The fight against corruption has become one of the main trends in the current Ukrainian political reality.
The demonstration of an active war against oligarchs and their influence on politics has also become the most popular "media" topic among Ukrainians. Thus, according to According to According to sociological research, over 50% of respondents named the fight against corruption as the most anticipated reform of 2016. These voter sentiments have been echoed by an incredible number of politicians. Corruption is being combated on billboards, during public speeches, and even by organizing and holding large-scale anti-corruption forums.
Social demand has given rise not only to shifts in the actual fight against corruption, but also to a kind of competitive warfare – a business of "squeezing" enterprises from people they don't like.
The most effective method for this type of activity is to conduct large-scale information attacks that attract public attention. The scheme is simple: a member of parliament, positioning himself as an "anti-corruption fighter," initiates a petition to law enforcement agencies demanding that certain assets associated with the activities of the previous government be investigated for corruption risks. At the same time, his statements and comments regarding the "facts and evidence" presented in the indictment are widely disseminated on social media and in the media.
This type of activity can be classified as a new form of vote-winning campaign. There are increasingly clear signs that such "ballot stuffing" should at least be of interest to law enforcement agencies. We'll demonstrate this with a real-life case study that threatens to turn into yet another political scandal.
The fashion for offshore scandals
At the end of June, People's Deputy Vladimir Ariev (BPP faction) Ariev published a parliamentary appeal to the Prosecutor General's Office, requesting an investigation into the 2010 sale of the Stirol concern for possible corruption risks. Based on unspecified data from the international consortium of investigative journalists (OCCRP) and materials from the audit report of Matthew Edwards & Co., Ariev asserts that prior to the sale of the enterprise, the concern's former shareholder, People's Deputy Mykola Yankovsky, used financial schemes, allegedly concealing significant amounts of tax money.
However, to stay on track with the present, the MP asks the Prosecutor General's Office in his appeal to "investigate" Yankovsky's family as well. This primarily concerns the current business of Nikolai Yankovsky's son, Igor.
Based on the audit report, Ariev points out that the main link in this chain was several companies through which funds were allegedly siphoned off from taxation by the Yankovsky family.
However, after reviewing one of these auditors' reports, it is simply impossible to find a direct link between the companies' operations and corrupt practices. Item 13, "Related Party Transactions," in the auditors' report from Matthew Edwards & Co. on the activities of Friston LLP, a company linked to Igor Yankovsky, only mentions the distribution of funds to other companies through "provision of credit commitments, including accrued interest." However, the auditors find nothing illegal in such activity.
Furthermore, Volodymyr Ariev, in his appeal, suggests that Mykola Yankovskyi is simultaneously holding the positions of People's Deputy and one of the executives at the Stirol concern. Accordingly, the People's Deputy "casually" hints that, if confirmed, such allegations could be classified under Ukrainian Law No. 2541-a on the so-called "Special Confiscation of Property." The essence of the law is reflected in its explanatory note and boils down to the following: if there is a suspicion of corruption, embezzlement, or complicity therein, any property of a civil servant or political figure, even if transferred to third parties (bona fide purchasers), is confiscated upon presentation of the suspicion, without a court verdict.
Clearly, the attempt to link the activities of Nikolai Yankovsky's Stirol concern, sold in 2010, and his son's current business is no accident. Igor Yankovsky's enterprises, which form the Diamond Sphere Group of Companies, were founded and have been operating in Ukraine since 2001. "In the parliamentary appeal, we see an attempt to tie everything together: the sale of Stirol, the activities of the Diamond Sphere Group of Companies, and other accusations, already refuted in court, against companies belonging to Igor Yankovsky's father regarding the alleged financing of separatists in the part of Donbas not under Ukrainian control," explains Ruslan Khrapach, a top manager at the Diamond Sphere Group of Companies.
A little bit of "separatism" for spice
At the end of April, a TV channel aired plot "How Yankovsky's Stirolbiofarm Finances the ORDLO." The journalists' investigation details an inspection of pharmaceutical companies conducted in January 2016 by "DPR" leader Denis Pushilin and "DPR Minister of Economic Development" Victoria Romanyuk. Stirolbiofarm was also named among those operating in the Donetsk Oblast, an area not controlled by the Ukrainian government.
The story aired on Sunday, April 24, but the information released in the investigation only began to be widely disseminated on Wednesday, April 27. Details of the story were disseminated by about two dozen media outlets. It was a logical conclusion to the information campaign. The evening publication of a statement by People's Deputy Vladimir Ariev with an appeal to President Petro Poroshenko, based on the information provided in the report, to strip Mykola Yankovsky of the title of Hero of Ukraine.
In fact, legal proceedings between representatives of the Stirolbiopharm company and law enforcement agencies (the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine in Kyiv and the Kyiv Prosecutor's Office) have been ongoing since the beginning of the year. Independent MP Vitaliy Kupriy filed a corresponding parliamentary appeal to the SBU to investigate the company's actions.Read more about it in article BItalian Kupriy. Kolomoisky's shavka received an order to eliminate Poroshenko.Investigators successfully blocked the company's accounts through the courts, citing evidence that Stirolbiopharm's activities and income were criminal in nature. In turn, the company's representatives filed an appeal against the actions of law enforcement agencies, demanding further investigation and a declaration that the accusations made by the SBU investigators and the prosecutor's office were unfounded.
In June 2016, the Kyiv Court of Appeals unblocked the company's accounts, finding insufficient evidence from law enforcement agencies regarding Stirolbiopharm's illegal activities. During the appellate hearing, the company's representative provided explanations and photocopies of documents proving that two companies with identical names currently exist: Stirolbiopharm LLC (EDRPOU code 32781921), re-registered in Kyiv, and Stirolbiopharm LLC (EDRPOU code 50006685), whose production facilities are indeed located in occupied territory controlled by the terrorist organization "DPR." The management of Stirolbiopharm in Kyiv has no access to the company remaining in the occupied territory and learns about what is happening in Horlivka only from the press. Therefore, the representative (of the Kyiv company in court – ed.) asserts that in this case there is no criminal offense at all, since the enterprise, which is located in territory controlled by Ukraine, has no connection and does not transfer any funds to the occupied territory, which is controlled by the terrorist organization "DPR," the explanatory part of the court's decision states.
Immediately after the revelation of separatist leaders' visit to the company in January 2016, the management of Stirolbiopharm denied their claims of paying taxes to the so-called "DPR" budget. For example, the company's director, Eduard Savchenko, stated that Stirolbiopharm had not conducted any production activities since July 2014; operations had effectively been suspended, the employees were on vacation, and most of the staff had left Horlivka and were now in Kyiv. "Naturally, the Kyiv-based Stirolbiopharm does not pay any taxes to the budget of the self-proclaimed republic, because it is a Ukrainian company and has never been registered with the DPR," Savchenko stated.
A fight against corruption with elements of a thriller
However, the real detective story began behind the scenes of public statements and high-profile journalistic investigations. After several salvos of reputational art had been fired at the Yankovsky family's reputation, employees of the Diamond Sphere group of companies began receiving anonymous text messages containing threats and offers to "make a deal."
"I received a Viber message early Monday afternoon (June 20th – ed.). It was a weekend, and my son and I were renovating. I didn't even read it right away, as messages like these are usually either messages with friends or spam ads offering various discounts," said a top manager at a company within the Diamond Sphere Group, speaking on condition of anonymity. The messages were received by two executives of companies within the DS Group, as well as several former employees who previously worked at the Stirol concern. "The text of the messages consisted of two parts: scanned copies of Vladimir Ariev's parliamentary appeal and an anonymous signature: 'Give this to your boss and prepare for questioning.' Furthermore, the unknown recipient warned, hinting at a clear threat: 'Soon the process will be irreversible. Europe and America love this kind of thing. You better act. Yours, K.O.L.,'" Ruslan Khrapach elaborated. By the way, the abbreviation "K.O.L." in such anonymous threats, as a rule, stands for "collective of offended people."
The Diamond Sphere Group of Companies rejects any possibility of reaching an agreement with the blackmailers and has already filed complaints regarding this incident on behalf of its employees with five competent law enforcement agencies: the Main Directorate of the National Police of Kyiv, the Prosecutor General's Office, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.
Two more significant circumstances add to the intrigue surrounding the Viber messages. First, Diamond Sphere employees received the messages in the morning of Monday, June 20, and Vladimir Ariev published the text of his appeal to the Prosecutor General's Office on his Facebook page the following day, June 21, at 10:33 a.m.https://www.facebook.com/volodymyr.ariev/posts/1126493480746840). Secondly, in his Facebook post, the MP merely mentioned adding to the appeal a list of companies he believed needed to be investigated. "I'm not publishing the list of companies involved in money laundering so that they won't be prepared," the parliamentarian wrote. However, in the messages themselves, recipients received a comprehensive list of all the companies that Ariev had only intended to send with his appeal to the Prosecutor General's Office the following day, but he refused to make public. This list consists of 32 companies, only a few of which are part of the Diamond Sphere group.
The sequence in which DS Group employees first received messages offering to "reach an agreement," and only then the text of the parliamentary appeal to the Prosecutor General's Office was made public, suggests the logical conclusion that unknown individuals were seeking to gain their own advantage through intimidation and blackmail. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the true role of the parliamentary appeals in this detective story will be revealed. However, law enforcement agencies may be able to shed some light by verifying all the facts provided in the statements of Diamond Sphere Group employees.
The management of the DS Group of Companies is prepared to file lawsuits to protect its business reputation and is also prepared to cooperate with any investigative bodies to prove that the Group's activities are completely legal. "We consider it our duty to declare that all companies within the DS Group have always operated and continue to operate exclusively in accordance with Ukrainian law. All these companies have been creating new jobs for many years, developing the country's economy, and conscientiously paying taxes to the budget," stated the official statement from the press service of the Diamond Sphere Group of Companies, released in response to the information attacks. At the same time, company representatives do not rule out the possibility that, following their public statements about the impossibility of any dialogue with the blackmailers, another information leak may appear in the near future.
So far, the Prosecutor General's Office hasn't responded to the deputy's appeal. "We believe all this 'hype' is aimed at one thing – intimidating and blackmailing our employees for financial or other gain," suggests one of the company's top managers, who also received the infamous Viber message.
Source: There is no power
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