Top officials secretly meet with entrepreneurs, despite Zelenskyi's promise - Schemes
photo: Schemes
Senior officials continue to hold private meetings with influential businessmen, despite President Volodymyr Zelenskyi's promise of transparent relations between the government and big business.
Several such meetings are discussed in the second part of the investigation of the "Schemes: Corruption in Details" program.
On November 13, Scheme reporters noticed a security car of the Privat informal group, which accompanied BMW on its way out of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Later, the motorcade drove into the underground parking lot of Ihor Kolomoiskyi's office. In a comment to Schemes, the oligarch confirmed he had a meeting with Interior Minister Arsen Avakov: "We drank coffee; we haven't seen each other for a long time. No business."
On October 21, another entrepreneur and representative of the Privat informal group, Mykhailo Kiperman, met with the Chairperson of the Naftogaz Board Andrii Koboliev at the Hyatt Hotel.
According to journalists, two weeks after this meeting, the Verkhovna Rada voted in favor of a draft law that would repay Ukrnafta's tax debts by 30.35 billion hryvnias.
Koboliev said he could not comment on meetings of "this kind," stressed that he was obliged to negotiate with various groups of people, but noted that all meetings on this issue (Ukrnafta's debt, – ed.) were concluded with representatives of the Ukrnafta group a few months ago."
Meanwhile, Kolomoiskyi commented on his colleague's meeting with Koboliev: "They definitely did not deal with the issues of repaying this debt. It's beyond Kiperman's competence." He also praised the draft law.
Journalists note, Mykhailo Kiperman was a member of the Ukrnafta supervisory board until 2017, and until 2015 control over the company belonged to oligarch Kolomoiskyi, whose structures own about 40% of the company.
Schemes regularly recorded arriving cars and other business people to law enforcement. Three times they saw a businessman, a friend of Kharkiv Mayor Hennadiy Kernes, Pavel Fuks, in the company of another businessman and freelance adviser to Minister Avakov, Ihor Kotvitskyi.
On June 18, businessman Illia Pavliuk visited the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The media links him to influencing customs and forming a controlled group within the Servant of the People party. And on November 5, Scheme journalists recorded Pavliuk visiting the President's Office.
On November 17, another businessman, Borys Kaufman, whose involvement in the alienation of Odesa airport had previously been investigated by NABU, also visited, and the Antimonopoly Committee suspected his tobacco distribution company, Tedis, of "anti-competitive actions."
On May 7, his car was also spotted near the Cabinet. And on June 16, as recorded by Schemes, he was on the territory of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Journalists also report that a man similar to Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Strategic Industries Oleh Uruskyi came to Kaufman's office on November 17, and a deputy mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, visited on November 19.
As Schemes noticed, he was in the company of Ihor Kotvitskyi at the exit and got into a car used by a business partner of the Avakov family.
Schemes inquired about such visits of officials to business representatives at the President's Office. They answered that "the President of Ukraine and the Head of the Office of the President did not meet with the mentioned persons on these days (business people Illia Pavliuk and Borys Kaufman, ed.). According to them, they were completely absent from the Office on November 17.
"President Volodymyr Zelenskyi always keeps his promises. His relations with representatives of Ukrainian and international business are honest and transparent. We cover all important meetings of the head of state or the leadership of the Office of the President with representatives of the business community. There are no night visits and behind-the-scenes arrangements," Schemes were told.
