The past year, 2014, was replete with dramatic events for our country and seemingly radical changes in Ukrainian politics. Until practically the last day of the year, intense negotiations continued between members of the parliamentary coalition over the adoption of the country's main financial document—the 2015 state budget, which none of the coalition members had ever seen. A month into the "renewed" Verkhovna Rada's tenure, it's time to reflect on who is who among the people's representatives and what future they are leading the Ukrainian people toward today.
I'd like to begin with the main "sensation" of the 2014 parliamentary elections – Samopomich, the party of Lviv's longtime mayor, Sadovyi. Indeed, having begun the campaign with just two percent of the ratings, the party overtook many Rada veterans. Samopomich's result was approximately 11%. The newcomers achieved their highest percentage in Kyiv – 21,4%. There, for the past decade, Yulia Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna party had dominated.
The Samopomich project was technologically built around what voters wanted to see these days. Not a single current or former deputy made it onto the party list. The emphasis was on new faces, people with no previous connection to politics. But that's only at first glance... Let's figure out just how new they are.
The Dark Side of Self-Help
Party leader Andriy Sadovyi himself has been repeatedly noted for his close ties to the Party of Regions, but for some reason, few remember this. For example, in 2011, he personally came to congratulate then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on his birthday and was one of the few who brought a gift book, personally presenting it to Yanukovych.
Episode two: in August 2011, during a visit to Lviv, former Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Party of Regions member Borys Kolesnikov, defending Sadovyi from attacks related to fraudulent road repairs in Lviv for Euro 2012, frankly stated, "We will not let anyone harm the mayor of Lviv." It's also worth remembering how Sadovyi secretly drove Kolesnikov around Lviv. They were later spotted on joint tours of Europe: flying to London together, then traveling to Italy, supposedly in search of some materials.
But, undoubtedly, the main media figures of "Samopomich" are the number two on the party list, the well-known commander of the volunteer battalion "Donbass" Semyon Semenchenko, aka Konstantin Grishin, and the 13th number on the list, Yegor Sobolev, the head of the lustration committee.
During the war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Semyon Semenchenko's identity has become mired in both speculation and actual lies. He is linked to the political and business interests of oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. Therefore, many experts agree that "Samopomich" is a slick front for the leadership of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration.
The media is also spreading controversial information about Yegor Sobolev. For example, it's been reported that Sobolev holds Russian citizenship, lacks a higher education, and is accused of orchestrating corrupt schemes to seize land.
Samopomich also has its own relatives on the list: number 31, Andrey Melnik, is the husband of the sister of the party’s number 10, the head of the Datagroup company, Alexander Danchenko.
Ivanyushchenko's trace in the Lviv mayor's party
The figure of number 15 on the list is also interesting – Ivan Miroshnichenko, little known to the public but extremely well-known in the grain trading community, which has no connection to the producers of the gross domestic product from the agro-industrial complex.
From the first days of his election as a people's deputy, Ivan Miroshnichenko and his colleagues from Samopomich began lobbying for the appointment of his former subordinate, Oleksiy Pavlenko, a partner at the private investment fund Pharus Assets Management, as Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food. Thus, the tradition of succession and placing "insiders" in key government positions, regardless of their professional qualifications, has not changed in Ukrainian politics.
But this isn't even the most important thing. What's important is that Ivan Miroshnichenko began his career as a government official as an advisor to the former Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Mykola Prysyazhnyuk of the Party of Regions, from 2009 to 2013. For nearly four years, the current Samopomich MP, under the supervision of his "family," oversaw the organization of the domestic grain market: the introduction of quotas and restrictions, exports and processing, and investments. He also played a role in securing the well-known loan from China for the development of Ukrainian agriculture, which has already been surrounded by numerous scandals regarding its non-fulfillment. The preparation and signing of contracts between the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine (SFGCU) and the Eximbank of China for the loan took place with the constant personal involvement of Ivan Miroshnichenko.
Even during the Party of Regions' rule, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Protection offered Ivan Miroshnichenko the position of head of the State Food and Agriculture Organization of Ukraine, but the financial demands put forward by Arbuzov and Prisyazhnyuk apparently did not suit him.
And now Ivan Miroshnechenko has the opportunity to personally "steer" Ukraine's agricultural sector, just as his "family" bosses once did. And he has plenty of experience, as his mentors, Prisyazhnyuk and Ivanushchenko, were professionals in embezzling public funds.
Incidentally, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi is also linked to Yuriy Ivanyushchenko (Yura Enakievsky), Yanukovych's supervisor in the agricultural sector.
Another embezzlement of state-owned agricultural companies under the leadership of Samopomich protégés
Immediately after the appointment of Oleksiy Pavlenko as Minister of Agriculture, Valeriy Tomilenko, another former subordinate of Ivan Miroshnichenko and a trusted friend and colleague from his time at the transnational companies Glencore and Cargill, was appointed acting chairman of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine.
Another new-old appointment in the top ranks of the State Food and Grain Company of Ukraine (SFGCU) is Oleksandr Martynenko, who can rightly be called a long-time companion of the State Joint-Stock Company "Khlib Ukrainy" (2004, 2006-2007, 2010-2011), and then of the State Food and Grain Company of Ukraine (SFGCU) (2011-2013) during the Party of Regions' rule. He began his career in agriculture as chief lawyer. He served at the State Joint-Stock Company "Khlib Ukrainy" in 2004 under the leadership of Viktor Bondarenko, a People's Deputy from the Party of Regions for several convocations and a loyal supporter and relative of Viktor Yanukovych. He also held leadership positions under Andriy Andriyevskyi, Oleksandr Lavrinchuk, Andriy Barsuk, and Ihor Yakubovych.
Today, Tomilenko is lobbying for the appointment of Yevhen Mylovanov, a fellow countryman from the village of Kichyntsi in the Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi district of the Cherkasy region, where they attended the same school, to the position of Chairman of the Supervisory Board of PJSC GPZKU. But most importantly, Tomilenko and Mylovanov come from the same commercial entity – PrJSC Ukrzernoimpex, which at one time was involved in collecting trumped-up multimillion-dollar debts from the state joint-stock company Khlib Ukrainy and later initiated the bankruptcy of the long-suffering state grain monopoly.
But the main "gift" for the thousands-strong SFGKU staff for the New Year of 2015 was the news of the return to leadership of Oleksandr Gapon and several directors from the Yakubovich era—Cheglotov, Sychev, Badiula, and others—who had already been interviewed by the new management of the State Corporation. Gapon is a prominent representative of the Yenakiyevo wing of the "family," the right-hand man of another notorious SFGKU leader during the Yanukovych era, Petro Gogol, who was once implicated in a case involving the embezzlement of funds from the Ukrspetsexport State Corporation.
Source: operational information Message text: Date: 05/22/2002
The criminal group that embezzled funds from the UKRSPETSEXPORT group of companies included Yu. B. Gruver, Yu. V. Ivanushchenko, P. N. Gogol, I. V. Podtynny, and R. Yu. Romanenko. Romanenko and Podtynny were the perpetrators of the theft. Podtynny is an "authority" in the city of Yenakiyevo. The purpose and intent of the crime belonged to Podtynny and Gruver, while Romanenko was offered the role of the perpetrator because he had previously borrowed a large sum of money from Podtynny and Ivanushchenko for "work." However, the latter later spent a large sum of money on furniture and jewelry. He also purchased an apartment. They spent most of the money on casino gambling. Romanenko was offered the role of the perpetrator to embezzle the money in order to repay Podtynny and Ivanushchenko.
THE CRIMINAL GROUP OWNS AND SUPPORTS THE FOLLOWING ENTERPRISES: - "NIK-LTD" (DONETSK), "UKRAINE-ISRAEL" (DONETSK), "DEKA-SERVIS" (DONETSK), "LBN CONSULTING" (DONETSK), "CONSTANTA" (DONETSK), "GARANT" (YENAKIEVO), 'UKRKHLEB' (YENAKIEVO), CHPE "KONTI" (YENAKIEVO), "GORNYAK" (DONETSK), "DION" (DONETSK). "ANTEY" (DONETSK), LLC "CENTER", CAFE "TSENTRALNOE" (YENAKIEVO), SHASHLYCHNA "TRI PESKARYA" (YENAKIEVO). THESE COMPANIES ARE MANAGED BY IVANYUSHCHENKO, PODTINNY, ROMANENKO, GOGOL, AND GRUVER. AT THE SAME TIME, CHPE "KONTI" IS ENGAGED IN LARGE-SCALE CONVERSION OF MONEY FOR ITS PURPOSES IN JSB "DONKREDITINVESG", DIRECTOR P.N. GOGOL.
It was Gapon who established a system of extortion and kickbacks from the directors of the Corporation's branches—elevators and grain processors. In anticipation of the arrival of this "incompetent manager," the teams at the GPZKU branches began preparing for protests that could become the precursor to a third Maidan.
Seeing only people from Yanukovych's inner circle, the Azarovs, Arbuzovs, and Prisyazhnyuks, in lucrative government positions, and understanding who brought them to power today, the people will demand an answer...
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