HOT ANTICORRUPTION NEWS / Issue #117
September 27, 2019
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Today's issue:
- Ukraine in the middle of the U.S. internal debate: debunking false statements;
- important personnel news;
- update on Nasirov's case;
- worrying news from the Healthcare Ministry;
- the night on Bankova street once again
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Ukraine in the middle of the U.S. internal debate: debunking false statements
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Over a week, Ukraine made it to the headlines of all key world media outlets. There is a number of speculations and misinterpretation of facts which we would like to debunk and rebut.
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1. Shokin was fired as he was very tough on the investigation against Burisma company, where Biden's son was on the Board of Directors
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Actually, vice versa. This was the PGO under the management of Vitaliy Yarema, Viktor Shokin and Yuriy Lutsenko that was systematically dumping criminal proceedings against Burisma, company owned by former Ecology Minister Mykola Zlochevsky. Back in March 2019, we wrote a detailed article about all criminal cases against Burisma for the Kyivpost and also updated our analytical brief, this info is still relevant.
2. Shokin was a good prosecutor
In July 2015, together with other NGOs we started to demand the resignation of the then Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, because of his corruption, attacks on reformers and failure to investigate corruption of Yanukovych allies. Shokin opened a criminal case against reformers in his office, who were investigating senior prosecutors' corruption at the PGO.
In addition, Shokin has tons of luxurious real estate in Ukraine and in Prague - most of it is undeclared and officially owned by his secret wife. Shokin could not afford all this luxury for his official salary. This was revealed in 2016 by Schemy journalists.
Also, journalists revealed on September 27, 2019, that Shokin made a statement to help Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash to avoid justice in the U.S.
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3. Lutsenko was a good prosecutor
Not at all. And that is why in May 2019, 20 Ukrainian NGOs filed a submission to U.S. OFAC requesting to sanction him for gross violations of human rights, sabotage of reforms, corruption and obstruction of justice.
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It was Yuriy Lutsenko who dragged Ukraine into U.S. internal debates by having provided impartial and manipulated information since March 2019. First, we fact-checked his false statements, later he himself admitted there was no 'list of Amb Yovanovitch'. Also, in May 2019 he informed there was 'no evidence of wrongdoing by Bidens'.
4. AntAC is a Soros-funded non-profit
AntAC was founded in 2011 by Vitaliy Shabunin and Daria Kaleniuk. Since 2012 it were the EU, the UK, USAID, Dutch and Czech Embassies, Global Fund, OSF projects who funded us. In 2018 more than 500 Ukrainians donated to AntAC.
AntAC is being under a huge defamation campaign. Israeli private intelligence company PSY group was hired to intimidate AntAC in 2017.
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Recommended reading on the topic:
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Prosecutor General Ruslan Riaboshapka dismissed two deputies - Sergiy Kiz (on the left) and Yuriy Stoliarchuk (on the right). Both of them worked with Lutsenko. Kiz was leading a scandalous operation of the PGO and SBU which resulted in disruption of NABU undercover operation and disclosure of network of NABU secret agents back in November 2017.
Stoliarchuk was also the Head of Main Investigative Department. Thus, he was responsible for numerous failures of PGO’s investigations. Reportedly, he hindered the investigations in so-called Maidan cases. As a result of conflict, the Head of Special Investigative Department Serhiy Horbatiuk was reprimanded and risked dismissal. Stoliarchuk was also in charge of the persecution of PGO reformers David Sakvarelidze and Vitaliy Kasko after “diamond prosecutors” case.
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Volodymyr Kryvenko, Kholodnytskyi's scandalous deputy at the Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office resigned. Earlier, we reported a number of criminal cases which Kryvenko dumped together with Kholodnytskyi.
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The Government appointed Anton Herashchenko, former Narodnyi Front MP and Avakov's long-standing advisor and ally, as deputy interior minister. This raises serious doubts of whether Avakov indeed was left in the ministry temporarily, as it was announced after the voting for the Government in the Parliament.
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President's office informed that the Secretary of National Defense and Security Council Oleksandr Danyliuk filed a resignation. Media report that such decision of Danyliuk was caused among other things by his conflicts with the head of the President's Office Andriy Bohdan.
Recently, Schemy journalists made an investigation about Bohdan's work in Azarov's government (English version).
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The Supreme Court cancelled the rulings of District Administrative Court of Kyiv (OASK) and the Appeals Court, which earlier have decided that Nasirov played a purely ceremonial role while signing unlawful postponement of 2 billion UAH tax payments for the companies of
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the ranaway MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko. The decision is not appealable and eliminates the obstacles for the criminal trial against Nasirov.
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Worrying news from the Healthcare Ministry
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Ministry's team informs about the unprecedented political pressure which is being put on professional public servants. They report that for almost a month, all policy-making processes have been suspended. Full text.
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Activists once again gathered for the night on Bankova street to remind about the lack of fair investigations
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Today, on September 27, “The Night on Bankova Street. Here we go again” rally is taking place in front of the President’s Office.
A year has passed since activists, NGOs, media and concerned citizens took part in the peaceful “The Night on Bankova Street” rally in front of President Poroshenko's administration demanding the fair and transparent investigation of the attacks on activists. They have put together the so-called “Handzyuk list” - 55 most violent attacks and killings of civic activists that have happened since the beginning of 2017. Unfortunately, almost all of them are still unresolved.
During the peaceful rally, activists commemorated all victims of violent attacks and called on the new authorities to ensure justice and fair punishment for the attackers and those who stood behind attacks. Some international partners joined the call.
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