Military parts scandal suspect Hladkovskiy arrested

Oleh Hladkovskiy, the first deputy secretary of the National
Security and Defense Council under former President Poroshenko, was arrested by
Ukrainian law enforcement on Oct. 17 as a suspect in an abuse of authority
criminal case. Hladkovskiy had plane tickets to fly that day to an automobile
convention in Brussels to represent Bogdan Motors, Ukraine’s largest automobile
manufacturer where Poroshenko used to be a business partner. Hladkovskiy,
widely acknowledged to be a part of Poroshenko’s close entourage, serves as
president for Bogdan Motors and was arrested by detectives with the National
Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), the pravda.com.ua news site reported.

Recall, Hladkovskiy was accused by the bihus.info news site in February
of conspiring in price gouging of the Ukrainian military when arranging the
import and sale of Russian military parts at inflated prices. He was accused of
taking at least one kickback of USD 30,000 in the price-gouging schemes.
Hladkovskiy has denied any wrongdoing, alleging the news broadcast based its
claims on fraudulent evidence. Bogdan Motors issued an Oct. 17 statement
declaring Hladkovskiy’s arrest to be illegal and part of a campaign of
political persecution. The company president “has declared a hunger strike
against the abuses of law enforcement bodies,” the statement said.

Another member of Poroshenko’s close entourage, Ihor
Kononenko, was held at Kyiv Boryspil airport on Oct. 18 by NABU officials for
questioning in relation to a criminal case, Prosecutor General Ruslan
Riaboshapka said on television the same day. After 40 minutes, officials
reportedly allowed him to board a flight to Istanbul. Kononenko denied being
held at the airport when speaking to the pravda.com.ua news site. Kononenko was
the first deputy head of the Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction in the
previous convocation before becoming the election campaign director for the
European Solidarity party in this year’s parliamentary vote.

Zenon Zawada: If the
Zelensky administration is to prosecute any high-profile figure, it would have
to be the father and son tandem of Oleh and Ihor Hladkovskiy. They are an even
more obvious target than Petro Poroshenko, with the outrage over their military
parts scandal costing the former president 2%-3% of votes in the March election
(based on unofficial estimates of numerous political observers). If the
Hladkovskiys are not fully prosecuted by the state, in a full court trial
reaching a judge’s verdict (which should be one of guilt, in the view of many),
the public will lose much faith in any claims of judicial reform by the
Zelensky administration.