisor" hid behind the local government body to deflect suspicions of the candidate's affiliation with any party or the former government. They claimed the candidate was purely a people's candidate. Few knew that this body had been "fed" by Ivan Ivanovich for many years, and all officials danced to his tune.
And the most interesting point: the unknown Vasyl Gulyayev managed to displace one of the country's most odious political figures, David Zhvania , who was also running in the long-suffering 140th district. Neither support from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc nor his previous experience in this district helped David Zhvania. Ivan Ivanovych launched a powerful propaganda campaign against Zhvania, portraying him as a protégé of the Party of Regions. Thanks to this, the true representative of the "Family" took first place, garnering 29,2% of the vote, while Zhvania only came in third.
Election results in the 140th constituency in Belyaevka
However, Zhvania refused to accept defeat and began organizing rallies. The response from the Gulyaev-Avramov duo was not long in coming. "Trusted individuals" attended the protests to defend the honor of the "Family."
This video captures a picket of the district committee in Belyaevka. Starting at the 9-minute mark, the footage shows Vladimir Pozonyuk and Oleg Neneka openly defending Gulyaev's interests. The former oversaw customs clearance of goods for the Odesa "overseer"'s brokerage firms, while the latter was the nominal head of smuggling organizations.
Vasily Gulyaev. From Driver to Businessman
Vasily Aleksandrovich Gulyaev is a native of Odessa. He was born on September 3, 1963, in the Aleksandrovka settlement of Illichivsk. His father worked as a stoker his entire life, and his mother worked on a collective farm. The family soon moved to the village of Molodezhnoye, where his future leader grew up.
In 1980, Gulyaev graduated from the Aleksandrovskaya Comprehensive School and, at the age of 17, entered Odessa Technical School No. 2, where he studied for only one year. From 1981 to 1983, he served in the USSR Armed Forces.
After his discharge, Gulyaev found work as a driver at the A.V. Trofimov Training Farm. But it apparently didn't work out – the work was uninteresting and unpromising. So the young man returned to the military. In 1986, he enlisted in the army. And not just anywhere, but in the Soviet Group of Forces in Germany, which became known as the Western Group of Forces in 1989. Gulyaev was initially sent to Czechoslovakia. There, he rose to the rank of ensign and was redeployed to Germany.
His service coincided with a turbulent time, when the vast army system was crumbling. Property worth millions of dollars was gradually being plundered by the ton. Those who managed to snatch a piece built entire empires. Vasily Gulyayev was among those who seized a piece of the sweet life in the Western Group of Forces and returned home with a few quid in his wallet.
Only after returning from Germany in 1990 did Vasyl Aleksandrovich go into private business and become director of the Ukrainian-Turkish joint venture "NK i V." The company began supplying cotton from Turkey. The goods arrived from abroad, were unloaded at the ports of Odessa, and resold in Ukraine. However, Vasyl Aleksandrovich likes to tell a heart-rending story of his career rise: he allegedly returned from Germany penniless and found work as a personal driver for a foreigner, with whom he later founded a business. Of course, the story seems highly contrived. Gulyaev remained in business until 2005.
The best rural head and land trade
In 2006, Vasily Gulyayev decided to run for mayor of Molodezhnoye village for the first time. He ran as a non-partisan candidate, backed by the village community. And he was immediately successful—out of seven other candidates, he received over 50% of the vote.
It's worth noting that Vasily Aleksandrovich truly did do much for Molodezhnoye. With Gulyayev's arrival, the village received proper roads, lighting, water pipes for the pump room, sewerage systems were repaired, the garbage problem was solved (waste was removed free of charge), kindergartens were renovated, and so on. It's no wonder the villagers were ready to laud their "savior." However, few understood the true nature of Vasily Gulyayev and how he profited from the villagers. But first, a few statistics: Molodezhnoye officially has a population of about 3, but with 16 gardening associations, the total number would be 10. The village boundaries, and the actual land area, cover 2187,26 hectares—that's a hundred hectares of virgin land, which in the Odessa region is worth tens of thousands of dollars per square meter. So, Gulyaev chose the perfect tactic: he gave the people social benefits from the Tsar's hand, and behind their backs he traded land as his personal asset.
Vasily Gulyaev
Skelet.Org reports on the most high-profile cases of the embezzlement of Odessa's "golden" land.
How people were fooled with "Veteran"
Having just assumed the position of village mayor, Vasily Aleksandrovich set about restoring order. His first project was to take over the profitable "Veteran" gardening and horticultural cooperative, located on the seashore near Illichivsk. Land from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense had been transferred to it back in 1991. At that time, land wasn't considered a commodity, and anyone could get a plot. So people took the land and then abandoned it. According to a written agreement, those who didn't maintain their plots were expelled from the cooperative. The available plots of land were given to those on the waiting list. At that time, no one had any complaints against anyone.
In the early 2000s, Veteran ran into trouble when corrupt officials took notice. They devised various schemes to seize plots from their rightful owners and hand them over to the "right" people. When Gulyaev took over, hopes were high. But Vasily Alexandrovich continued the corrupt scheme and even expanded it. The first thing he did was fire the old land surveyor and install his assistant. Secondly, he began tracking down those who had been deprived of their land plots over the years. He alleged that this had been done illegally, and that their shares needed to be returned to the former owners. Moreover, Gulyaev promised to allow the land to be privatized and profit from it. This meant that people who had cultivated the land for many years, built dachas, and paid their dues were openly expelled. At a glance, the list of those deprived of their plots numbered about 400 people.
Vasily Aleksandrovich justified this entire scam by citing the fact that a new land code had been passed in 2002, making land the property of local communities. Therefore, the Molodezhninsky village council obliged Veteran to sign a land lease agreement, otherwise the cooperative would be left without any "black gold" at all. This meant 80 hectares of unprivatized land, located near the sea, at $5 per hectare; multiply that by 80 hectares, considering that this was 2006. But signing an agreement was impossible, as privatization was being carried out on a case-by-case basis, and the cooperative's size was constantly changing. Moreover, the village council wrote to the prosecutor's office, reporting that people were being illegally deprived of their land. Meanwhile, while the case was pending, the village council began depriving people of their legal land plots. Veteran members went to court, but Gulyaev made a bold move and hired a private lawyer to represent the village council. The case itself was handed over to the "well-fed" Judge Torchinskaya. The judge clearly sided with Vasily Alexandrovich. As a result, the village council, represented by Gulyaev, was given the power to determine who would receive the lucrative plots of land.
The Lost Lands of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Public Administration
In 2007, Vasily Gulyaev, having settled into the role of village mayor, increased his appetite and set his sights on state-owned land. Then, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy transferred a "small" 130-hectare plot of land belonging to the Trofimov Research Farm (the very same one where young Gulyaev worked as a driver and then fled) to the Odessa State Agrarian University. But in reality, this land no longer existed; it had been carved up by Gulyaev, the people's "hope." And the most interesting thing is how he accomplished it: he "simply" changed the boundaries of the village of Molodyozhnoye. Naturally, to make this decision, he attracted the attention of the "right" people and pushed the document through the Odessa Regional Council. The research farm's land was then distributed for the construction of luxury residential complexes "Tsentralny," "Gorodskoy," "Dolinsky," and "Uyutny." Part of the land was used for the industrial and warehouse zones "Khutorok," "Zapadnaya," and "Promyshlennaya." Now, a little math: 130 hectares multiplied by $20—the price of a hundred square meters of seaside land in the Ovidiopol district at the time—comes to a tidy sum. And the scam only uncovered in 2014. The Odesa District Administrative Court ruled the land allocation of 130 hectares illegal. But by then, Vasyl Gulyayev was already firmly in the parliamentary seat, and it fell to his "adversaries" to clean up the mess.
How the Ministry of Defense was deceived
In 2008, another high-profile incident involving Odessa land occurred. A plot of land belonging to the Ministry of Defense was given to private owners. The businessmen received 1,53 hectares of land, including the property of the Yubileinaya recreation center, owned by the Voentorgservis concern. This was one of two remaining properties; all the others are located in occupied Crimea.
The Yubileinaya recreation center, the land of which was sold by Vasily Gulyayev
Residential buildings, outbuildings, and structures began to be erected there. The story only came to light in 2016. Then, the military prosecutor's office of the Odessa garrison filed lawsuits with the Ovidiopol District Court, declaring the state title deeds to the land plots invalid. Garrison representatives demanded that the plots be returned to the Ministry of Defense. During the investigation, it was discovered that in 2006, the newly appointed village head, Vasyl Gulyayev, signed papers transferring the land to municipal ownership, and two years later, divided it into shares and gave it to private individuals. This despite the fact that the plots were occupied not by any village resident, but by the Ministry of Defense. It should be noted that Vasyl Gulyayev's actions flagrantly violated Ukrainian law. According to the Land Code, state-owned plots are managed by the Cabinet of Ministers. Gulyayev transferred the land to the local council without permission, and then handed it over personally, attaching a letter from the Minister of Defense, dated 2004, to the papers.
The military prosecutor's office assessed the scale of the village mayor's activities. The illegally expropriated 20 hectares of land was worth 3 million hryvnias. And that's at the 2008 exchange rate, when, as a reminder, a hundred square meters of land by the sea cost up to $5. And if we delve deeper into the calculations, we find that, at the pre-crisis exchange rate, the sum received by the village budget was at least five times lower than the market rate.
As it turns out, one and a half hectares was just a fraction of Vasily Aleksandrovich's scams involving state land. The prosecutor's office uncovered another case of land seizure and transfer to private individuals or commercial enterprises. In 2015, the Ministry of Defense filed another lawsuit with the Odessa Commercial Court of Appeal. 8,5 hectares of land were seized from the ministry. It belonged to the same Yubileiny health resort. It turned out that this plot had already been leased for 49 years to a certain Simon LLC, and before that, it had been transferred to municipal ownership. Simon LLC received the lucrative prize for carrying out coastal protection work.
Vasily Gulyayev, a wealthy farmer from Odessa and mayor of Chornomorsk
The scam was carried out by Vasily Gulyaev, who signed the corresponding court order. It's a very interesting detail, but predictable: the long-term lease was concluded at a price several times lower than it should have been. We can only speculate who pocketed the real value of the land.
Land for "our own"
Of course, all of the above examples are by no means an exhaustive list of Vasily Gulyayev's land-related frauds. For example, he transferred land plots to private companies for their own use. Skelet.Org is aware of the transfer of 0,20 hectares of land to Sivicon LLC for the construction of a gas station. A court case was filed regarding this, and it was discovered that the land belonged not to the Molodezhny village council, but to Ukrzaliznytsia.
Despite all this, Vasily Alexandrovich was elected to a second term by an absolute majority in 2010. Just a year later, the village of Molodezhnoye was named the best village in the Odessa region for social infrastructure development and landscaping. Gulyaev himself was recognized as the best village mayor.
Very People's Deputy Vasily Gulyaev
In early 2015, Vasyl Gulyaev, who had always boasted of being an independent candidate, "found" his political force. He became the head of the Odessa regional branch of the "Vidrodzhennia" party.
Vasily Aleksandrovich ran for mayor of Ilyichevsk from the Renaissance party in the fall of 2015.
But city residents denied Gulyaev a chance to become mayor. He lost the election to the incumbent mayor of Ilyichevsk, Valeriy Khmelnyuk (37,42% of the vote to the incumbent mayor's 52,74%).
Vladimir Grab, Gulyaev's godfather
But the MP didn't despair, as he still controlled the village of Molodezhnoye and... a new jackpot – the urban-type settlement of Velikodolynskoye, where his godfather, Vladimir Grab, reigns supreme. A relative asked Vasily Aleksandrovich for help covering up land fraud, as Gulyayev was a seasoned expert in these scams. He receives substantial kickbacks for his protection rackets.
Thanks to Vasily Aleksandrovich's cajoling, the urban-type settlement of Velikodolynskoye lost 9,8447 hectares of arable land. In 2012, the village council awarded this plot to the Velikodolynskoye municipal enterprise for the construction of a residential neighborhood. The plot cost 859,914 hryvnias. Sfera LTD LLC was commissioned to build the new development. However, the money for the plot never reached the municipal enterprise's account, instead remaining in the pockets of Grab and Gulyayev. Another example: the Mariinsky residential complex in the urban-type settlement of Velikodolynskoye commissioned two buildings, but the village council never received a single kopeck of the developer's mandatory share participation fee. This, by the way, amounts to 4% of the total construction cost. Millions of dollars ended up in the hands of the village mayors.
Grab and Gulyayev are profiting from road repairs in the urban-type settlement, which they carry out on paper, but in reality, they're just covering the streets with sacrificial materials obtained for free from a company they control. On paper, the building materials were purchased at great expense...
Vasyl Gulyaev has settled into his duties in the Rada and has begun to make full use of his parliamentary tools. For example, when voting for the 2016 State Budget, the Revival MP pressed buttons for himself, the other guy, and another one.
True, he managed to justify himself by saying that he had not yet fully understood the voting rules, since he was just a simple village headman.
After Gulyaev became engrossed in big politics, he completely forgot about Odessa and the villagers who so fervently believed in his integrity. A striking example was his behavior during the scandal surrounding the renaming of Illichivsk to Chornomorsk. Residents thought that Gulyaev would put in a good word with the Verkhovna Rada to prevent the city from being decommunized. However, the beloved figure merely sidestepped the issue, as he was busy at the time, participating in the drafting of the law renaming the port city.
What did the best village head, Vasily Gulyayev, acquire?
Vasyl Gulyaev not only sold Odessa land but also took it over. Ultimately, he became a major landowner. Skelet.Org reviewed Vasyl Aleksandrovich's property declarations over several years.
So, judging by his declaration, in 2013, Vasily Oleksandrovich certainly wasn't living below the poverty line, but he did have to economize considerably. He reported receiving 95,300 hryvnias in total income for the year, 84,100 of which was wages. Thus, Gulyayev was working on 7,000 hryvnias per month. A very small sum for the head of a promising village. He also listed as owning a 51,3-square-meter apartment and a 10600-square-meter plot of land. Almost the same as everyone else. In reality, these are several plots: one of 600 square meters (0.6 acres), the other of 10,000 square meters (0.10 acres!!!).
What's most interesting is that all the plots of land are located in Molodezhnoye, Ukraine's most prosperous village. The Gulyaevs own two plots of land: Vasily owns two (10600 square meters in area), and Elena owns three (over 6400 square meters in area).
Vasily Gulyayev, a wealthy farmer from Odessa and mayor of Chornomorsk
In 2014, Vasyl Gulyayev earned 97,000 hryvnias through honest labor, with another 9,700 hryvnias contributed by family members. But interestingly, with this income, Vasyl Oleksandrovych contributed 184,677 hryvnias of his own money to his campaign fund.
Vasily Gulyayev, a wealthy farmer from Odessa and mayor of Chornomorsk
In 2016, the Gulyaev couple's income changed. Vasily Oleksandrovych earned a combined income of 155,8 hryvnias from his salary, while his wife earned 10,3 hryvnias from a one-time maternity benefit. The deputy also held 340 hryvnias, $72, €52, and 230 hryvnias in precious metals, while his wife held 302 hryvnias, $24, and €21.
It's worth noting that recently, unknown individuals set fire to a bathhouse complex in the village of Aleksandrovka near Chornomorsk. According to available information, it belongs to MP Gulyaev, but the politician denies this. He claimed the bathhouse owners are his acquaintances.
Arina Dmitrieva, for Skelet.Org
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