Igor Biletsky
Not long ago, a new chief security officer appeared in the Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office – Mr. Biletsky (the media sometimes incorrectly uses Beletsky). There are as many questions about his person as about the very fact of this official's appointment to this new high-ranking position. "Prokurorskaya Pravda" is confident that this should not be the case. After all, after the victory of the anti-corruption revolution in Ukraine, the internal security of the Prosecutor's Office should have been handled by a person who has been chronically purged, preferably since childhood. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Igor Alfredovich's past is surely marked by a long, foul-smelling trail of events and scandals.
The treacherous declaration
It's best to begin an introduction to the new head of the Internal Security Directorate of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine with a rhetorical question. Do you think an honest prosecutor could declare the following information in his income declaration: a salary of UAH 9,633, while owning UAH 1 million in the "bank deposits, securities, and other assets" section, a 600-square-meter house, and a 3-liter Volkswagen.
The official's family is doing well, too: they earn 340 hryvnias (under "dividends, interest, and royalties"). They also own a modest 220-square-meter apartment. These are excerpts from Igor Alfredovich Biletsky's financial "confession" for 2011. Did Prosecutor General Yarema read it before appointing such a deputy, assistant, and confidant? Of course he did. And of course, he knows far more than journalists. Although they, too, are well aware of their new chief security officer's past antics. Moreover, Biletsky is now responsible not only for information leaks but also for personnel policy. Thanks to Yarema, Igor Alfredovich also became deputy head of the Main Directorate for Personnel and Support of the Prosecutor's Office. So who was ultimately appointed the prosecutor's security officer and personnel officer all rolled into one?
A former graduate of the Tax Service Academy, Igor Alfredovich first rose to prominence as Deputy Prosecutor of the Lviv Region. His far-from-minor role in a major corruption scheme was reported on by "Criminal Ukraine" and a number of online publications. Several articles, including "How Cop Nariychuk Protected Lviv Conversion Centers, Stealing Billions from Ukraine!", detail Mr. I.A. Biletsky's direct involvement in the "successful" operation of a conversion center in Western Ukraine. "The Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office and the prosecutor, Igor Alfredovich Biletsky, play a huge role (in the Center's activities – author), receiving a monthly 100,000 hryvnia bribe for the shadowy protection of this conversion center."
Another article, dedicated to the Center's activities, claimed that "the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office, represented by Deputy Regional Prosecutor I. Beletsky and Head of Department V. Brezdan, plays a particularly significant role in providing it with a "green corridor." It was our "hero," according to the media, who facilitated the "sale" of the criminal case opened against the defendants. Well, now the data from Igor Alfredovich's aforementioned declaration is beginning to answer the logical question: where, of course, did all these "lemons," houses, apartments, and dividends come from? But where did such a past lead him to this new high-ranking position?
Remove and...increase
In June, at the request of the Right Sector, an internal investigation was launched into Kyiv Prosecutor Mykola Herasymyuk. Ihor Biletsky, head of the Department for Human Rights, Combating Corruption, and Crime in Transport, popularly known as the "transport prosecutor," was removed from office. It might have seemed as if justice had prevailed, and that there was one less corrupt official in the government. After all, Ihor Alfredovich had already "distinguished himself" in his previous position. As is well known, he had slapped the capital's transport companies (primarily, of course, minibuses) with exorbitant fees. Moreover, this cunning official's appetites weren't limited to entrepreneurs; he actively pressured state oversight agencies, demanding that illegal inspections of transport companies be conducted on "his list." And now, with the arrival of Yarema, Ihor's star is rising again. The question arises: why and for what purpose? There aren't many clear theories, really.
Perhaps the most important one is that the Poroshenko-Yarema duo needs their own man, someone who will, on their orders, "cleanse" the ranks of the Prosecutor General's Office. Moreover, there's no question of involvement in corruption schemes or professional incompetence among potential dismissals. The key is dedication to the common cause. Simply put, Igor Alfredovich, in his role as security officer, has become both a punishing sword and a "fixer," distributing especially lucrative positions, and more. For example, thanks to Biletsky, the prosecutor of the Vradiyevsky district of Mykolaiv region, who was publicly fired for concealing a crime (everyone remembers the rape of a girl by police?), was reappointed deputy prosecutor of the neighboring Kryvoozersky district of the same region. So, anything can be agreed upon with Biletsky: there are no moral boundaries. Another example is the unexpected career rise of prosecutor Yan Strelyuk, appointed responsible for the Poltava region.
As we saw from his declaration three years ago, Igor Alfredovich was already far from poor. There's no doubt that his wealth will now increase exponentially. After all, Biletsky's signature on the appointment document to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine is now as necessary as the Prosecutor General's resolution. So, if you're so inclined, you now know which door to knock on—go straight to the new security officer at the Prosecutor General's Office.
But seriously, in connection with Biletsky's appointment, Prosecutor's Truth has the following questions for the Prosecutor General's Office leadership:
— How long will Mr. Yarema openly ignore open and publicly available information about the corruption of his appointees, such as our chronically ill-lustrated security officer?
— If, let's say, the information in open sources about I.A.'s past activities is not true, then why didn't he refute it?
— How many more Maidans are needed for people like Biletsky to be removed once and sent not to promotion, but to jail?
Prosecutor's Truth
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