Sergey Ganzha with his daughter Nadezhda
The name of Serhiy Ganzha, a major general in the SBU and head of Viktor Yanukovych's political secret police, became known to Ukrainians after the bloody events on the Maidan. He was accused of organizing the special force operation "Boomerang." Under his leadership, sponsors of the Yanukovych "family" allegedly allocated funds to disperse protesters, and it was he who allegedly personally gave the orders to open fire on people during the Euromaidan.
However, Ganzha is not a new figure in Ukraine. He has been plundering the country for a long time, but always remained in the shadows. His name is linked to major frauds: the 2005 gasoline crisis, embezzlement from the State Reserve, racketeering by companies in Dnipropetrovsk, and the falsification of criminal cases.
Skelet.Org tells the story of how the one who swore allegiance to her sold out his homeland.
Sergey Ganzha: From Teacher to SBU Officer
Serhiy Ganzha's biography consists of a few lines about his birth and a brief career history. The security official completely "cleaned up" his personal information and always remained in the shadows. The press only began writing about Ganzha after he left Ukraine. Skelet.Org I found some facts from Sergei Valentinovich's life that he wanted to hide.
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Sergei Valentinovich Ganzha was born on July 13, 1959, in the urban-type settlement of Petrovo in the Kirovohrad region. After graduating from high school, the young man chose not to pursue higher education, instead working for a year as a mechanic on the Druzhba collective farm. In 1977, he was drafted into the Soviet Army. Upon returning from service, he found work at the Petrovskiy District Executive Committee as an instructor for volunteer militias. What did this job entail? Voluntary militias were associations of leading industrial workers who worked under the guidance and supervision of party organs in collaboration with the police. They maintained order on the streets of their home village. The young demobilized soldier oversaw them. After less than a year of work, Ganzha entered the Kirovohrad State Pedagogical Institute. In 1985, he received a history teacher's diploma. The young specialist was assigned to the Vodyanskaya 8-Year School. Initially, he taught history lessons, but within a year he became the school's principal.
In 1986, Sergei Ganzha went to Kyiv to serve in the state security agencies.
Vladimir Ivanovich Zheliba
To say this fact is surprising is an understatement. The average provincial school principal moves to the capital to serve in the KGB. However, there's no magic in this situation. It's all down to connections. A "Kirovograd community" has existed in Kyiv since the mid-80s. Its origins lay with the late Vladimir Ivanovich Zheliba, who served for many years as head of the Kirovograd Regional Executive Committee, then as a people's deputy and the first Ukrainian ambassador to Belarus.
It was he who sent the promising director-historian to Kyiv. What exactly was the "Kirovohrad community" doing? The organization, while official, was supposed to improve life in the provincial town from the capital. But in reality, the funds allocated by Kyiv never reached the "community"'s accounts, but ended up straight in the pockets of its leaders.
Sergey Ganzha: Service and the Gasoline Crisis
The KGB sent Sergei Ganzha to the RSFSR to attend advanced officer training courses operated by the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR (PGU KGB). Their main task was to train a special KGB reserve for wartime operations. The courses were designed to train Ukrainian security forces into something akin to American "Green Berets." Upon returning from training, Sergei Valentinovich headed the KGB Directorate in the Kyiv region. As a reminder, this was at the age of 30 and without any relevant education.
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After that, practically nothing is known about Mr. Ganzha. Other than the fact that he remained working in the ranks of what is now the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) since Ukraine's independence.
And he would have remained unheard of if Ganzha hadn't decided to grab a piece of the pie. He decided to profit from the gasoline crisis that erupted in 2005. In April 2005, despite the "orange government's" promises of price regulation, the price of gasoline and diesel fuel began to rise. This spike shouldn't be attributed to political maneuvering—the price increase was driven solely by economic considerations. But the Ukrainian government didn't seek a solution. Instead of creating a national vertically integrated company that could become a serious player in the petroleum products market, they took a different path. The Ministry of Economy, headed by Sergei Terekhin, set a ceiling on wholesale prices for the product. Fuel could only be purchased at government prices at state-controlled gas stations—Ekoil and Ukrnafta. Naturally, companies rebelled, unwilling to operate at a loss. Then the Antimonopoly Committee was set upon them. TNK-BP and Lukoil-Ukraine emerged as "outcasts." Soon, the Rada abolished the import duty on imported fuel, and Viktor Yushchenko lifted price restrictions. Taking advantage of these privileges, imported gasoline and diesel fuel began to enter the country. Representatives of the Kyiv SBU ensured uninterrupted supplies of foreign goods. Serhiy Ganzha oversaw and protected the process. Foreign fuel in Ukraine triggered a crisis: domestic oil refineries were unable to withstand the competition, and three out of six suspended operations. But foreign traders benefited: they kicked back the security forces and traded unhindered, albeit at a modest cost, in the new market.
And while the scheme was quite clever and progressive, there was a price to pay. In 2005, Viktor Yushchenko still had leverage and authority. He resolved the gasoline crisis by sending the Kyiv SBU into "exile," and Yulia Tymoshenko even further, stripping her of her post as prime minister.
Serhiy Ganzha was transferred to Dnipropetrovsk to sit out the investigation. Serhiy Valentinovich took the position of First Deputy Head of the SBU Directorate in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The position was seemingly unremarkable, but very lucrative.
Political career ladder
At the end of 2004, Ganzha joined the ranks of "Our Ukraine." Serhiy Valentynovych carefully concealed this fact of his political biography: it was unbecoming for a loyal man of Yanukovych and the "Family" to associate, even in the past, with "just any friends."
In 2006, Pavlo Lazarenko, who was in prison in the United States, was in charge of the entire Dnipropetrovsk region. Amid the commotion surrounding the formation of the regional council, Ivan Kulichenko, of course, representing Our Ukraine, was elected deputy mayor of Dnipropetrovsk. His responsibilities included overseeing industrial matters. A little later, he assumed responsibility for the activities of the executive bodies.
During this period, a major scandal erupted, involving Serhiy Ganzha. The regional prosecutor's office, led by Volodymyr Shuba, opened a criminal case against Ivan Kulichenko for the illegal construction of the Tavria health resort in Foros for the elite. Construction actually began in 2001, when the Foros village council donated 37 hectares of recreational land, along with the unfinished 20-story building of the Tavria sanatorium, to the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration, then under the watchful eye of Mykola Shvets. It was expected that major Dnipropetrovsk industrial enterprises would invest in the sanatorium so that factory workers could relax and recuperate there. But it didn't work out that way: the building was demolished, and elite housing for the elite was built in its place. In 2006, construction reached a dramatic scale – Dnipropetrovsk enterprises were required to allocate funds for the "new construction" of deputies. Essentially, the factories were paying a sort of tribute. The initiative to allocate funds came from the regional administration, or more precisely, from the Department responsible for industrial matters. As we understand it, at the helm was none other than Sergey Valentinovich Ganzha. And all the money flowed through him. According to unverified data, this amounted to 100,000 rubles in just one year. Skelet.Org, the companies "forked out" 800 hryvnias. It's worth noting that the commercial entities Prespektiva-1 and Privatbank were responsible for Tavria. Interestingly, in 2010 Sergey Levochkin, head of the presidential administration of Viktor Yanukovych, vacationed at a complex for 3 million hryvnias and... did not pay.
Sergei Levochkin's account at the Tavria complex
In 2007, Ganzha became the new leader of the All-Ukrainian Patriotic Union (AUPU) political party. The union was purely technical, created to exist as a catch-up. This happened literally a year later. The AUPU, along with the People's Party, which he led, Vladimir Litvin are running for the Kyiv City Council elections. Ganja and Lytvyn were introduced to each other by a member of parliament. Igor Sharov, the future head of the Speaker's faction. Lytvyn likely needed allies to create a bloc bearing his name. After all, the party only received two seats out of 105 on the Lytvyn Bloc's electoral list. Number one on the list was Viktor Pilipishin, who at that time headed the Shevchenkivskyi district state administration of the capital, and the unofficial “second” was Sergei Ganzha.
As a result, the Lytvyn Bloc created a faction of the same name, becoming part of the majority of the Kyiv City Council that supported the capital's mayor Leonid ChernovetskyIt's worth noting that at this point, Serhiy Valentynovych completely renounced the Orange government and began to champion the coalition. Almost immediately, the Lytvyn Bloc joined Yulia Tymoshenko's coalition. Lady Yu strengthened her position and began to "finish off" Viktor Yushchenko, removing ministers from the Our Ukraine party. In exchange for his assistance, Yulia Tymoshenko gave Lytvyn lucrative positions in the State Reserves Committee and the State Land Committee. Volodymyr Lytvyn, formally represented by the Cabinet of Ministers (Yulia Tymoshenko), appointed Serhiy Ganzha as head of the State Reserves Committee. It's worth noting that this nomination became a headache for Yulia Tymoshenko. She resisted the appointment for a long time, but Lytvyn pressured her. She eventually gave in, as Tymoshenko didn't want to appoint her own man. She didn't want the tarnishing of her reputation for plundering the agency.
Sergei Ganzha's office at the State Reserve
Sergey Ganzha. How the "Senior Quartermaster" Stole
The State Reserve of Ukraine is an incredibly lucrative position. It has always been considered a "closed" organization, a closely guarded secret. It wouldn't do for the enemy to know how many tank and aircraft parts are stored in the Motherland's coffers, nor what "potential" the country possesses. In reality, it's simpler: under the guise of strict secrecy, it's easy to carry out a wholesale plunder of everything that belongs to Ukraine. And this is most profitable for whoever holds the "keys" to these very coffers. All the officials who have held the helm of the agency have devised schemes for theft of property, corrupt means of siphoning off funds, and created fictitious entities. However, "Senior Supply Manager" Ganzha outdid them all.
A week (!!!) after Sergei Valentinovich's appointment, the State Reserve, which was barely staying afloat during the crisis, purchased 10 new cars, including several luxury Lexuses (at 1,320,000 hryvnias each) and Toyotas. This despite the agency having a fairly good fleet. Cars with license plates from 0080 to 0088 were needed "for internal use." At least, that was their intended purpose.
The cars were purchased through the state-owned enterprise Resurspostach, which reported to the State Reserve. Their prices were several times higher than those in Kyiv's most exclusive showrooms. Incidentally, it's worth remembering that during this crisis, Ganzha's "boss," Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, asked all government agencies to refrain from spending. Apparently, the -11 million didn't count. It was precisely then that many media outlets recalled Skelet.Org, reprinted the exposé article "Someone's Crisis, Some People's Lexuses," but it's impossible to find online – Ganja has cleaned up the media landscape.
The second thing Serhiy Valentinovich did in his new position was worry about his finances. Out of the blue, a government agency opened three accounts (hryvnia, dollar, and euro) at the European Bank, a small financial institution with a dubious reputation. This happened at a time when only large banks remained afloat, while smaller ones were being acquired by monopolists. Naturally, when Ganzha left his post, the European Bank went bust, or rather, it was liquidated, along with all the State Reserve accounts. It's quite clear who profited from this corrupt scheme and how.
Skelet.Org offers a look at the main areas of activity for the newly appointed "senior quartermaster":
- fictitious transactionsIn 2008, the State Reserve paid 36 million hryvnias to a private Donetsk company, Produkty Pitanie, for the fictitious storage of chicken meat. The company allegedly stored 64 tons of the agency's meat for a year. In reality, the goods were stored in the refrigerated storage facilities of the Novy Kombinat Group of Companies, which was part of the State Reserve system. It turned out that budget funds were given to an unknown company for non-existent services. Incidentally, all this occurred when there was a meat shortage on the Ukrainian market and its price was skyrocketing. Then the Cabinet of Ministers authorized the company to sell the goods to meat processing companies to stabilize prices. This required replenishing state reserves, and thus the State Reserve acquired the long-suffering 64 tons of meat. Why was this money paid to some shady Donetsk company? No one has a definitive answer. The capital's prosecutor's office investigated, but the case was quickly dismissed. They concluded that the former head of the State Reserve, Mykhailo Pozhyvanov, who was replaced by Serhiy Ganzha, was responsible for the purchase. Then the company "Produkty Pitanie" filed a lawsuit and demanded over 36 million hryvnias for its services. The court ruled in favor of the private company. The State Reserve, or more precisely, Serhiy Valentinovich, paid. And here's the main inconsistency: Ganzha knew where the meat was, but for some reason he handed over the money. The answer is obvious—it was all an elaborate scheme. It's worth noting that in 2010, a court ordered the Donetsk businessmen to return the money to the state;
- auctions with reduced prices. In 2008, the State Reserve announced an auction for the sale of material assets. Several thousand tons of ferrous and non-ferrous rolled metal, gasoline, and other goods were sold. The starting price for everything up for sale was approximately 800 million hryvnias. However, experts say the goods were sold at a discounted price—25% of the market price. Therefore, products with a starting price of almost 800 million hryvnias should have been sold for at least 2 billion more—for 3 billion hryvnias. Ganzha and his associates took a cunning approach: they concealed information about the auction and transferred the state reserves to their own companies. These "independent companies" then quickly resold the goods at several times the price. Serhiy Valentynovych and his accomplices pocketed the proceeds. It's worth noting that in 2010, following a large-scale audit, a list of these entities was published. It included 15 companies:
- Baryshevskaya Ecological Company,
- Prom-Invest-Technologies,
- Crimean Agro-Trading House,
- Ukrmetallobespechenie,
- National Investment Company-2006,
- BF Warehouse,
- "Megatransinvest"
- Amyris,
- "Sphere-Trans",
- Resource Invest Group,
- Promresurs,
- Status Business Group,
- Dialogue Plus,
- Vviko,
- TD "Businessmetproekt".
By 2010, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individuals, five of these firms had already ceased operations.
- significant shortages. Between 2008 and 2009, state reserves worth 2,4 billion hryvnias were lost, and ineffective management of financial and material resources resulted in losses of 4,2 billion hryvnias. Furthermore, the accounts receivable of many enterprises amounted to 3 billion hryvnias. In simple terms, this means the agency was selling goods at several times the price and buying them at a higher price. Enterprises were also not operating at full capacity. For example, storage facilities were only 21% full, oil depots were 11% full, and warehouses were 53%. This information has come to light. Skelet.Org From the audit report of the Control and Audit Office, which conducted an inspection of the structure. However, this was done in 2010, when Serhiy Ganzha was vigorously defending the country and Yanukovych's "family." The report was not released to the general public;
- selling goods to "one's own people". Just before leaving the State Reserve, Serhiy Ganzha managed to pull off several scams and make a tidy profit. He sold nearly a million liters of premium ethyl alcohol at a ridiculous price. At Serhiy Valentinovich's instigation, a closed tender was held, allowing only the "right" companies to participate. All the alcohol was purchased by an unknown Donetsk private enterprise called Universal-Stroy, created just days before the tender. The goods then found their way into the hands of illegal vodka producers. They churned out enough bottles of the "bootleg" to satisfy every Ukrainian, selling it for pennies. This operation led to the collapse of the Ukrainian liquor market. The second scam occurred when the State Reserve sold 23,4 tons of diesel fuel, stashed between 2003 and 2005, to Energomashimpex LLC for 1,5 hryvnia per liter. By comparison, the price of fuel nationwide at the time exceeded 7 hryvnia. Moreover, this same company won the tender and was able to purchase 15,7 tons of gasoline for 1,6 hryvnias per liter. And now the funniest part: a year earlier, the agency purchased the fuel and gasoline sold at 9,9 hryvnias per liter from Evroproduktinvest LLC, plus paid 4 million hryvnias for overdue payments. Thus, Ganzha reduced the cost of goods by 10 (!!) times in one year.
As you can see, the company ceased operations in 2009, immediately after the deal.
It's worth noting that Sergei Valentinovich himself isn't so bad that he stripped the state's reserves bare. The system itself and the specific way the State Reserve operates allow for corrupt schemes. For example, no commodity sits in the country's reserves for years. It's periodically sold to buy new ones. Naturally, there will be losses in this scheme, but some individuals are making them monstrous.
In December 2009, the Cabinet of Ministers dismissed Serhiy Ganzha from his position as head of the State Reserve. He resigned. The ministry claimed he had been offered a job within the party structures.
It's worth noting that during Ganzha's tenure as "senior supply manager," no one ever criticized him. Even though everyone saw and understood the scale of the theft. However, accusing Ganzha of anything is essentially the same as blaming the speaker, who by then was Vladimir Litvin. But someone was eventually found responsible for the "sins." Serhiy Ganzha pinned the shortages, embezzlement, and fabrications on one of his deputies, Mykola Sinkovsky.
Department "T"
The next two years, from 2010 to 2012, were omitted from the official biography of Sergei Ganzha. However, Skelet.Org I learned that during this period he was a consultant to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. This high-profile position concealed nothing more than the fact that Serhiy Valentynovych had become Volodymyr Lytvyn's personal assistant. However, he never publicized this and preferred to erase it from his life. He also served in the military in the state security agencies. Serhiy Valentynovych also did not forget his parliamentary activities. In 2011, five center-left parties, one of which was the All-Ukrainian Patriotic Union, formed the United Left and Peasants party. The new political creation was headed by former Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Stanislav Nikolayenko, and Ganzha was given the role of one of its deputies. The newly formed party joined the Socialist Party of Ukraine led by Oleksandr Moroz.
In December 2012, Serhiy Valentynovych emerged from the shadows – guarantor Viktor Yanukovych appointed him as the Presidential Commissioner for Control over the Activities of the Security Service of Ukraine. Ganzha held this position for four months and was reassigned, becoming the head of the SBU Department for the Protection of National Statehood. This department is known as Department "T" or the political "okhrana." It's a lucrative position, but also quite problematic. As we learned, Skelet.Org Serhiy Valentinovich personally persuaded Yanukovych to accept this appointment. He was desperate to protect the country and Viktor Fedorovich's "family" from "enemies."
The most high-profile case overseen by the newly appointed head of the secret police was the "Vasilkov terrorists." Ganzha was desperate to curry favor with Yanukovych and prove that only he could ensure the security of the presidential syndicate. Therefore, Serhiy Valentinovich resorted to prohibited methods: fabricating a case and extracting confessions.
So, in the case of the “Vasilkov terrorists” there were Igor MosiychukSerhiy Bevz and Volodymyr Shpara from Vasylkiv, who planned to blow up the Lenin monument in Boryspil in 2011 during Independence Day celebrations, were also accused of plotting a terrorist attack, illegally handling weapons and explosives, and calling for the overthrow of the government. The fact is that Viktor Yanukovych and his SBU associates were deeply disliked by nationalists. Mosiychuk, Bevz, and Shpara were members of the "Patriot of Ukraine" organization. The case was riddled with inconsistencies: the Lenin monument had already been demolished at the time, so there was nothing to blow up; a man under the fictitious name of Yarmolenko testified against the trio; the security forces had a false expert opinion from colleagues; and surveillance footage showed investigators, without any special equipment, handling the explosive device with their bare hands. Despite all of the above, the court gave the “terrorists” 6 years in prison.
The story ended with the trio serving more than 2,5 years in prison and being released during the Maidan.
From his position as head of the secret police in Kyiv, Serhiy Ganzha, out of habit, "controlled" the Dnipropetrovsk region. He was engaged in something akin to racketeering, but not the kind that flourished in the 90s, but a more legal one. Serhiy Valentynovych received lists of so-called "politically unreliable" businessmen from Volodymyr Voropay, the former head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional SBU department. Kyiv gave the go-ahead: private entrepreneurs were blacklisted and their businesses confiscated. With Ganzha's help, Voropay acquired the agricultural firm "Agrostep." He then began to undermine competitors in this way. For example, he ruined the large Dnipropetrovsk firm "Zernovi Dzherela." Naturally, Serhiy Valentynovych received his kickback.
Arina Dmirtieva, for Skelet.Org
CONTINUED: Sergei Ganzha. How a Major General Sold Out His Motherland. Part 2
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