Vladimir Kistion: Secrets of the "Vinnytsia Court." Part 1
Ukrainians are overpaying for gas, heating, and electricity three to four times their actual cost, yet the topic seems to be shrouded in silence. Behind the Rotterdam formula and gas schemes are not only the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk oligarchs, but also the Vinnytsia authorities, who created these schemes and now defend and cover them up in every way. And one of the key roles in this was played by the largely unnoticed former Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Kistion, who has extensive experience in "utility scams"…
Vladimir Kistion. The Team of Their Youth
Vladimir Evseevich Kistion was born on May 31, 1965, in the village of Dolzhok, Yampol district, Vinnytsia region. After serving conscientiously in the army, he entered the Odessa Civil Engineering Institute (now the State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture), majoring in water supply and sanitation, a rather unusual major for a rural boy. But this choice determined his entire future career, from plumber to deputy prime minister.
In 1989, Kistion returned to his homeland and began working at the water utility in the Yampol district center. A year later, the young specialist became the company's head. This unusually rapid rise was attributed to Vladimir Kistion's family ties, according to some sources. Skelet.Org Some claimed his father-in-law helped him, others said his uncle. But Kistion, like other "Vinnytsia" members, carefully conceals both his past and his connections.
Thanks to their efforts, since 2006 the Vinnytsia region has been transformed into an information ghetto of the “totalitarian Kuchmism” type; according to the available Skelet.Org information, even local forums were thoroughly purged of any incriminating evidence against the "fathers" of the city and region. Moreover, the "Vinnytsia" team was responsible for quelling public outrage. Alexander Reva – then another deputy to Vinnytsia Mayor Groysman, and today another minister in Groysman's government. He did a great job: while in 2008, Vinnytsia residents practically engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the city government, by 2014, Vinnytsia had become a blank spot on the map of Ukraine's socio-political discontent. Discontent, of course, existed, but Vinnytsia residents were no longer allowed to express it freely and openly, not on command or in a prescribed direction – and only propagandists of "victories" and "achievements" of the local government had the right to speak. Then, after the second Maidan, the "Vinnytsia residents" transferred this experience to all of Ukraine.
The formation of the current Vinnytsia clan, also known as the "Vinnytsia mafia," began at the turn of the century (even the millennium), and its core consisted of Vinnytsia "families" who actively participated in the overthrow of Vinnytsia Mayor Dmytro Dvorkis (1992-2000). There was even an attempt to assassinate him: on November 23, 1999, an assassination attempt was made on Dvorkis, carried out, according to sources in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, by killers from a Lviv organized crime group. Vladimir Didukh (Vova Morda)However, political intrigue, influence on the Vinnytsia city and regional councils, and trips by "petitioners" to see President Kuchma himself proved more effective. Incidentally, among these "petitioners" was a young man. Petro Poroshenko, who, together with his father, Oleksiy Poroshenko, had large business interests in the Vinnytsia region.
Petro Poroshenko's thick hair always stuck out behind L. Kuchma's back
Back then, in the late 90s, a peculiar triangle of contradictions even emerged between Poroshenko, Medvedchuk, and Dvorkis. It's worth remembering that in 1998, MP Petro Poroshenko was a member of the SDPU (U) faction, but during the struggle among the retinue for the seat closest to the throne, he fell out with Viktor MedvedchukSo, Medvedchuk supported Dvorkis, persuading Kuchma to appoint him as chairman of the Vinnytsia Regional State Administration (while retaining his mayoral post), and Poroshenko's family supported the anti-Dvorkis opposition, which included Borys Groysman, the owner of the Vinnytsia Yunost market (the future prime minister's father).
Boris Isaakovich Groysman is resting
In 2000, Volodymyr Vakhovsky (died 2013), the local "father of privatization," was elected mayor of Vinnytsia. He was, however, a highly dependent figure. Interestingly, journalist Georgiy Gongadze worked on Vakhovsky's campaign staff (effectively the staff of the "Vinnytsia clan") at the time, allegedly at the request of Kuchma's inner circle. After only two years in office, Vakhovsky voluntarily relinquished the mayoralty in the subsequent elections. Alexander Dombrovsky - the former first secretary of the city committee of the LKSMU, one of the most active Vinnytsia businessmen, who stood at the origins of the creation of the Vinnytsia clan.
He later became Vinnytsia's governor (2005-2010), was twice elected to the Verkhovna Rada, and joined the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction. Dombrovskyi is considered one of Petro Poroshenko's oldest political allies, although their business relationship remains a secret. Nevertheless, Dombrovskyi is one of the wealthiest residents of Vinnytsia, and his fortune is surrounded by numerous corruption scandals.
Oleksandr Dombrovsky and Petro Poroshenko understand each other perfectly.
In 2001, Dombrovsky was still only a city council member. However, he wielded enormous influence over both Mayor Vokhovsky, who ruled at the behest of the established clan, like a boyar tsar, and over Governor Yuri Ivanov and the chairman of the regional council. Igor Kaletnik (the future chief customs officer of Ukraine, the head of an entire corrupt familya). And, according to sources Skelet.OrgIt was Dombrovsky who pulled Vladimir Kistion out of the Yampol "backwater," brought him to the regional center, and lobbied for his appointment as head of Vinnytsia Vodokanal. From that moment, Kistion's Vinnytsia phase began, during which he rose not just to the rank of a high-ranking official but also became one of the "fathers of the mafia."
Fathers of the communal mafia
Was there really no prominent specialist in Vinnytsia capable of heading the water utility? This question remains open. According to various sources, Skelet.OrgVladimir Kistion owed his new career advancement not to any merits or even connections, but to yet another scam perpetrated by the "Vinnytsia gang," who needed a figurehead. Here's what happened: back in 1996-97, when the compliant Vladimir Vakhovsky served as chairman of the regional State Property Fund and then as deputy governor to Anatoly Matviyenko (a business partner of Dombrovsky), the gradual "privatization" of the Vinnytsia Lamp Factory, which had once employed 5 city residents (it was there that the popular Soviet electronic game "Wolf Catches Eggs" was manufactured), began. The factory was diligently run down for several years, and then they decided to put it in debt to pay their utility bills.
So, when Kistion was appointed head of Vinnytsia Vodokanal, the following scam took place. The plant was sued for 17 million hryvnias in unpaid utility bills, the majority of which was owed by the water utility, which had sharply raised its rates and refused to agree to payment deferments.
Then, like two people from a chest, the owners of the Crimean LLC "Aspect", Vitaly Khramov and Andrey Medyakov, emerged, offering to pay off this debt in exchange for shares and the plant's property (workshops, warehouses, and almost 36 hectares of land with its own park). On the basis of the plant, they created CJSC "Lampovy Zavod" and LLC "Vinnytsia Glass Container Plant", which never developed and closed back in 2007. And a year later, when Kistion transferred to the city council as deputy mayor (Volodymyr Groysman), the lamp factory officially ceased to exist – it was declared bankrupt. Now its ruins are being slowly dismantled for building materials and metal.
The Vinnytsia lamp factory was completely plundered
Stories like these allow us to examine the structure of the "Vinnytsia clan." Those directly involved in these schemes (Volodymyr Kistion, Reva, and Vakhovsky) were dependent on several influential business families (Dombrovsky and Groysman), who, in turn, were connected to families with high positions in Kyiv (Poroshenko and Matviyenko). Of course, the "Vinnytsia clan" isn't limited to the names mentioned above. Furthermore, the "Vinnytsia clan" isn't united; it consists of "neighboring families" who have their own puppets in various positions, their own "godfathers" in regional law enforcement, and their own "roof" in Kyiv. But in this case, Volodymyr Kistion and Reva are members of the Groysman family clan, and the Groysmans have always been connected to the Poroshenko family. Petro Oleksiyovych rose to power, bringing the Groysman family clan to Kyiv as well! But why Groysman and not, say, Dombrovsky? They say it stems from the long-standing close relationship between the heads of their families.
Oleksiy Ivanovich Poroshenko, patriarch of the presidential family
However, Dombrovsky and his people at Bankova are not forgotten either. For example, they call Dombrovsky's man Miroslava Sold - former deputy of the notorious Roman Nasirov, now the acting head of the State Fiscal Service. Moreover, Volodymyr Kistion was also Dombrovsky's protégé for a long time, until the latter appointed him as Volodymyr Groysman's deputy. So he may still remain Dombrovsky's man within the Groysman family.
So, Volodymyr Kistion was so diligent in fulfilling his responsibilities that he remained at the helm of Vinnytsia Vodokanal until 2008, when he was promoted. However, his only "reforms" in this position were regular tariff increases, the imposition of water meters on city residents (and fees for their verification), and a complete lack of information about the actual cost of wastewater treatment. The latter, however, is characteristic of almost all water utilities in Ukraine. However, only in Vinnytsia were the utilities dubbed by local residents a "municipal mafia," with Volodymyr Kistion considered one of the "fathers." And this wasn't just about tariff manipulation and the millions of hryvnias lost in the depths of the Vinnytsia sewer system.
For example, in 2008, the Vinnytsia water utility pulled off a serious scam with its land: it withdrew part of the territory (a protected area) from use and then, through the city council and Mayor Volodymyr Groysman, distributed the land for development. Kistion himself received a very respectable house as a souvenir from this scam, which stands out sharply from the surrounding buildings.
"Khatynka" of Kistion
But it was a complete scam: the plot beneath the house was allocated to Yuriy Pindyk, a simple driver for the Vinnytsia City Council. Pindyk's daughter, Lyudmila Lysiuk, received the plot next to it. One could only be happy for this hard-working driver, who spent his entire life chauffeuring bosses, if not for one oddity. While Lysiuk's own house was built on the plot, Vladimir Kistion built the house on Pindyk's plot, registering it in the name of his son. Pindyk himself claims to have sold the plot—he just can't remember when, to whom, or for how much (it turns out drivers have multiple sclerosis, not just hemorrhoids!), even though the plot is still listed in his name in the land registers and cadastres. This is how the top guys in the "Vinnytsia crew" skillfully pretend to live on one salary: the house belongs to their son, and the plot beneath it belongs to someone else. No prosecutor can find fault!
Incidentally, speaking of construction, it's worth remembering that one of Vinnytsia's most active developers was Oleksandr Dombrovsky, first during his tenure as mayor (2002-2005) and then as governor of the region (2005-2010). His companies weren't always the ones responsible for the development, but Dombrovsky often held a stake in others' companies, sometimes reaching up to 50%. In exchange, he provided a full "service," from land allocation to resolving any issues, and also offered various "discounts." One such "discount" was the installation of water and sewer lines without delays or additional "markups"—which was achieved by a phone call from Dombrovsky to Kistion, head of the water utility.
Same with Skelet.Org There is information that, while he was the head of Vinnytsia Vodokanal, Vladimir Kistion helped Dombrovsky bankrupt and literally plunder a former chemical plant, destroy the once famous Vinnytsia shoe factory (it was converted into the Sky Park shopping center), and also resolve certain issues related to the expansion of the Nasha Ryaba poultry farm chain in the region, in which Dombrovsky had (and possibly still has) a stake.
And so, in 2008, while still governor of the region, Dombrovskyi appointed his protégé Kistion as his deputy (first acting, then acting), and from 2011, as first deputy mayor—a position Volodymyr Groysman had held since 2006. It seems the Groysman family had no objections, since in 2005, when he took over as governor, Dombrovskyi effectively handed over his mayoral seat to Groysman Jr., a move that involved serious intrigue and a veritable coup within the city council. Such are the traditions of "Vinnytsia-style democracy," raising serious doubts about the possibility of a fair presidential election in 2019!
Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Org
CONTINUED: Vladimir Kistion: Secrets of the "Vinnytsia Court." Part 2
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