Oleg Kulinich: the main “devil” of the corruption swamp “Doviri”. PART 1
Why is the most "inconspicuous" parliamentary group , Dovira, actually the most notorious? Its name rarely appears in the news, it avoids political confrontations and quietly trades its "golden shares." In international parliamentary practice, such groups are called "swamps." But, as the saying goes, the quietest swamps harbor the most dangerous devils! And if you run through Dovira's list, most of these names will be familiar from scandalous publications about corruption and even crime reports!
"Causing harm to Ukrainians and undermining Ukraine's statehood is the ethos of the parliamentary group 'Dovira,' most of whose members have a long history of corruption scandals, and some are members of well-known regional organized crime groups," is what Ukrainian media writes about it. Skelet.Org readers are familiar with the dark side of the biographies of its members, including Gennady Vatsak , Maksym Yefimov , Andriy Ivanchuk , Vasyl Petevka , Borys Prykhodko , and Serhiy Shakhov . Impressive names, each one worthy of NSDC sanctions without even looking! We've also written about agricultural oligarch Andriy Verevskyi , considered the main beneficiary of 'Dovira,' which has earned it the nickname "Verevka's Choir." It is not surprising that, according to the Institute of Legislative Ideas , almost every fifth bill submitted by the group has signs of corruption!
“Rope Choir”, or parliamentary group “Dovira”
And at the head of this corrupt swamp is Oleg Kulinich, whom Verevsky appointed to lead the Dovira group. Why him? For many years, Kulinich has skillfully disguised himself as a "simple farmer," although in reality, he is a seasoned corrupt official and land raider.
Two Kulinichs – and both with Russian citizenship
There are two Oleh Kulinichs in Ukrainian politics, whom the media constantly confuse, often mixing up their biographies. This is unsurprising, as both are closely linked to land corruption, and both have certain roots in Russia, dating back to the early 90s. They can be distinguished by their patronymics and the positions they held. Oleh Mykolayovych Kulinich (born 1969) is a notorious SBU officer , appointed by Zelenskyy in October 2020 to head the illusory SBU office in Crimea (based in Kherson). He has a long trail of scandals behind him.
Oleg Nikolaevich Kulinich
Until 1994, Oleg Nikolaevich studied at the Moscow FSB Academy (and therefore likely holds Russian citizenship). He then took a job at the SBU, where he became close to General Derkach and friends with his son, Andriy Derkach. When the younger Derkach took over Energoatom in 2006, he immediately hired Kulinich as the company's vice president, and together they embezzled 150 million hryvnias of state funds (worth $30 million at the then exchange rate). In 2008, under the protection of the "bigwigs" of the Lytvyn Bloc, Kulinich headed the State Land Resources Committee, where he unleashed rampant land corruption to please his new patrons. He was fired from there in the fall of 2010 for a mere "trifle": the distribution of 220 hectares of land on Kyiv's Muromets Island . This only allowed him to later declare himself a "victim of the Yanukovych regime" and avoid lustration. Now, Oleh Mykolayovych Kulinich, like many other corrupt officials of past regimes, has found refuge and a position with the "servants of the people."
Our hero is Oleg Ivanovich Kulinich, born on November 25, 1966, in the district center of Zenkiv, Poltava Oblast. After school, he worked as a driver at the local Engels collective farm. After serving in the army (1984-86), he spent another year delivering bread and loaves of bread from the Zenkiv bakery around the district. Realizing that selling illegal bread and gasoline wasn't worth more than a three-year salary, Oleg Kulinich decided to rise to the top. He became a freight forwarder (still working on the same old loaves) and enrolled in the Poltava Cooperative Institute (now the University of Economics and Trade), specializing in merchandising.
Kulinich Oleg Ivanovich
Oleg Kulinich received his merchandising diploma in July 1991. In August, Ukraine declared independence, and in October, Kulinich abruptly left his motherland and went to Russia, to the city of Zheleznogorsk (Kursk Oblast), where he received the position of deputy chairman of the district consumer union. Given the widespread shortages of the time, this was a gold mine! Skelet.Org was never able to determine who exactly provided Kulinich with this opportunity. After all, he stubbornly refuses to talk about his years in Russia, carefully concealing something! But it is clear that he had good connections in Zheleznogorsk, which enabled him to transform the district consumer union into a commercial enterprise, "Torgovy Tsentr," in 1992, where he served as Commercial Director.
Oleg Kulinich worked in Zheleznogorsk until 1995, holding leadership positions, and so he simply couldn't resist accepting Russian citizenship. According to the 1991 Law "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation ," citizenship was automatically granted to all citizens of the former USSR who were permanent residents of the Russian Federation when the law came into effect (February 6, 1992). This meant that both Oleg Kulinichs fell under this law: the one who studied at the FSB Academy until 1994, and, even more so, the one who worked as deputy chairman of the Zheleznogorsk district potrebny union. And they still retain this citizenship! That's why this topic always so unnerves MP Kulinich, who constantly reminds journalists that he is on the "Moscow sanctions list ." However, no one has yet understood what exactly these "Moscow sanctions" entail or how they impact the individuals and legal entities included on the list. But they are an excellent cover for any Kremlin agent!
Zenkovsky landowner Oleg Kulinich
In 1995, things went seriously wrong for Oleg Kulinich in Zheleznogorsk (he doesn't hesitate to talk about this either). So much so that Kulinich abandoned everything and fled back to his hometown of Zenkov. Perhaps he fled on his own, hiding either from the Kursk "brothers" or from Russian justice. Or perhaps with the help of Russian authorities, who arranged for the "evacuation" of their agent. What is known is that Oleg Kulinich didn't return home empty-handed, and together with his brother, he immediately set up a fuel and lubricants business in the area. At first, they sold from tankers, stationing their men with canisters of gasoline along the highways, but by the late 90s, they had already built a couple of their own gas stations. And the gasoline business in the 90s, it should be remembered, was a downright gangster affair – especially in the remote provinces.
Many agricultural enterprises at the time were experiencing constant cash shortages and were forced to barter for fuel, a practice that profited traders like Kulinich (who sold fuel until 2012). Gradually, he transitioned from reselling other people's grain to growing his own. In 2001, Oleg Kulichin founded Oktan LLC (EDRPOU 31739789), the very name of which speaks of his original business. But it was later re-registered as a broad-based agricultural enterprise, covering everything from butter production to horse breeding. Oktan's office is now located in an old mansion built in Zenkov back in 1897 by landowner Vozdvizhensky. During Soviet times, it housed a dormitory for the local vocational school, and was later "privatized" by Oleg Kulinich, who decided to envision himself as the new local feudal lord.
The house of the landowner Vozdvizhensky (now Kulinich)
The Oktan company has a notorious reputation in the area: it was reported that Kulinich forced villagers to transfer their land shares to it. Besides Oktan, Kulinich's current agricultural enterprises (known to journalists) also include the private enterprise Druzhba (05267452), located in the Zhytomyr region.
Mikhail Shpolyansky, for Skelet.Org
CONTINUED: Oleg Kulinich: The Main "Devil" of the "Doviri" Corruption Swamp. PART 2
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