"Double evil." Scandal around Ukroboronprom and presidential elections

What are the consequences for the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, who claims to be a second term as the head of state, will the accusations of his immediate environment of corruption?

The closer than March 31 - the date of presidential elections in Ukraine, the more scandals arise around the leading candidates for the post of head of state. According to recent public opinion polls, the presidential rating is still headed by the showman, the leader of the party "Servant of the people" Vladimir Zelensky. The second and third line, changing in various hundreds of places, are occupied by the current president Petro Poroshenko and the head of the Fatherland Party Yulia Tymoshenko, and the leader of the “civil position” Anatoly Gritsenko and the representative of the “opposition platform” - for the life of Yuri Boyko, share the fourth and fifth places.

The war of compromises that unfolded at the final stage of the election marathon is designed to hit the ratings and the reputation of the main contenders for the presidential chair. Now the answer to the question of which of them will be able to reach the inevitable second round of elections is becoming more unpredictable.

Ukroboronprom and Gladkovsky-Svinarchuki

The most high -profile was the election corruption scandal around Ukroboronprom - a state concern uniting multidisciplinary enterprises of various sectors of the defense industry of Ukraine.

On February 25, Bihus.info journalists in the television program “Our Money with Denis Bigus” released the first part of the investigation about theft in Ukroboronprom hundreds of millions of hryvnias, allegedly migrated from the budget in the pockets of people close to Poroshenko. The basis for the investigation was, according to journalists, an anonymous letter received in the fall of 2018 with the archive of the correspondence of the participants of this scam.

A week later, the President of Ukraine fired from the post of First Deputy Secretary of the Council of National Security and Defense, the chief person involved in a flared scandal, his long-time business partner Oleg Gladkovsky, and the anti-corruption bodies began their investigation.

It is known that during the early presidential elections in 2014, Gladkovsky bore a different surname - Svinarchuk and headed the headquarters of Poroshenko in the Cherkasy region. After the victory, the new president mobilized his business partners in power, and Svinarchuk received the post of head of the interdepartmental commission for the policy of military-technical cooperation and export control. Svinarchuk began his career in power with a change of surname: he became Gladkovsky, taking his mother’s girlish name. On February 7, 2015, the president appointed Gladkovsky First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, leaving him control over weapons export.

The protest of the participants of the National Corps under the slogan of Svinarchuk and Poroshenko - to prison! ". Kyiv, March 2019

According to a journalistic investigation, it was four years ago that the son of Gladkovsky, Igor, along with partners, established secret supplies to Ukroboronprom at that time of Russian -made spare parts for several times overpriced prices. The defendants in the investigation bought spare parts for military equipment not only among Russian smugglers, but also in the warehouses of the Ukrainian armed forces. In order to sell their state-owned cord, as suppliers of parts were indicated by one-day companies-the money received and received through them was also cashed through them. The minimum amount of damage caused to the state is estimated at 250 million hryvnias (about 10 million dollars. - RS) . A number of leaders of defense structures, including directors of the Kyiv, Lviv and Kharkov armored plants, were also involved in the organization of shadow schemes.

On March 11, Bihus.info released the last, fourth part of the investigation of corruption in Ukroboronprom. It states that both the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Security Service of Ukraine deliberately hid information about large -scale theft in the defense sector.

Poroshenko wants an international audit

"Corruption in the defense of the warring country is a double evil. If abuses in Ukroboronprom will be proved, the perpetrators must be fairly and severely punished," Maxim Burbak, the head of the Popular Front faction, said from the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada. In turn, presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko accused Poroshenko of state treason for covering corruption in her environment. Another candidate for the post of head of state - Oleg Lyashko said that in the event of confirmation of the facts of "Poroshenko and the defendants of the case set forth, should be shot."

Corruption in the defense of a warring country is a double evil

He commented on the scandal and favorite of the election race Vladimir Zelensky . "People who came to power on blood earn on the blood. And now I realized what" Army. Mova. Vira ” (The main slogan of the election campaign Petro Poroshenko. - RS) : to plunder the army, artificially divide people with a language, therefore you are not faith,” Zelensky said in his video message published on Facebook.

At the same time, Petro Poroshenko announced the integrated international audit of the Ukroboronprom concern. “I guarantee zero tolerance to corruption. I guarantee that those who stole will be responsible, and neither surnames, nor positions, nor communication, related or friendly, will stop our effective activities to overcome corruption,” the head of state said on the air of the ICTV television channel.

About what the consequences of the largest election corruption scandal around Ukroboronprom can be, the political expert Alexander Harebin thinks:

- For Petro Poroshenko, a scandal with Ukroboronprom can have a fatal value - its failure on the second round. Because its electoral ceiling is quite limited and determined by people who, of course, believe in the Commander -in -Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who ensured the revival of the national army and an increase in its defense capabilities. And just a scandal with Ukroboronprom undermines the faith of Ukrainian citizens that everything is fine in our defense.

Tanks at the handling ceremony for the troops. Military base in the Zhytomyr region, December 2018

- Can this scandal help the second round to the former Minister of Defense Anatoly Gritsenko, who, according to some public questions, rose in the presidential ranking to fourth place after two candidates - the mayor of Lviv Andrei Sadovy and the leader of the People’s Control movement Dmitry Dobrodomov - refused to participate in the elections, announcing Gritsenko's support?

- It is thanks to this scandal that Anatoly Gritsenko has a unique chance to go to the second round. Because the electorate, which does not really understand the role of Vladimir Zelensky in the event of his victory in Ukrainian defense and state construction, can see in Gritsenko the only candidate who understands what the army, defense and the state are. I can assume that a significant part of the votes of Petro Poroshenko’s votes, who were disappointed in his corruption environment, can go to the “honest colonel” Gritsenko, who will personify the statehood and security of Ukraine for them.

- In a journalistic investigation of corruption in the defense sector, it is, among other things, about the smuggling of detailed military equipment from Russia. The Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko said that, in fact, the smuggling of details is not a crime, but a necessity, including to create the latest Ukrainian missiles. According to Lutsenko, the Russian Federal Security Service a week ago blocked all the scheme of the supply of components of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine known to the Ukrainian side.

- After the collapse of the USSR in Ukraine, not a full cycle of arms production, but partial. The Soviet Union diversified the risks in the event of possible military operations, and, accordingly, in the territory of all former Soviet republics there were practically no closed arms production cycles. Ukraine in this situation remained hostage of the post -Soviet production division. After 1991, the Ukrainian military strategy was defensive, and the actions of all the presidents of the country were actually aimed at destroying the Ukrainian army, and Ukraine, over these 28 years of independence, practically, although not completely, lost the opportunity to produce modern weapons samples on their own.

The actions of all presidents of the country were actually aimed at the destruction of the Ukrainian army

It remained dependent on the supplies of components and spare parts to old Soviet equipment. It is continued to operate in the troops, and it is the basis of the modern Ukrainian army, which opposes the more equipped army of the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, the sale of military property, the remnants of Soviet military equipment in the countries of the former Warsaw treaty greatly exhausted the reserves of components for Soviet -made military equipment. Therefore, Ukraine has encountered this problem. We could not establish the production of these spare parts, since it is economically impractical, they are outdated, but somewhere it was necessary to take these spare parts. Therefore, smuggling now, at the time of this scandal, remained one of the few possibilities for buying for the Ukrainian army of spare parts.

- The scandal around Ukroboronprom became a background to start an attack on Poroshenko, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov, who accused the president of using voter bribery schemes. But at the same time, Avakov does not notice the facts of bribing voters Tymoshenko?

- Arsen Avakov took, in my opinion, the most comfortable position. He stated that he recognizes any candidate to whom most Ukrainians will give his vote - it will be Poroshenko, Tymoshenko or Zelensky. Attempts to falsify the elections cast doubt on their legitimacy. His position is to protect the legitimacy of these elections. Indeed, they talk a lot about the so -called “Poroshenko’s grid” for bribing voters, but they talk little about the “Tymoshenko grid”. “Tymoshenko’s grid”, according to the SBU, covers three regions of Ukraine, and the “Poroshenko grid”, which Avakov is talking about, is the whole country. In addition, we should not forget about the system of bribery by the head of state through monetization of subsidies and raising pensions. This is not a purchase of voices, but political technology. But the use of an administrative resource for an honest will also a very controversial technology. We should not forget about the sufficiently long and overstated confrontation between Arsen Avakov and Petro Poroshenko. We remember this, therefore, perhaps, some personal factors play a role, but they are not dominant. Nevertheless, I see in the latest statements by Avakov the desire to provide legitimate elections without allowing their falsification, ”says Alexander Harebin.

Ultimatum "National Corps"

Political analyst Alexander Kochetkov , referring to closed sociological studies that are located in the headquarters of the main presidential candidates, claims that Petro Poroshenko has no chance of going out into the second round of elections.

- The influence of a flared corruption scandal on the results of the electoral process, of course, is. But it is indirect, mediated. This scandal knocked out the fundamental brick from the wall of the entire election campaign of Poroshenko, which is built on the slogan "Army. Language. Vera". Everyone knows that he is such a leader that without him and a clip from one table to another cannot be shifted if they did not agree with him. He loves to control everything. And it cannot be that when making money on defense orders he was not informed. This is basically impossible. Therefore, one way or another, this scandal directly hit Peter Alekseevich. This scandal becomes a trigger for fairly serious projects. Now the nationalists have been excited - the National Corps and others who begin to pursue Poroshenko, break his rallies. This launches the process of influence of the street on the entire election process. The scandal around Ukroboronprom allowed to draw a street into the election process, and this complicates the possibility of manipulations with voting ballots. It can be concluded that the ongoing scandal reduces the likelihood of Poroshenko’s exit to the second round, ”says Alexander Kochetkov.

Petro Poroshenko during one of the election trips

Activists of the National Corps party, whose core form the former fighters of the Azov regiment who took part in the hostilities in the Donbass, put forward the Ultimatum to the President: if until March 16 he does not fulfill the demands they put forward, then they will strengthen street protests. The representatives of the National Corps Alexander Alferov talk about the requirements:

-We demand to arrest the property of Gladkovsky-Svinarchuk, as well as their accomplices. At the same time, we ask the General Prosecutor's Office to show other cases that relate to the plowing of the defense sector of Ukraine. And of course, we want the prosecutor general to report on the results every week. Now we are preparing the next action, which will be held on Saturday, March 16, on the Maidan in Kyiv without political symbols. We intend to pose an edge to the president why he does not pay attention to corruption schemes, which are blasphemy in relation to the Ukrainian army.

- If the requirements are not met, do your activists intend to tear off the election rallies of Petro Poroshenko?

- If the president does not hear us, then our activists will continue to visit his rallies. We have a fairly large network of the National Corps cells in each regional center of Ukraine. Therefore, we are ready to appear anywhere where the president will come, and put him our questions, ”promises Alexander Alferov.

We intend to put the question of the president with an edge why he does not pay attention to corruption schemes

On March 9, more than a thousand nationalists held an action in Kyiv, urging Poroshenko to send those involved in the scams around Ukroboronprom. The rally of the radicals ended with clashes with the police, and during the brawl on the same day in Cherkasy, where several hundred representatives of the National Corps tried to disrupt the pre -election rally of Poroshenko, even the head of the local police Valery Lyu was injured.

Meanwhile, Alexander Kochetkov considers it no coincidence that the journalistic investigation around the Ukroboronprom is published a few weeks before the election:

- It is obvious that the moment was chosen absolutely consciously to get a much greater effect. Because the first part of such a journalistic investigation made several years ago almost left society indifferent. Journalists in a sense are similar to artists - they need the attention of the public and the maximum resonance. Yes, this is consciously done now to get the maximum noise around your investigation and to extract from this political or other benefits for the future. You can go to the parliament with such a background as some Ukrainian journalists, for example, Sergey Leshchenko and Mustafa Nayy, who became deputies of the current Verkhovna Rada, - he recalls.

Submissor journalist?

In the accident of BIHUS.info the scandalous information around the Ukroboronprom, many Ukrainian politicians and experts do not believe in the most active phase of the election campaign. Here's what the editor and the host of the television program of journalistic investigations Denis Bigus himself say about this:

- The scandal spun literally in 24 hours. Well, for 48. If this was done specifically for some influence on the ratings or voting results, then this had to be shown all at once, by one film and approximately four days before the vote. Our investigation came out exactly at the moment when we managed to prepare it. They planned to show him back in January, but we simply did not have enough opportunities to have time to mount everything and make a post -production. I will say even more: we finished each series at the best case twelve hours before the broadcast, in the most sad - in four hours. Everything was done from the wheels, we have a really small team.

Denis Bigus

- The investigation of Bihus.info caused the effect of an exploding information bomb. Personally, you have already christened the Kremlin’s hand. As Blogger Andrei Dzinja wrote on his Facebook page , you have influential relatives in Russia - Colonel Andrei Sobolev, who served at the State Council Academy in Moscow and was captured in the photo with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

- As far as I understand, we are talking about a relative along the line of my wife in Russia. I don't know anything about him. In addition to the fact that he certainly exists ... The person who is in the photograph is a wife’s cousin. In addition to the fact that he is, in general, there is nothing special to comment on. The hypothesis itself is quite funny.

- Do you have confidence that the defendants in your investigation of theft in Ukroboronprom will be behind bars?

– С 2011 года, когда я попал в телепрограмму расследований, разрушились все иллюзии, у меня нет уверенности в том, что кто-то окажется за решеткой. И вообще нельзя этим заниматься с уверенностью, что кто-то окажется за решеткой. С надеждой – можно, а с уверенностью – нет.

У меня нет уверенности в том, что кто-то окажется за решеткой

​ – Для баланса ваша команда обнародовала и расследование в отношении Юлии Тимошенко. В нем говорится, что партия "Батькивщина" использует подставных лиц для финансирования фонда президентской кампании Тимошенко. Но это расследование не вызвало такого эффекта, как то, что касалось хищений в "Укроборонпроме". У вас есть новые расследования в отношении Юлии Владимировны?

– Да, есть продолжение уже показанного. Мы показали, условно говоря, анонс или первую часть. А на следующей неделе выйдет полная версия.

– Генеральный прокурор Украины Юрий Луценко заявил, что журналист Денис Бигус взламывал коды диска с материалами дела о хищениях в оборонной сфере.

– Честно говоря, карикатуры, анекдоты и прочие веселые вещи, которые накануне взорвали соцсети, – это, по-моему, самая адекватная реакция на слова генпрокурора. Я не понимаю, что имел в виду Луценко. Какие коды? Какие диски? Здесь сложно что-то комментировать, поскольку изначальная фраза просто лишена смысла.

– Луценко полагает, что вы – хакер и взломали компьютерную сеть прокуратуры. И таким образом получили доступ к материалам давно расследуемых дел о хищениях в "Укроборонпроме".

– Это дико комплиментарно звучит и не соответствует вообще никакой логике и реальности. Но слышать это, наверное, приятно. Взлом кодов и дисков Генеральной прокуратуры даже на уровне бреда – интересная и комплиментарная теория, – говорит Денис Бигус.