Hleb Kanevsky — Friday, April 14, 2017, 11:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m.
Various “schemes” remain the business card of the concern “Ukroboronprom” even after three years of war. And although the giant’s purchases are actually closed from the eyes of the public , fresh criminal cases raise the curtain a little. Under the new, seemingly successful management, state funds are being laundered from the once powerful armored, aircraft and machine-building factories through fictitious one-day offices.
Moreover, the general situation is complicated by the inaction of higher authorities and nepotism , which has blossomed in the concern in a new way.
Kirovohrad envelope, Kurchenko’s office and Rosbiz
At the end of February of this year, the investigators of the Obukhiv police in the Kyiv region were granted the right to seize the documents of the unremarkable local LLC “Firmy “Power” through a court order.
The course of the court case actually revealed the details of how money is withdrawn from defense plants. It is rather suspicious that well-known state-owned enterprises, as if on command from above, conclude contracts with dubious businessmen who are mired in criminal cases.
Read also
“Power” is a qualified supplier of the concern “Ukroboronprom” – that is, it has passed a complex check of the security service of the concern regarding the availability of resources, experience and personnel.
During 2014-2016, a number of flagship state-owned plants – namely Kyiv Armored Plant, Antonov Aircraft Plant , Zhulyansk Machine-Building VIZAR , Konotop-based ” Aviakon ” and the capital’s ” Arsenal ” (subordinate to the State Space Agency – UP) – paid money to the Firm “Power” for the supply of goods and material values for the needs of the defense complex. And “Power” already transferred money for goods to a whole galaxy of other companies that did not have production, personnel, equipment, and so on.
According to police investigators, Obukhov businessmen embezzled more than 3.3 million hryvnias through fictitious trade with the concern . And this is only according to official preliminary calculations.
The list of “Power” suppliers is quite eloquent.
For example, “Softpro-Trading” and “Softpro-Technology” are two companies that appear simultaneously in the criminal case regarding the purchase of bulletproof vests and helmets by the Ministry of Defense from the Temp-3000 enterprise in 2014. Then the Ministry overpaid an extra 23.2 million hryvnias of VAT, which should not have been paid due to the exemption of importers of goods for the needs of the ATO from this tax.
According to the military prosecutor’s office, “Temp-3000” was paid for components with a number of companies that conducted fictitious activities and were used to convert budget money into cash with the money received from the budget.
The director of “Investbud Soyuz” LLC , another partner of “Firm “Power”, generally gave an explanation that he had nothing to do with “Investbud”.
LLC “Grant Time” is also of interest , which is mentioned in several criminal cases, in particular as an intermediate link in Kurchenko’s “scheme” for dispersing 146 million hryvnias earned during 2012-2015 from the supply of gas to the Kharkiv Heat Networks utility company.
During the Kharkiv criminal proceedings, the “director” of “Grant Time” also admitted that he did not manage the company.
In general, most of the “Power” partners illuminated on open platforms have three characteristic features:
1) or created in 2014,
2) or appear in various roles in criminal proceedings,
3) or the tax office did not find them at the official registration addresses. And these are mainly industrial zones, sleeping areas and the private sector.
Fictitious works for 3.3 million hryvnias.
according to the calculations of SBU investigators
| “Power” LLC made further purchases of goods from the following companies that do not have personnel and production facilities | |
| “Informer Torg” LLC | Founded in 2014. He appears as a member of the convert center in several different Crimean proceedings |
| LLC “Weststroy” | was formed in 2014, the capital is UAH 100. |
| LLC “Link State” | was formed in December 2013. |
| “SigmusSolutions” LLC | was formed in October 2013 |
| “Solutis” LLC | formed in 2014, appears in the Crimea. in the case of embezzlement of funds of the Zhytomyr Armored Corps |
| LLC “Balanar “ | was established in 2014, has a joint director with “Solutis” |
| LLC “Softpro-Trading”LLC “Softpro-Technology” | The companies belong to one citizen, Markov. According to the mass media, they are part of the so-called group of Kirovohrad “envelopes”.Figured in the Crimea. in the case of money laundering of the Ministry of Defense money spent on bulletproof vests in 2014. |
| “Investbud Soyuz” LLC | The director testified that he had nothing to do with this company |
| Grant Time LLC | appears in the Crimea. tax evasion case (includes the so-called Kurchenko group”) |
If the first “scheme” allows the withdrawal of money from state-owned factories, then the second – to avoid paying taxes by the same factories – with a high probability that in the future the saved money will be converted into cash through a chain of fictitious companies.
Valery Zemliany, director of Vika-Trade LLC conducts active trade with Ukroboronprom factories
OK.RU
A vivid example: a person involved in criminal cases of “Vika-Trade” LLC.
Since 2015, the owner and director of the company is citizen Valery Zemliany, who, at the same time, is the owner and director of 9 other companies of various specializations scattered throughout Ukraine.
As can be seen from the criminal cases, the Mykolaiv Armored Plant during 2014-15 overpaid for the goods of LLC “Vika-Trade” and LLC “Spetsbudsupplies” .
Therefore, by overestimating the VAT tax credit, he avoided paying taxes in the amount of 1.7 million hryvnias.
In the same period, another giant, the Zhytomyr Armored Plant , also bought goods at inflated prices from “Vika Trade” and a dozen other companies “with surprises”.
Saikhan Tamarilaev, the owner of “Pacific 2” trades in Moscow spare parts for ZIL, GAZ and URAL VK.COM
In particular, LLC “Partner Center LTD” came to light in another criminal case as a client of the tax minimization envelope center.
Is “Pacific 2” LLC of a little-known Moscow businessman from Moscow, Saikhan Tamarilaev.
“Pacific 2” got into the columns of criminal publications after the sentence of the ex-director of another armored plant, Lviv, who received a suspended sentence for official negligence.
Specifically, the plant paid “Pacifica” more than 2 million hryvnias for the alleged repair of tank engines before sending them to the ATO, which was done mainly on paper, not in tanks.
Collective irresponsibility during war
Ukroboronprom factories are frequent guests of the corruption chronicle .
Looking through the register of court decisions, a simple and at the same time critical question arises: how did it happen that strategic enterprises during the war are protected from public control, but not protected from businessmen?
The answer lies in the history of the creation of the concern, as well as in the political personalities who are currently “looking after” the defense economy.
It all started in 2010, when the then Prime Minister Mykola Azarov created the concern “Ukroboronprom” , under whose management he brought enterprises from various ministries. Opponents of that reform emphasized that it was created deliberately in order to concentrate the resources of hundreds of factories under one head, and thus facilitate the management of corruption flows.
A similar thesis is confirmed by the pyramid of control over “Ukroboronprom” , which actually concentrates all the power over the concern in the hands of the President of Ukraine and the general director of the concern dependent on him.
The main bodies of the concern are the Supervisory Board, the board of directors of enterprises, the general director and auditors of the concern. By authority, the board of directors is a strategic body that, for example, develops investment plans. The Supervisory Board and the CEO are really influential.
Among the key functions of the Supervisory Board, it is worth highlighting:
– control over the activities of the concern;
– appointment of auditors of the concern;
– initiation of audits and other checks in the concern;
– a submission regarding the prosecution of officials of the concern.
In theory, the Supervisory Board is independent due to an imaginary political balance – because three members of the board are appointed by the president, two more by the cabinet of ministers. However, in the realities of Ukraine, independence is leveled.
According to the president’s quota, the members of the Supervisory Board were appointed back in 2014 by the country’s interim leader Oleksandr Turchynov . No government candidates were submitted from the Cabinet of Ministers under either Yatsenyuk or Groysman. Three votes were enough for the council to somehow make a decision.
And since the end of last year, the council has been completely illegal – in October 2016, Serhii Pashynskyi took over the mandate . Thus, the proceedings of the council ended.
And so, on April 11, 2017, it became known that the Cabinet of Ministers had decided to promote the President’s people to the Supervisory Board of Ukroboronprom again .
In fact, while Poroshenko and Groysman were inactive and did not form a new council, they directly played along with only one person – the general director of the concern.
The general director of the concern has unlimited powers in the absence of the Supervisory Board. Among which it is worth highlighting:
– appointment and dismissal of own deputies;
– appointment and dismissal of managers of the concern’s enterprises;
– submission of a proposal to the Supervisory Board of the Concern regarding candidacies of auditors of the concern;
– monitoring of the concern’s financial activities;
– ensuring annual audits of the concern;
– control over the activities of the concern.
Kherson clan
In July 2014, President Petro Poroshenko appointed Roman Romanov from Kherson to the position of general director . The latter is connected with the country’s helmsman by a long-standing business and political friendship.
At one time, top manager Romanov headed the election headquarters of Poroshenko’s presidential candidate. Since 2003, he has been the official dealer of Poroshenko’s “Bohdan” corporation in the Kherson region.
From the first days of Romanov’s tenure, the concern’s PR service followed three lines in the media. First: Romanov and his team are high-class managers of the international level. Second: “Ukroboronprom” is being actively purged of corrupt plant directors. And the third: the concern significantly improved its own financial balance, actively develops state-of-the-art equipment and develops new foreign markets.
But, there are several “buts”.
These are regular criminal corruption cases. And also cronyism with signs of nepotism, which the PR people cannot hide. By the way, Romanov’s team is quite philosophical about criminal proceedings. He said, “no sentences – no violations.”
As has been discussed in the press more than once, key positions in the concern under Romanov were occupied by several people from Kherson. It:
Artur Kheruvimov , Deputy General Director for Development. Responsible for the financial and economic direction.
Volodymyr Kostrytskyi , Deputy General Director. Polished in 2014 from the ranks of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Specialist in countering conversion centers.
Kostrytskyi replaced Serhiy Pinkas , ex-vice-mayor of Tsyurupinsk, Kherson Oblast. In July 2016, Pinkas took over the management of Mykolaiv port. The name of subordinate Romanov became known throughout the country after the then Minister of Economy Aivaras Abromavicius announced in early 2016 that he was resigning due to pressure from the president’s old friend Ihor Kononenko. The latter allegedly forced Pinkas to be the deputy in charge of defense .
In July 2015, Serhiy’s father, Volodymyr Pinkas, won the “Ukroboronprom” competition and took the position of director of the Kherson State Plant “Palada”, where the world’s largest floating docks are created on reinforced concrete pontoons. Before his appointment, Volodymyr Pinkas managed the administration of the penitentiary service in the Kherson region.
A month ago, the Zhytomyr Armored Plant was headed for the second time in two years by another manager from Kherson, Mykhailo Mosin , who previously managed the utility company “Khersonelectrotrans”. The first time was in 2015, but the media brought up the topic of Mosin’s criminal cases , because of which the latter left.
Lubomyr Ferens, “Investigation-info” HROMADSKERADIO.ORG
The investigator cites several successes of managers from Kherson: “Mykhailo Mosin and Artur Kheruvimov are former business partners.
In 2009, Kheruvimov, as its director, along with the chief accountant, were prosecuted for income tax evasion.
Journalist Lubomyr Ferens was the first in his materials to come to the conclusion that Ukroboronprom is ruled by a “clan”.
Mosin is known in his small homeland for the fact that in 2014, as the director of the Khersonelectrotrans utility company, he was convicted of forging documents to pay for non-existent repairs to a private company.”
Instead of conclusions
Without the Supervisory Board, full responsibility for Ukroboronprom rests with General Director Romanov Romanov.
As long as President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman do not appoint their own members to the Supervisory Board, they will together with Romanov bear political responsibility for “schemes” at state factories.
And it seems that responsibility will be shared for a long time to come. After all, as explained in the government, the involvement of the public in the work of the Supervisory Board is currently being developed, and the Ministry of Economy is preparing drafts of relevant regulatory acts, which, as you know, can take years.
Ukroboronprom refused official comments on why factories sign agreements with dubious firms. They only indicated in the response to the information request that the independent auditing firm “UPK-Audit Ltd” LLC audited the annual financial statements of the Concern for 2014-2016, and assured that they are closely cooperating with law enforcement agencies.
As public control over the economic activities of the Concern, “Ukroboronprom” offered to monitor the System of transparent electronic tenders, which the State Concern launched ” as the first among Ukrainian state-owned companies in October 2014 “. The answer also states that it made it possible to save more than 892 million hryvnias: ” Open tenders make it possible to eliminate corruption risks, ensure public control over the use of defense funds, attract reliable and responsible suppliers, and purchase goods and services at the most favorable prices . “
On all other issues, the press service of the Concern referred to the “secret of the investigation” regarding the materials of law enforcement agencies, so it cannot provide comments on the existing investigations. I just noticed that not all the enterprises listed in the request are part of the DC “Ukroboronprom”.
In private conversations, representatives of the concern stick to the thesis: if there are no verdicts in court cases, then the violations have not been proven. And the attack of the law enforcement officers is all oppression by various political groups that want to take control of the director of the concern.
However, this line of defense has two significant drawbacks. First, Romanov is the president’s man, who personally controls a number of law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, and part of the parliament. And secondly, fictitious signs of companies with which, as if by order, a number of state factories concluded agreements.
All this gives reason to think that the “schemes” were organized precisely in the central office of “Ukroboronprom”.
However, the stories given in the text are only the tip of the iceberg that can be seen in the register of court decisions. Of course, it is naive to think that the president is personally behind the abuses. Most likely, the director of the concern, taking advantage of the loyalty of the first person of the state, built his own inefficient control system in “Ukroboronprom”, including due to cronyism and the absence of an independent Supervisory Board.
Only two people can fundamentally change the situation in the concern – President Petro Poroshenko and his political partner, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.
Factories, the central office of Ukroboronprom and their contractors must undergo an independent audit to weed out corrupt directors and fictitious companies.
And the law enforcement agencies should receive a clear signal from the commander-in-chief that the criminal cases surrounding the concern should be accelerated in order to punish all the organizers of the “schemes” according to the law.
Gleb Kanevsky, “Eidos” Center, specially for UP
The investigation was carried out as part of the project of the Center for Local Self-Government “Without Corruption” with the financial support of the program initiative “Democratic Practice” of the International Foundation. Topics:
Ukroboronprom Poroshenko criminal
Newsessentials Blog 
Posted on June 26, 2024
0