Tatyana Bakhteeva
Who's profiting from kickbacks in Ukraine today? Some say the new government is no better than the old one and has quickly learned to siphon off millions in tenders. In reality, it's... much worse.
While Yanukovych sits in the Moscow region, and Azarov tries to lead a collaborationist Ukrainian government under the auspices of the Kremlin, many of their allies are doing just fine and have carved out the most lucrative places at the trough of the Ukrainian state budget.
One such lucrative field is medicine. During Yanukovych's time, two women close to "Proffesor" – the infamous Raisa Bogatyreva and the equally odious Tatyana Bakhteeva – were in charge of medicine.Read more about it in the article Tatyana Bakhteeva: "cured"!), then head of the parliamentary committee on healthcare and a close friend of Rinat Akhmetov. Both became notorious for brazen corruption and nationwide schemes, but Bogatyreva profited from vaccines produced by her son Sasha, while Bakhteyeva profited from medical equipment. In this highly profitable industry, no one can say the actual price of the equipment, yet billions are spent on it every year. Companies wage a fierce battle for market share, but if a major corrupt official partners with one of these companies, everyone else is left in the dust, and the organized crime group will earn billions from cleared tenders.
Bakhteyeva conspired with the Fistal group, and together they quickly "rigged" almost all state medical equipment procurements to suit their own needs. The result is clear: many of the country's largest clinics are swamped with equipment purchased at prices two to three times higher than world prices, still unpacked. The turnover of companies linked to Bakhteyeva reached 1,7 billion hryvnias in 2012, no less than half of which was net profit thanks to outrageously inflated prices. The thieves earned over $100 million in just one year of embezzling medical budgets!
The most interesting thing is that after Yanukovych fled to Rostov and the collapse of the entire thieves' "vertical" he had built, nothing in this sector has really changed, except that Bakhteeva defected from the sinking ship of the criminal Party of Regions to the Opposition Bloc in a timely manner (but remained a Verkhovna Rada deputy on the same Healthcare Committee: you don't just throw away the trough!). According to those in the know, Tatyana Bakhteeva now completely controls procurement in the medical equipment market in most regions of Ukraine. The Donetsk-born deputy, also known as "Madame Tramadol," decides who buys what, from whom, and how much money is stolen. The Fistali brothers continue to assist in this. Their companies or affiliated entities participate in tenders and file complaints with the Antimonopoly Committee if customers decide to purchase something contrary to Bakhteeva's interests and choose cheaper offers from competitors.
Bakhteyeva and the Fistal brothers retained their strongest positions in their historical homeland of Donetsk Oblast and in neighboring regions of eastern Ukraine, traditionally dominated by Yanukovych's cronies—Kharkiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kherson, and Sumy. In many tenders in these regions, the medical and technical requirements of the tender documents are often tailored to products sold in Ukraine by the Fistal brothers' companies.
For example, cotton wool, bandages, test strips, and other consumables were purchased at a tender held by the Donetsk Regional State Administration's Department of Health. The requirements were so clearly spelled out that two companies won the tender: Medicalgroup-Ukraine LLC (founded by Irina Savosta, the former head of Goral LLC, a company that self-liquidated in 2013 after failing to meet the deadline for the delivery of 70 ambulances worth UAH 59,5 million in 2012, following a winning tender from the Ministry of Health) and Brizanta LLC, a company owned by Valeriy Vidasov.
Before this tender, a complaint was filed by the Kyiv company MVV Instruments LLC, and after the tender, a complaint was filed by A'STA (founded by managers from Rinat Akhmetov's group), which bid 7 million hryvnias lower than the bids from Medicalgroup-Ukraine LLC (24,9 million hryvnias) and Brizanta LLC (25,4 million hryvnias). However, both complaints were rejected in favor of Bakhteyeva and the Fistals, who pocketed at least an additional 7 million hryvnias in budget funds.
A similarly unfortunate incident for public funds occurred during the tender at the Kharkiv Emergency Medical Care Center for the purchase of 10 type A2 ambulances and 12 type B ambulances. The requirements were specified for vehicles manufactured by the Avtospetsprom plant, whose founder is Vladimir FistalThe ambulance was equipped with a D500 defibrillator manufactured by the Korean company Mediana, which is represented in Ukraine by Fistal.
The company Ilatanmed LLC, registered to Olga Pisana (she previously worked for Fistaley's company Firma KRAS LLC), won this tender by signing a contract with the customer for 37,90 million UAH at an inflated price. Moreover, the company PII Avtoinveststroy-Brok, part of the AIS group of the people's deputy, also participated in the bidding. Dmitry Svyatash, with an offer 1,5 million UAH cheaper.
Before the auction, Avtoinveststroy-Brok, a private investment company, filed a complaint, which was even upheld by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU), which ordered amendments to the tender documentation. However, this didn't help Svyatash win over Bakhteyeva, who has her own people on the tender committee.
At the auction held at the O. Luchansky Kherson City Hospital, the medical and technical requirements were specified for the 12F9 Ukraine X-ray machine manufactured by Scientific and Production Company KRAS LLC. All would have been well, had not the Kharkiv company INDIS LLC, with its KRD 50 INDIascan X-ray system manufactured by the Kharkiv plant ZRO KVANT LLC, also bid in addition to ILATANMED LLC and SINERGUS LLC (under Valery Vidasov's control), also entered the auction.
Based on the specifications of the X-ray machine provided by INDIS LLC, the customer accepted its proposal. However, this decision was appealed to the Antimonopoly Committee, as the X-ray machine from the KVANT plant could not meet the medical and technical requirements of the tender documentation, which were specified for the products of the KRAS plant. The Antimonopoly Committee partially granted Ilatanmed LLC's request and ordered the customer to rescind its decision to accept Indis LLC's proposal. However, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) rejected the complainant's request to re-evaluate the proposals of the two remaining participants, citing that the proposals of Ilatanmed LLC and Synergus LLC did not meet the requirements of the tender documentation. Specifically, the documentation stipulated that the X-ray machine be equipped with two monitors, whereas two identical technical data sheets for the 12F9 Ukraine X-ray machine in the tender proposals of both companies listed only one monitor.
Another signature gimmick of companies associated with the Fistal brothers is the suspension of bidding after a price loss to competitors by filing complaints (after customers have already made decisions on acceptances or signed contracts), demanding that the AMCU overturn the customers' decisions and accept their proposals.
For example, this happened during a bidding process at the Cherkasy Regional Cardiology Center for the procurement of pacemakers. Medical Trading Company LLC lost the bid to another market participant, Neocard LLC, by just UAH 2350, offering pacemakers worth UAH 754,350. After the customer accepted Neocard LLC's bid, the Fistali brothers filed a complaint with the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU), but the committee rejected the brothers' claim.
A similar situation occurred at the auction at the Dnipropetrovsk Specialized Medical Supplies Base. Of the 30 lots, the bid from Medical Trading Company LLC was accepted for 17 lots, worth almost UAH 5 million. But this wasn't enough for the Fistal brothers, who filed a complaint with the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) requesting that the buyer's decision to accept lower-priced bids from other bidders be overturned and that a re-evaluation of the bids be conducted with the aim of accepting their higher-priced bids.
But the Fistali brothers later withdrew their complaint from the committee. They likely achieved their goal by reaching an agreement with the client regarding their companies' future positive results in the new tenders.
Bakhteeva continues to actively expand her influence in regional medical equipment procurement. Companies under her patronage act aggressively, bidding at inflated prices and unafraid of both market competition and regulatory inspections. This results in budget funds being used inefficiently, while Bakhteeva receives significant financial resources. Rumor has it that she manages to pull off such maneuvers in regional procurement with the support of people close to the Presidential Administration of Ukraine.
Moreover, Bakhteeva manages to push through multi-million-dollar state programs! Rumor has it that the 200 million hryvnia program, which is planned to purchase ultrasound machines and mammography units, is the work of Bakhteeva herself, who tried to extract this money from the state budget back under Yanukovych. Her personal self-interest was clear: all the money was supposed to go to the Kharkiv-based company Radmir. This company, the only one in Ukraine, can supply both ultrasound machines and mammography units of its own "production."
How much of this is truly our own, given how much Radmir's prices have skyrocketed over the past couple of years, is a big question. Foreign components must account for the lion's share of the cost with such price increases. Or perhaps it's simply a matter of simple corruption: it's easy to double or triple prices when there's no competition in sight. Good enough!
And there will definitely be no competition, because Radmir is represented in Ukraine by Scientific and Production Company KRAS LLC, part of the Fistal Group. Bakhteeva "ran out" 200 million rubles for her team, who are supposed to profit from the purchase.
This only confirms once again that Tatyana Bakhteyeva is welcome in the highest offices, since they allocate such sums without question for such dubious state programs. Those at the top are willing to forget her past in Yanukovych's party, her embezzlement in tenders, and her membership in the pro-Moscow Opposition Bloc – as long as they have the money. And Bakhteyeva and her friends, the Fistals, have a lot of money. We might not have enough for the army and sick children, but we can always find Mercedes for thieving MPs, right?
Ruslan Yakushev, Antikor
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