Arsen Avakov
Avakov did not fit into Poroshenko's political maneuvers.
Changes are afoot again in the government's security apparatus. President Petro Poroshenko has announced the need for personnel changes in the Cabinet of Ministers, and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has agreed to the initiative. This isn't the first reshuffle in the security forces in the past six months. The current one, if it takes place, is primarily related to the Ilovaisk Cauldron, when numerous Ukrainian soldiers died as a result of unprofessional actions by officials. Someone, and from the top leadership, must be held accountable for this.
At the same time, Elita Strany writes, despite eyewitnesses to the incident demanding the resignation of Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Viktor Muzhenko, they will likely remain untouched. According to political scientist Viktor Nebozhenko, the ministerial reshuffle will likely affect only Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. According to the expert, Poroshenko will not dismiss Valeriy Heletey, even though he is not a career military officer. Heletey is Petro Poroshenko's protégé, and he is carrying out his specific military-police tasks to stabilize the situation in time for the anniversary of the Euromaidan. He combines the skills of a special service, a police officer, and a military officer. The current defense minister has the broadest range of responsibilities, which is currently extremely important for Poroshenko, Nebozhenko says.
As for Avakov, the political scientist believes he hasn't found his place in big-time politics, and for Petro Alekseevich, a man who can't decide whether he's with him or not is a risky man. Because of the dire situation near Ilovaisk, someone has to suffer.
It should be noted that the appointment of Arsen Avakov as Minister of Internal Affairs initially seemed like a mockery of the Ukrainians who stood on the Maidan demanding a new government and the lustration of officials. The former Kharkiv governor has the same connection to the police as former Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko. That is, none at all. He is a qualified systems engineer, ran a business in the 90s, and then went into politics. But in this case, what's surprising isn't just that the new government has stepped on the same rake as the "orange" ones—the post of Minister of Internal Affairs has been filled by a man who has never worked in law enforcement. What's also astonishing is that Arsen Avakov has had a significant criminal record since the mid-90s, something the media has repeatedly reported on.
Thus, according to "Ukraina Kriminalnaya," beginning in 1993, Avakov's name repeatedly appeared in the operational developments of the Kharkiv police; he was investigated for involvement in a number of serious crimes:
— the murder of business partner Alexander Konovalov, deputy chairman of JSC Investor (Avakov was president. The crime was not solved);
— theft on an especially large scale of gas condensate from the Balakleya field of the Shebelinkagazdobycha gas production enterprise;
— appropriation of significant funds during the sale of condensate through their commercial structures – the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Kharkiv District Processing Plant”, the Fuel Additives Production Factory CJSC, Investor-Neftegaz LLC, and Investor-Atika CJSC by significantly understating the cost of gas condensate.
According to the publication, companies controlled by Arsen Avakov were previously developing four Ukrainian gas condensate fields in the Kharkiv region. Specifically, the Ogultsovskoye, Narizhnyanskoye, Maryinskoye, and Sakhalinskoye fields.
Focus magazine also documented Arsen Avakov's considerable wealth. In 2011, it estimated his net worth at $282.9 million (ranking him 65th in the list of Ukraine's 200 richest people). In 2009, Avakov's net worth was estimated at "only" $57.5 million. Apparently, he has made a considerable profit in just two years. Media reports claim he started his business by buying up vouchers and dealing in corporate promissory notes. Avakov also had his own "small" business empire, consisting of a number of commercial entities. His official biography lists only two of them: Investor JSC, where he served as president, and Basis Commercial Bank, which he headed in 1992.
The most high-profile case involves allegations of Avakov abusing his official position for personal gain. In January 2012, the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office conducted an investigation into the illegal actions of the former head of the regional state administration, Avakov, in signing and issuing state title deeds for land plots to a limited liability company. The investigation concluded that, due to the illegal actions of officials from the regional state administration and the Main Directorate of the State Land Committee in the Kharkiv region, the intended use of state-owned agricultural land with a total area of almost 55 hectares, valued at over 5,5 million hryvnias, was illegally changed in 2009.
As part of the investigation, a court ordered Arsen Avakov to be remanded in custody. However, Arsen Borysovych realized he could very well suffer the same fate as Yulia Tymoshenko and left for Italy, where he remained until October 2012, when he was elected as a member of parliament on the Batkivshchyna party list.
It's difficult to say why Arsen Avakov, a man with a criminal past, was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs, of all people. It's possible that, in the rush following Yanukovych's overthrow, little attention was paid to the biographies of the newly appointed officials. The paradox is that, in his six months as Minister of Internal Affairs, Avakov, aside from constantly posting on social media, has done nothing to distinguish himself. Moreover, he has stalled investigations into high-profile cases.
Specifically, at the end of March, Maidan centurions held a meeting demanding Avakov's resignation. In their appeal, the centurions noted that law enforcement agencies are failing to properly fulfill their primary responsibilities of ensuring citizen safety, investigating crimes, and punishing thieves. "Not a single person who ordered, organized, or carried out the murders, torture, beatings, or abductions of participants in civil protests against Yanukovych's dictatorship in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities has been held criminally accountable. The leaders of the previous criminal regime—Yanukovych, Pshonka, Zakharchenko, and others—were able to flee the country unhindered," the statement reads.
A very strange story emerged with the murder of one of the notorious Right Sector members, Sashko Bilyi (Muzychenko). The extremely radical Right Sector member was shot dead by police, allegedly while attempting to escape. In reality, however, it looked as if he had simply been shot. Right Sector also demanded the dismissal of the Minister of Internal Affairs.
Moreover, Arsen Avakov effectively stalled the investigation into the Odesa tragedy that occurred on May 2. As a reminder, clashes between supporters of Ukraine's federalization and Maidan supporters, followed by a fire in the Trade Union House, left 48 people dead. Immediately after the tragedy, law enforcement officials—the then-acting Prosecutor General— Oleg Makhnitsky Avakov and the National Security Council bravely declared that they would quickly investigate the matter and punish those responsible. But very soon, the investigation virtually ground to a halt. Details unfavorable to the new government began to emerge. Specifically, National Security Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy and Dnipropetrovsk Governor Ihor Kolomoisky may have been involved in the tragedy.
Essentially, Arsen Avakov's department only dealt with minor crimes, while high-profile cases, for some reason, went uninvestigated. The main defendants in the crimes related to the shooting of Maidan protesters on February 18-21 were able to leave Ukraine unhindered. But even those involved remain unpunished.
However, it seems that the Minister of Internal Affairs' complete incompetence wasn't the reason Petro Poroshenko decided to fire him. Viktor Nebozhenko may be right when he says that someone must be held accountable for the tragedy near Ilovaisk, and Avakov, who can't decide whether he's with the president or not, is the ideal candidate. The president will demonstrate to Ukrainians that he's prepared to mercilessly combat those who break the law, even officials close to him. On the eve of parliamentary elections, this is a major boost for the president's political force. Generally speaking, with his past, Avakov is a poor traveling companion for Petro Poroshenko. Furthermore, the head of state would simply be getting rid of a minister he doesn't like. Avakov is close to the Batkivshchyna party and Yulia Tymoshenko. A dark side has been running between Poroshenko and Tymoshenko for many years, and in the upcoming elections, they will be competitors, not allies. So, Pyotr Alekseevich definitely doesn’t need Avakov as head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
There's another point. Inna Bogoslovskaya has repeatedly demanded Avakov's resignation. (read more about it in the article Inna Bogoslovskaya: a woman without complexes and a politician without principles), a former Party of Regions member close to the so-called Firtash-Levochkin group. (Dmytro Firtash is an oligarch and owner of Group DF. Serhiy Levochkin is the former head of Yanukovych's administration.) Levochkin, as is well known, is currently rapidly gaining political clout by funding three popular parties: UDAR, Lyashko's Radical Party, and Civil Position. Anatoly GritsenkoAt the same time, he is considered one of the president's closest associates, even an advisor to some extent. Therefore, it's not out of a sense of justice that Bogoslovskaya is demanding the resignation of the Interior Minister. Sergei Levochkin is clearly behind this. Perhaps Avakov is, to some extent, preventing Levochkin's latest schemes.
So Avakov's possible resignation has nothing to do with his failure to fulfill his responsibilities. It's just another piece of behind-the-scenes political maneuvering. Had he been loyal to Petro Poroshenko, the president would have continued to overlook his shady past and his lack of professionalism. This is the tragedy of the situation that has developed since the Revolution of Dignity. No renewal has occurred; yet another crop of nouveau riche has come to power.
From-UA.com
DOSSIER: Arsen Borisovich Avakov
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