Victor Baloha. The phenomenon of the Transcarpathian god
Three-time MP, mayor of Mukachevo, head of the Presidential Administration under Yushchenko, and twice Minister of Emergency Situations. This is not a complete list of the positions held by Viktor Ivanovych Baloha. However, his name is more often associated with the words "Zakarpattia," "Barva," "smuggling," and "racketeering." Baloha managed to bring his entire family into big-time politics and create a clan, practically usurping power in Ukraine. What is the essence of this political genius?
Victor Baloga, Gesha and the Barva company
Viktor Ivanovich Baloha was born in the village of Zavidovo, Mukachevo district, Zakarpattia region. In 1984, he graduated from the Lviv Institute of Trade and Economics with a degree in commodity science.
Victor Baloga in the army
After serving in the army, he returned to his native land and found work as a commodity expert. It was a rather drab Soviet biography, offering no promise of career advancement. However, the most interesting part of Viktor Ivanovich's life would begin in 1992. Meanwhile, he became a senior commodity expert in the consumer cooperative system in Mukachevo, and then deputy head of the Kosinsky SPO of the Beregovo District Consumer Society. Having achieved this position, Baloha realized it was time to change his life.
So, it's 1992. The "glorious" achievements of the collapse of the USSR are upon us—shortages, criminal showdowns, and the redistribution of power. Baloha fits right in, heading Rey-Promin LLC. It's a small firm ostensibly engaged in trade. However, it's worth remembering that this is Transcarpathia, and the turbulent 90s.
In reality, Rey-Promin was a company used by Mykhailo Tokar, a well-known crime boss in Transcarpathia, to launder his millions. He was popularly known as Gesha. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he controlled the entire flow of contraband goods in Western Ukraine, from food to automobiles. Gesha, like all those born in the 1990s, was accustomed to conducting business with simple "bulls" and machine guns. However, at some point, he realized he needed to legalize his business. He began recruiting young and promising businessmen to sell contraband within the law. Viktor Baloha met all the criteria and found himself under Gesha's wing. Rey-Promin lasted five years.
In 1998, Barva LLC was established. At first glance, nothing special. However, what was surprising was that the founders, in addition to Viktor Baloha, included his brothers Ivan and Pavel, his cousin Vasily Petyovka, his wife Oksana Anatolyevna, and Ilya Tokar, Gesha's brother. Mikhail Tokar himself was apparently afraid to reveal his financial involvement in the company's creation. So what did it do? It's easier to say what it didn't do. In short, Barva and Baloha controlled the entire business of Transcarpathia: the oil product markets, food markets (liquor stores and cigarettes), timber, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural products.
At this time, a Mercedes 600 began cruising the Transcarpathian region. The phenomenon was akin to the Northern Lights in Africa. And so, Viktor Baloha was behind the wheel of this iron horse. The Transcarpathian crime spree gained momentum and became known beyond the country's borders. European law enforcement believed that Ukraine was home to the two largest criminal and smuggling hubs in the CIS—Kyiv and Mukachevo. The third hub was Moscow.
Where do you go next when you control all the contraband in the region? Politics, of course, where it opens up all sorts of horizons. In 1998, Tokar and Baloha rushed into the mainstream political arena. Their participation in the elections ended with Viktor Ivanovich becoming mayor of Mukachevo, and Tokar becoming a member of the regional council. Regardless of their positions, the relationship between Baloha and Tokar was built on the master-servant principle, with the gangster being the master and the mayor the servant. Rumor has it that the crime boss often nurtured his young protégé using the age-old method of a slap on the back of the head. Incidentally, another protégé of the crime boss, Serhiy Ratushnyak, mayor of Uzhgorod (1994-1998 and 2006-2010), had entered politics a little earlier.
Rumor has it that Baloha and Ratushnyak were involved in the execution of Gesha in 1998. The "partners" allegedly had diverging views on business practices and resolved the issue by eliminating their leader. Incidentally, after this incident, their paths would diverge, becoming representatives of feuding clans in Transcarpathia. The first conflict would involve Ratushnyak as mayor and the SDPU(o) party, which Baloha actively supported. Because of this, Viktor Ivanovich would oust his opponent from Ukraine. Returning from exile, Ratushnyak would cross his rival's path, preventing him from resuming the position of chairman of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration in 2004, and in 2006, he would retake the mayoral seat in Uzhhorod, which had been designated for Baloha's protégé.
But let's return to Gesha's empire. It didn't collapse after his death, but passed into the hands of Baloha and Ilya Tokar.
Incidentally, the latter is still part of the politician's inner circle and even ran for the seat of the head of the Transcarpathian Regional Council, but did not win.
An interesting fact: Vakhtang Ubiriya (known in the criminal underworld as "Vakha"), a close friend and partner of Semyon Mogilevich, the world's number one crime boss, attended Gesha's funeral. Officially, Vakha was the deputy head of the Ukrzaliznytsia transport service center. Rumor has it that Mogilevich himself was unable to attend the funeral, sending Vakha instead. This suggests that Gesha and the notorious crime boss were friends and partners, including in the Barva firm, meaning Viktor Baloha is also connected to this figure.
Victor Baloga and Medvedchuk
It wasn't just his criminal connections that helped Baloha enter the mainstream political arena. A key role was played by his acquaintance with Viktor Medvedchuk and his entry into the SDPU(o).
It happened in 1997. Two Kyiv businessmen, Viktor Medvedchuk and Hryhoriy Surkis, were looking for a candidate for the Social Democratic Party in their district to enter the Verkhovna Rada. Since no one knew the party, they needed to hedge their bets and secure a seat in a single-member constituency. Their choice fell on Zakarpattia, which wasn't very popular in the capital. The businessmen took a risk. They arrived in Mukachevo, where Baloha met them in a Mercedes 600, offering assistance and even a driver. Thus, Zakarpattia became the "fiefdom of the Social Democrats," as Viktor Ivanovich launched an active campaign. With his influence, it felt more like coercion, but no matter. The important thing was that thanks to this region, the SDPU (o) squeezed into parliament, gaining 4,01%.
Why would Baloha need this, when he already had God's back, meaning the criminal boss Gesha's, on his side? Of course, he was looking to the future: who knows how the "master" would act, but Viktor Ivanovich had a "second roof" in the form of Kyiv businessmen. And, it's worth noting, they could have rivaled the Transcarpathian criminals.
Thus, Baloha became mayor, and a year later, in 1999, governor. As head of the regional state administration, Viktor Ivanovich fully thanked then-President Leonid Kuchma. In the 1999 presidential elections, Zakarpattia demonstrated phenomenal support for Leonid Danilovich. The president also returned the favor. He initiated payments of arrears in wages, pensions, and social assistance to public sector employees through the company "Barva." It began supplying food packages at inflated prices, vouchers to half-abandoned sanatoriums for the winter seasons, and other "benefits." The principle of "God, take what we don't need" worked. In reality, Danilovich was paying off the debts of suffering Zakarpattia residents, and Baloha was depositing the money into his own accounts. However, as it later turned out, the money was in the local treasury. Kyiv transferred it on the eve of the elections. But they didn’t go to the residents, but ended up in the accounts of Balogov’s LLC.
People's Party deputy Mykhailo Syatynya revealed this scheme in 2005. But the prosecutor's office wasn't interested in the story, as the statute of limitations had already passed, and the "loving friends" who came to power were busy with their own affairs.
The connection with the SDPU(o) and Medvedchuk was severed in 2001 after a conflict between Viktor Baloha and Ivan Rizak, an influential member of the party.
Later, the former party comrades would exchange unflattering remarks about each other. For example, Viktor Medvedchuk would say: "God forbid that such a wretched person as Baloha would comment on my actions or ideas. Baloha is a unique phenomenon, a thousand incarnations, perfectly characterized by the revelation of his former patron and accomplice Yushchenko, which once culminated in the phrase: 'Baloga is me . '"
Victor Baloga. Tandem with Yushchenko
In April 2002, the non-partisan Baloha became a member of parliament in Ukraine. In parliament, he joined the opposition faction "Our Ukraine." For three years, he served on the Committee on Economic Policy, Property, and Investment. After Viktor Yushchenko's victory in the February 2005 presidential election, he returned to Zakarpattia as governor, this time under the "Orange" government. Six months later, Viktor Ivanovych moved to Kyiv to trade his governor's seat for a comfortable ministerial post. He headed the Ministry of Emergencies and Population Protection from the Consequences of the Chernobyl Disaster in the government of Yuriy Yekhanurov . A year later, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine reappointed him as head of the Ministry of Emergencies, this time under Viktor Yanukovych. A little over a month later, Yushchenko appointed Baloha to the post of head of the Presidential Secretariat. This occurred during the 60th birthday celebrations of Viktor Yanukovych's brother, Petro. For what merits did Viktor Ivanovich receive this cushy job?
Two Victors - Yushchenko and Baloga
Viktor Baloha met Yushchenko when Viktor Andreevich was still the head of the National Bank. They were introduced by Valeriy Pustovoitenko. Incidentally, it is rumored that Viktor Ivanovich left the SDPU(o) and Medvedchuk because of his budding friendship with Yushchenko. The peak of their friendship occurred between 1999 and 2001, when Baloha served as governor of the Zakarpattia region and Yushchenko was prime minister. Viktor Andreevich liked to relax in Western Ukraine, more specifically in the Morozovskoye forestry of the Mukachevo state forestry enterprise, which is part of the recreation area of the Synyak sanatorium. Baloha spared no expense for his honored guest. For example, a young woman, whom the governor of Zakarpattia himself had chosen, helped Yushchenko brighten up his leisure time. After several such meetings, it was discovered that the woman was pregnant. She gave birth at the Mukachevo District Hospital, where the chief physician was Vasily Vasilyevich Vasyuta, a friend of Baloha's. Viktor Ivanovich took care of all the financial arrangements.
A newborn girl is placed in an orphanage in Svalyava, after a young woman abandoned her and went missing. Oleh Gavashi, head of the Transcarpathian Regional Education Department, takes the child under his wing, and a little later, she is adopted by... Viktor. Not Yushchenko, but Baloha. They call her Sofia, and Viktor Yushchenko is chosen as her godfather.
In 2003, an incident occurred when the hospital's head physician, Vasily Vasyuta, was under the influence of the green snake and, having gotten drunk, reminded Baloha of the story of Sofiyka and the missing girl. The reaction was immediate—the doctor, beaten half to death, was taken to the hospital.
Even during his presidency, Viktor Yushchenko indulged in the pleasure of visiting the forestry. Rumor has it that "butterfly girls" from Baloha's notorious "Barva" (Barba) waited for him there, offering him intimate services. The girls themselves didn't know who they were performing the favors for, as they were always blindfolded. But Baloha was no slouch. He decided to play it safe and recorded Yushchenko's captivating encounters on video. Incidentally, a cameraman from Studio M (Baloga's central Transcarpathian channel), who was filming an interesting movie, had an accident: he was walking, fell, hit his head on a step in the entryway, and died.
Viktor Baloha was the first to rush to his friend's aid during the "poisoning" incident. If it weren't for him, the public would never have known what Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned with or how. The tests, with all the "scientific" precision and accuracy, were conducted by Baloha's friend and fellow countryman, Mykola Korpan, a doctor at the Austrian Rudolfinerhaus clinic. However, David Zhvania denied the poisoning rumors. Another detail later emerged. It turns out that American philanthropist Alex Rovt , a native of Mukachevo and a longtime friend of Viktor Baloha, supplies Ukraine with modern "youth injections" for high-ranking officials. If you follow the logical chain, everything becomes clear.
Yushchenko and Baloha's friendship faltered in 2008. Unexpectedly, Viktor Ivanovych folded his party card and left the Our Ukraine party. He joined the pro-presidential party Our Ukraine – People's Self-Defense (NU-NS) and became a key figure in the Yushchenko-Tymoshenko standoff. Just a couple of months later, he left NU-NS to create his own party, the United Center (UC). It was headed by Baloha's ally, Ihor Kril. A little later, the politicians decided to create a collegial body to govern the UC, which, naturally, included Viktor Ivanovych.
In 2009, Baloha resigned as Head of the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine at his own request and then began harshly criticizing his godfather. He called Yushchenko apathetic and ridiculed his attempt to run for president in 2010. He claimed that Viktor Andreevich, during his entire tenure in the highest government position, had failed to fulfill the promises he made to Ukrainian society during the 2004 election campaign. Viktor Andreevich, in turn, noted that the Head of the Secretariat was simply waiting for political dividends. And this was true. On the eve of the upcoming 2010 elections, Viktor Baloha became the leader of the United Center party, and afterward, he befriended the new President, Viktor Yanukovych. Viktor Yanukovych issued a decree reappointing Baloha as head of the Committee for Emergencies and for the Protection of the Population from the Consequences of the Chernobyl Disaster, and a year later, he relinquished his position as head of the Ministry of Emergencies.
In 2012, Viktor Ivanovych was dismissed, and he embarked on a solo career. For two years, he served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 7th convocation, winning the election in single-mandate constituency No. 69 (Zakarpattia Oblast), nominated by the United Center party. He is a member of the parliamentary committee on European Integration. Since November 2014, he has been a People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 8th convocation.
Viktor Baloha. "Barvostan" and Millions
Today, Barva is a state within a state. It subsists on Ukraine's budget, and the Transcarpathian region is nicknamed "Barvostan," emphasizing the scale of Baloha's empire. The firm and its subsidiaries are facing a litany of criminal cases. The most notorious are:
- Mukachevo State Agricultural College donated a plot of land to the Municipal Unitary Enterprise "Goliath" (a division of Barva LLC) for the construction of a building materials store. The price was 187,110 UAH.
- The Mukachevo City Executive Committee financed the commercial enterprise Mukachevo Sewing Factory LLC from the budget. The cost was 124 hryvnias.
- On July 1, 2002, the city executive committee sold the premises of the Mukachevo city printing house to Partner LLC at auction, in violation of the law. The asking price was 366,764 hryvnias.
- After an investigation into the financial department of the Mukachevo City Executive Committee, it was discovered that, based on a complaint from the head physician of the Mukachevo Central District Hospital, Vasyuta V.V., funds in the city executive committee's budget were improperly distributed. The amount in question was 109 hryvnias. Later, the same head physician misappropriated an LSD-1100 device from the "Aloka" company, belonging to the hospital, worth 845 hryvnias.
- One hundred thousand bottles of "Russkaya" vodka were seized in the Kyiv region. According to documents, the recipient was the company "Barva," but its wholesale alcoholic beverage license had expired. Another instance of smuggling occurred when a Barva road train carrying a large amount of contraband was seized near the Slovakian border. The cost involved is several billion rubles.
Needless to say, not a single criminal case was successful.
The question arises: who covered up this chaos? Initially, Baloha was assisted by his godfather and part-time prosecutor of Transcarpathia, Yuriy Benz. It was under Benz's protection that Viktor Ivanovich smuggled and shipped the goods abroad. Incidentally, many Mukachevo entrepreneurs, ruined and humiliated by "Barva," with the help of local prosecutors, filed a lawsuit against this duo in the European Court. And it was Benz and Baloha who drove former Mukachevo mayor Vasyl Iltyo to suicide. He left a suicide note: "May you be damned, Baloha, Petovka , and Benz!"
The second person who protected Baloha's business in Transcarpathia was Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Heletey, the brother of Valeriy Heletey , the current head of the State Guard of Ukraine. Volodymyr Heletey's name is closely linked to the drug trade. There was irrefutable evidence of this, but Viktor Baloha ensured that the cases were closed or lost. He was assisted in this by Tiberiy Durdynets, head of the Main Directorate for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime of the Security Service of Ukraine.
Valery Geletey
Viktor Baloha. A Kaleidoscope of Mayhem
Viktor Baloha's extravagant illegal activities in Transcarpathia deserve special mention. This official distinguished himself not only in smuggling but also in his inaction during large-scale environmental disasters in the region, as well as their creation, the appropriation of historical monuments, and the embezzlement of Transcarpathian sanatoriums.
Ukraine's "Venice" without a forest. The first time the Zakarpattia region was seriously damaged by flooding was in 1998. 130 villages were inundated, over 2 homes were destroyed, and 18 people died. The region was declared a disaster zone. Leonid Kuchma even visited Zakarpattia to see the scale of the disaster with his own eyes. He was met by the young mayor, Baloha, who didn't beg for money but promised to fix everything himself. However, the government still allocated several million hryvnias for mitigation and flood protection.
It wasn't until 2001 that another flood occurred, which proved catastrophic. Over 32 homes were inundated, and several thousand were completely destroyed and washed away by mudflows. Dozens of power lines, railways, and other utilities were damaged. It became clear that the regional authorities were unprepared for the disaster, and that someone had pocketed the money allocated by the state several years earlier. That someone was Viktor Baloga. During the first flood, experts identified the cause as widespread deforestation.
Deforestation
Private firms were engaged in this, and permits were issued by the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration. Under the leadership of newly appointed Governor Viktor Baloha, a special commission was even created to issue logging licenses. Thus, by 2000, there were approximately 300 firms in Transcarpathia barbarously felling forests along water bodies using heavy equipment, including tracked vehicles. Barva, or rather its subsidiaries, was also involved in this case. The government eventually managed to eliminate the consequences of the natural disaster.
In 2005, Transcarpathia was again struck by natural disasters. 715 residential buildings were flooded, 30 hectares of agricultural land were submerged, and 133 settlements were left without electricity and telephone service. Governor Baloha sincerely sympathized with his fellow residents. He even flew a helicopter over the disaster area, assessing the scale and costs. He then wrote to the Cabinet of Ministers requesting 40 million hryvnias.
Poisoned Transcarpathia
During Baloha's second governorship, another horrific environmental disaster occurred. In early 1998, tons of the heat-resistant filler "Premix" were being shipped into the region and stored in random places. It is used in braking systems. This substance is classified as a Class I toxicity substance and is hazardous to humans. Leaky bags of Premix lay everywhere, even in the basements of schools and bakeries. The whole thing was hushed up, and only thanks to journalists did the public raise the alarm. Viktor Baloha denied any involvement in the chemicals, but he did appeal to the government to allocate funds for disposal. The required amount was 3 million hryvnia.
Only Viktor Ivanovich kept silent about the interesting fact that in 1999 he personally issued permission to import Premix.
Viktor Baloha is implicated in another case that could lead to an environmental disaster. In the late 90s, notorious criminal Semyon Mogilevich and the Genovese clan of the Italian mafia in the United States agreed to reprocess radioactive waste in Ukraine and create a nuclear waste repository. They failed to implement the plan at the time, but found a solution: recruiting the young but talented Viktor Baloha. He managed to get closer to fulfilling the task, becoming Minister of Emergency Situations. Viktor Ivanovich even managed to win over Viktor Yushchenko. Together, they began discussing the creation of a nuclear waste repository in the Chernobyl zone. But the plan failed again. Something, of course, tells us that Baloha will get his way.
Pocketed locks
Viktor Baloha loves royal gifts. In 2008, at an extraordinary session, the Mukachevo City Council presented Viktor Ivanovich with a jewel of Transcarpathia—the Mukachevo Palanok Castle. More precisely, it was leased long-term to his wife. But the fact remains. Viktor Ivanovich gave the castle an attractive appearance (funds for renovations were allocated from both the city and regional budgets), and appointed his own man, Dmytro Gavashi (the son of Governor O. Gavashi, his godfather), as director. The public once again revolted at Baloha's unprecedented insolence, but the Mukachevo mayor's office responded—everything was legal. Only one participant responded to the supposedly widely publicized competition for the castle's lease, and they were declared the winner. This was the "High Castle" society, whose founders included relatives of Viktor Ivanovich. Everyone understood that the procedure had been flawed, and some deputies even appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office, but everything proceeded "as usual" in Transcarpathia, meaning Baloha was always right. It's worth noting that due to the publicity, Vysoky Zamok canceled its 46-year lease agreement for the castle, effectively permanently.
A year later, Viktor Ivanovich set his sights on another Transcarpathian cultural treasure: the Palace of Count Schönborn, located on the grounds of the Karpaty sanatorium complex and owned by the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine. He wanted to establish his family estate there. The scheme for appropriation was simple and well-established: the Transcarpathian Regional Council transferred the castle to the municipal ownership of the Chynadievsky Village Council of the Mukachevo District, which had a budget of 120 hryvnias. Then Viktor Baloha "rescued" it, as the village council could not afford to maintain the relic. The scheme failed.
"Squeezed out" sanatoriums
Ukrainians learned about the "Perlyna Karpat" sanatorium after 65 children were poisoned while recuperating there. The Sanitary and Epidemiological Service found that the facility had been operated with serious violations: children were served expired food, and meals were prepared in unsanitary conditions. It was also discovered that the sanatorium had no right to accept children for recuperation, as it lacked the necessary license. The scandal raised questions about the sanatorium's ownership, which had been raised for several years without success. It turned out that the sanatorium was managed by the regional council, which was entirely subordinate to Viktor Baloha. The scandal was quickly forgotten, and Viktor Ivanovich decided to hedge his bets and hold an auction to gain full control of "Perlyna Karpat." The sanatorium was priced at 26 million rubles at the auction, but the auction never took place.
Private jet travel
In 2008, the parliamentary group "People's Self-Defense" accused Viktor Baloha of misusing state property and budget funds. Allegedly, Viktor Ivanovich and his relatives operated private flights at public expense. The allegations concerned 24 flights operated by the state-owned aviation enterprise "Ukraine," which had non-commercial status and were flown on weekends. Most of the flights were Kyiv-Uzhhorod-Kyiv, with a few traveling Kyiv-Uzhhorod-Simferopol and Simferopol-Uzhhorod-Kyiv. Among those flying with Baloha were his wife, Oksana, and their children; his brother, Ivan Baloha; Vasyl Petevka; Igor Kryl and his wife; and the names of Stetsyuk, Onishchuk, Pukshyn, Plyushch, Gavashi, and others. Baloha's accumulated total flight time was 328 hryvnias.
The vessel "Faina"
Viktor Baloha was implicated in the hijacking of the Faina, a vessel carrying Ukrainian weapons, by Somali pirates. It turns out that Viktor Ivanovich is affiliated with LYRA ENTERPRISES, which acted as the Faina's shipping agent and fully financed Mr. Baloha's previously mentioned charter flights.
Moreover, the Faina departed from Odessa, where Vakhtang Ubiriya, aka Vakha, a longtime friend of Semyon Mogilevich who attended the funeral of the crime boss Gesha, had settled at the time. Vakha was actively involved in cargo transportation in Odessa and even met with the owners of the Faina. Meanwhile, Ukrainian interests in the African region, where the Faina was headed, were represented by the state-owned company Atlas. Its director, Sergei Kiyanichenko, was a member of the board of Viktor Baloha's United Center party. The coincidences, as they say, are obvious.
Well, the main figure who owned the Faina is Vadim Alperin.
Land from Yanukovych
In 2008, Viktor Fedorovich gave Baloha a gift—several hundred hectares of land in Transcarpathia. Specifically, he transferred 350 hectares for permanent use to the Syniak Tourism Development Center, which Viktor Ivanovich controls. Incidentally, the price of land per hundred square meters in this area at the time reached $4,5–$6. Incidentally, not far from this “gift” was already Baloha’s brother’s restaurant, Poisson, where a coffee and a bun cost around 120 hryvnias in 2008.
A brothel with children
In 2015, media reports surfaced that an underground brothel had been uncovered in Hungary where children abducted from Ukraine—boys and girls—were forced into prostitution. The youngest was 8 years old, the eldest 12. Hungarian police alleged the involvement of high-ranking Ukrainian officials in the child trafficking ring. The name of Viktor Baloha, who oversees the activities of Transcarpathian crime bosses who smuggled abducted children abroad for subsequent sale to brothel owners, was named. Viktor Baloha declined to comment.
Shooting in Mukachevo
In 2015, Ukraine was rocked by unprecedented criminal showdowns in the small town of Mukachevo. The action resembled something out of a thriller: Right Sector fighters drove up to the Antares sports complex in four SUVs, shot a security guard in the head after speaking with him, blocked traffic on the street, attacked the arriving police, rammed and shot at their vehicles, and took a fifth-grader hostage as they retreated, but later released the child. (For more on the story , see the article "Mukachevo"; for more on the story, see the article "Right Sector," the SBU, the Ministry of Internal Affairs? ) SBU representatives entered into negotiations, and Viktor Baloha and Dmytro Yarosh also joined them . The fighters surrendered. The matter was discussed at length in the Prosecutor General's Office, and Arsen Avakov took personal control of the case. However, everything was more than trivial. A shootout broke out between the men of crime boss and People's Deputy Mykhailo Lanyo, who heads a powerful organized crime group in Transcarpathia, and Viktor Baloha, who controls smuggling in the region. The conflict was over the redistribution of the smuggling market. According to one version, Lanyo's group refused to pay tribute to Viktor Baloha, as the region's ruler. Baloha, without thinking twice, hid behind the Transcarpathian Right Sector and set out to prove the truth.
Fight at the TV company
Several months ago, Viktor Baloha lost his temper and decided to deal with his subordinates with fists and threats. The brawl took place on the premises of M-Studio, a television company owned by Viktor Ivanovich. The MP was angered by the television and radio company broadcasting not only him personally, but also his son, the mayor (follow the link! A son being the mayor—that's ridiculous enough!)
Andrey Baloga
Because of this, Baloha attacked CEO Volodymyr Shubts in front of journalists and threatened him. He promised to "crush him like a toad, rip out his filthy tongue and liver, and feed him to the pigs." Shubts filed a police report, but out of fear, he refused to undergo an expert examination regarding the beatings he had suffered (he had marks from the MP's fingers on his face and neck). A criminal case was opened for hooliganism.
Old debts
The head of the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration, Gennady Moskal, decided to bring to light the murky stories of Baloha's dark past . On his official website, he wrote that former President Viktor Yushchenko, as well as his heads of administration, Viktor Baloha and Vira Ulyanchenko, orchestrated the "transition of power" to Viktor Yanukovych, who held the presidency from 2010 to 2014.
According to him, these three high-ranking officials received almost one billion dollars for this. Viktor Ivanovich immediately responded to the attack and announced that he would submit a request to the NABU demanding a proper investigation.
But Gennady Moskal wasn't satisfied. He threatened to reveal even more of Baloha's secrets if he went to the NABU. For example, about how Yushchenko, Baloha, and his deputy in the Secretariat, Pukhin, initiated a criminal case against the current Prosecutor General, Yuriy Lutsenko, for alleged possession of firearms; state-funded charter flights; the fake poisoning of Yushchenko to boost his ratings; and the prosecution of David Zhvania for the sham execution of the President.
As a reminder, the rivalry between Baloha and Moskal has been going on since 2002. Then, the former head of the Zakarpattia Oblast's Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lieutenant General of Police Gennady Moskal, replaced Viktor Baloha as governor. The newly appointed governor requested that the central government conduct a comprehensive audit of the State Audit Office of Ukraine in the region. The audit team uncovered financial irregularities, illegal expenditures, and misuse of budget funds totaling UAH 39,2 million during Baloha's tenure in 2000-2002. This is an impressive figure for a small region.
In addition, Moskal crossed Viktor Ivanovich during the appropriation of Transcarpathian castles and sanatoriums.
It is unknown how the story of the confrontation, which has taken a new turn, will end.
Viktor Baloha. Transcarpathian Luxury
Viktor Ivanovich likes everything done "the way it should be." And there's no point in criticizing him—his finances allow it.
In 2008, Baloha purchased an apartment in one of the capital's most elite buildings. This marvelous building is located near the Golden Gate, facing Georgievsky Lane on one side and the square in front of the State Border Administration on the other. It is numbered according to Reitarska Street. Here are some details we were able to learn about the apartment itself: it is the only one on the floor and is listed as a four-room apartment, with an area of 210 square meters. The price of this luxury is 4,8 million hryvnias.
In 2015, Viktor Ivanovych declared 79,000 hryvnias in income, while his family members declared 11 million hryvnias—150 times more. Baloha's entire income came from his salary. The MP owns four cars (a 2007 Audi A8 L Quatro, a 2012 Audi A8, a 2011 Audi A8, and a 2008 Land Rover Defender 110).
Viktor Ivanovich has no financial liabilities or bank accounts. However, his family members maintain UAH 182,611 in their accounts, and their contributions to the authorized capital of their companies total UAH 16,748,755.
Baloha prefers expensive Breguet and Vacheron Constantin watches, each costing around $30.
They say bills have to be paid, and God sees everything. It's unlikely that anyone who fancies themselves a "little god" understands this.
Arina Dmitrieva, for Skelet.Org
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