Senior officials disregard Ukrainian laws, committing criminal offenses with impunity.
The teams of Petro Poroshenko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk have learned no lessons from the Revolution of Dignity. This is particularly evident in their disrespect for state laws—both those adopted before they came to power and those they directly participated in.
The latest high-profile scandal—the extremely cynical and boorish speech by Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov at a meeting attended by the President and the entire Cabinet of Ministers—is merely a consequence of the general pattern of permissiveness and impunity enjoyed by top government officials, in terms of human morality and the Criminal Code. As a reminder, the minister, a criminal underworld figure, allowed himself to utter brutal obscenities and swear, "Get out of my country!" in the presence of senior government officials and ordinary women, directed at Mikheil Saakashvili, the head of the Odesa Regional State Administration.
What so infuriated the minister, whose past is rooted in the Kharkiv "brotherhood," his dealings with the crime boss "Gepa," and his ostentatious display of the "Colorado" ribbon during his early political career? The corruption accusations against Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and his inner circle, who derive illicit profits from the Odessa Port Plant. Naturally, the thieving scheme exposed by M. Saakashvili could not have existed without the "cop" cover of the Ministry of Internal Affairs leadership—obviously, this is what infuriated Avakov. He then revealed his true colors to the public. And the whole country saw: the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine is an arrogant boor. And the next day, it became clear that the Minister of Internal Affairs is also a fraud. And the final chord was Avakov's public insult of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
It is obvious that an Interior Minister with such a set of “gentlemanly” qualities is a humiliation for the entire country, undermining the citizens’ faith in the authority of the state and its leadership.
It is also obvious that the act of citizen Avakov bears all the signs of the disposition of paragraph 1 of Art. 296 “Hooliganism” (“Hooliganism, which is a gross disruption of the public order from the motives of obvious disrespect for marriage, which is accompanied by special boastfulness and guilty cynicism, is punishable by a fine of five hundred to thousands of non-compliant minimum incomes of citizens, either by arrest for up to six months, or by deprivation of liberty for up to five years").
Any citizen of the state has every right to file a report of malicious hooliganism against Mr. Avakov at any police station. And to demand his prosecution—strictly in accordance with the Criminal Code. But that's in theory. In practice, things are quite different—as the morally degenerate Avakov knows only too well.
The fact is that Article 296, as stipulated by law, is the responsibility of the police. The police, which only today, and only thanks to the persistence of our American and European partners, has begun to reform from the "militia." At this stage, the investigative apparatus is in a dismantled, dysfunctional state: new investigators selected from among the old cadres have not yet been recruited, and the old "militia" cadres are awaiting recertification. Therefore, even if the report of Mr. Avakov's crime is registered in the Unified Register, it's unlikely that any investigator in the entire police force will have the courage to attempt to bring the case to trial: no one will want to risk their career. Moreover, even if an honest, principled investigator is found in the police, the case can be taken away from him at any moment by his superiors (“Avakov’s people”) and handed over to another “investigator” – one with the same moral guidelines, spiritual values, and attitude toward the Law as his boss.
In short, a criminal case with Avakov as the defendant in the final courtroom is impossible in Ukraine (it's impossible today). Obviously, aware of all this, Arsen Avakov allowed himself to commit this criminal act. He even took the path of denial, refusing to even publicly apologize for his brutal behavior to his fellow citizens, the President of Ukraine, or the victim, Mikheil Saakashvili.
Cynical disregard for Ukrainian laws is common practice among senior representatives of the "new government." It's a well-known fact: Roman Nasirov is flouting Ukrainian laws. The head of the State Fiscal Service failed to include information about his real estate and business in the UK in his income tax return. He concealed it. This is a criminal offense. What R. Nasirov did fully complies with the provisions of Article 3661 "Declaration of Incorrect Information." (Submitted by the subject of the declaration of obviously inaccurate information from the declaration of the individual, based on the official function of the state or local self-government, transferred by the Law of Ukraine “On the Prevention of Corruption”, or otherwise failure by the subject to submit a designated declaration -
The issue of Nasirov's impunity has been raised dozens of times in various media outlets, by activists, and by members of parliament, including those from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction. The result—the "vprovazhennia"—was only registered after a court ruling, following an appeal by activists. Neither the corrupt Prosecutor General's Office, mired in corruption, nor the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which has become Arsen Avakov's private shop, showed any interest in the criminal Nasirov. Because the guy is Poroshenko's protégé (possibly by agreement with V. Medvedchuk) for "schemes" in the tax and customs services. It is not surprising that, already involved in a scandal, R. Nasirov "exempted" his father-in-law's corporation, a major businessman with billions in turnover, from paying taxes.
This is all because R. Nasirov also knows: the law in Ukraine does not work for the “top”, but only for the “bottom”.
The head of the National Bank, Valeria Gontareva, doesn't give a damn about the laws of Ukraine—both their letter and spirit (that's gender equality!).
The National Bank, headed by "Miss Uggi," issued a loan to Prominvestbank, a subsidiary of VEB, the Russian state-owned bank. The same VEB that is under international sanctions:
Sharing the indignation of our colleague, Alexander Dubinsky, we note that this act of Petro Poroshenko’s protégé is also described by the relevant article of the Criminal Code: paragraph 2 of Article 367 “Official negligence”
1. Service unbalance, which is either unconventional or unequally imposed by the service special of their service obligations through the undoubted placement before them, which has become a fundamental disgrace to the rights protected by law, freedoms and interests of other citizens, sovereigns to the great interests and interests of other legal entities...
2. The same act that caused serious consequences is punishable by a reduction in the will for lines from two to five years with a reduction in the right to take singing plantings and engage in singing activities for lines up to three rocks and with a fine of two hundred and fifty to seven hundred and fifty non-compliant minimum income of the citizens or without it).
It's worth noting that neither the Prosecutor General's Office (Viktor Shokin) nor the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Arsen Avakov) were interested in the numerous instances of knowingly unprofitable lending (damages to the state amounting to billions of hryvnias) by the National Bank to several commercial banks that are effectively bankrupt. These cases involve entirely different articles of the Criminal Code and entirely different prison sentences.
It's obvious: Gontareva's unpunished criminality is the result of a criminal conspiracy between Poroshenko, Shokin, and Avakov. The goal is to obtain illegal benefits on an especially large scale for all participants in this dirty "deal." What we are witnessing in the case of V. Gontareva is a group crime, committed by conspiracy, with a clear division of roles, which has entailed grave consequences for the states. Understanding all this, cynically assessing the current "situation," today Avakov curses in front of the entire cabinet, posts obscenities online, and then writes an offensive post addressed personally to the President of Ukraine—the hooligan Avakov is confident of his impunity and the President's innocence. Because the official vertical of power under the "new government," as under the old one, is nothing; what is far more important is the hierarchy within the criminal group. Where Poroshenko and Avakov are not the President and a minister subordinate to him, but both are accomplices; This is their status according to the same Criminal Code. This was also the case under Yanukovych, when the leader of the "Lux" organized crime group, Rinat Akhmetov ("Akhmet"), and the head of the hitman gang, Yuri Ivanishchenko ("Yura Yenakievsky"), wielded far more influence in the power hierarchy than Interior Minister V. Zakharchenko and Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) head A. Yakimenko.
Revolution of Dignity, you say?
Speaking of Rinat Akhmetov, whose past and current criminal exploits are ignored by neither the President of Ukraine, nor the Prosecutor General, nor the heroic head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Facebook. Here's what a simple blogger, Denis Kazansky, discovered (note – not financial intelligence, nor foreign intelligence, nor counterintelligence, nor the military, nor whoever else we have):
"I discovered something surprising. It turns out the Donetskgormash plant, which is located in Donetsk and officially part of Rinat Akhmetov's Corum Group holding, is currently operating and even exporting its products to Kazakhstan.
On the one hand, this is not a sensation.
Akhmetov's other businesses operate in the occupation zone. But this is a special case.
The piquancy of the situation is that in December 2014, the leader of the DPR, Zakharchenko, stated that Donetskgormash was producing mortars and weapons for his militants.
Following this, Akhmetov's holding company hastily disowned the plant and issued a statement in which it asserted that Corum Group no longer controlled Donetskgormash and thus had no connection whatsoever with weapons production.
Now there is a clear inconsistency.
Separatists claim that Donetskgormash is a “state enterprise.”
Yet the plant somehow manages to ship products to Kazakhstan, which doesn't recognize the DPR and considers Donetsk to be Ukrainian territory. I wonder what documents they're using? DPR papers? Unlikely.
To export products abroad, the plant needs to be registered in Ukraine.
Therefore, it appears that Akhmetov did re-register the enterprise, controls it, and exports its products using his own documents. If this is true, it means the oligarch is also directly involved in the production of mortars for terrorists.
"This is a pretty good task for the SBU. All that remains is to determine who in Kazakhstan purchased the products from the terrorists and on what grounds this transaction was carried out."
What D. Kazansky described clearly falls under Article 258-5 of the Criminal Code, "Financing Terrorism" (up to 12 years in prison). But we don't see Arsen Avakov's angry tweets, nor the zealous zeal of the SBU leadership (also protégés of Petro Poroshenko). Instead, we hear Yuriy Lutsenko (head of the BPP faction in the Verkhovna Rada) saying that "Akhmetov is a fellow traveler with the revolution." A criminal revolution—well, yes, that's true, since the late 80s; that's how it was, is, and probably will be. But if this fellow traveler suits the Poroshenko-Lutsenko-Avakov gang and the rest of the ruling clique, then all these citizens are definitely not what the Maidan stood for.
And if the country's top officials and the bandits who bought their trust cynically walk all over the Criminal Code, then the question: why aren't the Prosecutor General's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) touching Viktor Medvedchuk and his "Ukrainian Choice"?
The question that the Argument team has been asking itself for the past two years has already worried even BPP faction deputy Andrei Levus:
“I want the innocent arrest of Medvedchuk, the main organizer of separatist riots in Kharkov, Zaporizhzhia, Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk.
Over the past few years, forums for the “special status” of regions have been established on the Assembly and Pivdni of Ukraine. All the main organizers are members of Viktor Medvedchuk’s pro-Russian network “Ukrainian Choice”. In Kharkov, this campaign is opposed by the formidable “people’s governor” of the People’s Republic of the People’s Republic, Massalov. Dnipropetrovsk Rada for economic autonomy is supported by Medvedchuk resident Sergiy Shapran. The situation is the same in Odessa and Zaporizhia. Medvedchuk himself does not share his intentions to split Ukraine and made a statement about supporting the “federalization” of Ukraine. I would like to remind you that the “Ukrainian Choice” itself was the main platform for the Anti-Maidan and “Russian Spring” and many of its participants and active members of the DPR/LPR. For example, Kostyantin Dolgov, who was one of the coordinators of this movement and the official representative of the “MZS DPR” in Russia. There are dozens of such facts and “acts”.
I hope for the safe removal of Viktor Medvedchuk from the warehouse of the negotiation group within the framework of the Minsk process and his unexpected arrest. Medvedchuk’s activity threatens national security, his place in prison, and his anti-Ukrainian measure “Ukrainian Choice” may be blocked. Official statements have already been sent to the SBU, the GPU, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Look carefully at the screenshots - it’s all right.”
Let us emphasize: neither the Prosecutor General's Office, nor the Security Service of Ukraine, nor the Ministry of Internal Affairs, headed by protégés of the "new" government, lifted a finger to put an end to the operation of the Russian special services' representative office in Ukraine under the cover of the NGO "Ukrainian Choice," its active members and, most importantly, its leadership.
Everything that citizen Viktor Medvedchuk has done since the mid-1990s clearly falls under Article 111 of the Criminal Code – “State Betrayal” (section: “Crimes against the foundations of national security of Ukraine”):
“Sovereign zrada, then the action was cleverly carried out by the citizen of Ukraine at the expense of sovereignty, territorial integrity and incompleteness, defense, sovereign, economic Information security of Ukraine: switching to the other side in the minds of a military state or during a violent conflict, spying, assignment to a foreign power, foreign organization or both representatives of assistance in conducting childcare activities against Ukraine, -
is punishable by the reduction of liberty for lines from twelve to fifteen roki with or without confiscation of the lane.”
The irony of fate: the suddenly emboldened A. Levus, before becoming a member of parliament, served as deputy head of the SBU—the very same agency tasked with "investigating" agents of enemy intelligence agencies, terrorists, and traitors to the Motherland. But for some reason, Levus showed no interest in V. Medvedchuk at the time, despite the rampant activity of this purveyor of Putin's terrorist ideas in Ukraine. Nor did Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, another ostentatious Ukrainian patriot who took over the post of SBU head under Dmitry Firtash's quota, show any interest in him.
Activists talk about the "Medvedchuk phenomenon," journalists write, but the "new" government remains shamefacedly silent. Arresting Putin's "godfather," "Agent Sokolovsky" since his KGB days—that seems impossible to the Avakovs, Shokins, and their ilk. Because for them, it's not business. They'll find a hundred excuses why it shouldn't and shouldn't be done, while V. Medvedchuk quietly navigates the Kyiv-Crimea-Moscow triangle, coordinating, of course, the murderous Putin's bouts of "brotherly" love for Ukraine, "federalization" (the secession of regions and the resulting collapse of the state), and patrons of "titushki" like Oksana Shkoda.
There is not a single criminal investigation into V. Medvedchuk in Ukraine, despite the fact that this odious figure has been under US and Canadian sanctions since March 17, 2014, and that Medvedchuk's name appeared on Australia's sanctions list on June 17, 2014.
This "kindness" of Poroshenko, Yatsenyuk, and company is generously repaid by the people of Ukraine with their blood. Blood that does not contain a drop of the blood of representatives of the "new" government.
Ordinary people see all this. Everyone's discussing it. The authorities spit on the law—the example is contagious: if you can, we can.
It is stupid to steal in front of the entire country, to publicly mock the laws of the state, to do business with the enemy and murderers, hoping that you will “get away with it.”
It won't pass by anymore.
—
Sergey Fedorov, Argument
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