Three suspects arrested for alleged USD 6 mln bribe to drop Zlochevsky cases

Three suspects have been arrested for allegedly
attempting to bribe anti-corruption officials with USD 6 mln to close a
criminal case against Mykola Zlochevsky, the former ecology minister who
launched a natural gas extraction firm Burisma Group, as reported by top
anti-corruption officials at a June 13 press conference. It was conducted by
Artem Sytnyk, the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine whose
officials are alleged to have been targeted with the bribe, and Nazar
Kholodnytsky, who said he was personally offered the bribe. The possible
involvement of employees of the Prosecutor General’s Office is also being
investigated, they said. They also stressed that the bribe attempt is not
related to Hunter Biden’s involvement in Burisma and called upon the mass media
to end such speculation.

One of the suspects, former Burisma legal director
Andriy Kicha, posted bail of UAH 40.3 mln (USD 1.5 mln), the High
Anti-Corruption Court confirmed on June 15. He is a power-of-attorney for
Zlochevsky. The second suspect is Olena Mazurova, another power-of-attorney for
Zlochevsky and former department director at the State Fiscal Service who had
bail set at UAH 120 mln (USD 4.5 mln). She had built her career in the
now-defunct Party of Regions, serving several years in its press service before
becoming deputy director at Ukrspetseksport, the state defense procurement
monopoly. The third suspect is Mykola Iliashenko, the first deputy head of the
Kyiv administration of the State Tax Service who was arrested for two months
with bail set at UAH 84 mln (USD 3.1 mln).

The alleged USD 6 mln bribe consisted of USD 5 mln
intended directly for the official capable of making the decision to close the
case and USD 1 mln for the advisory services offered by the intermediary. The
funds were confiscated from the alleged suspects. The bribe was aimed at
dropping – in time for Zlochevskiy’s birthday on June 14 – the criminal cases
for money laundering and abuse of authority to misappropriate and legalize a
stabilization loan of the National Bank of Ukraine, issued to Realbank
controlled by Serhiy Kurchenko. He faces about 13 criminal cases, according to
the pravda.com.ua news site. Prosecutors sent Zlochevsky a notice of suspicion
in March 2019 for his alleged involvement in a criminal organization led by
Kurchenko. Zlochevskiy has since fled abroad and he has been placed under
international search, while his whereabouts are unknown.

The leadership of Burisma Group has no relation to the
illegal acts alleged by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office
(led by Kholodnytsky), the company said in a June 13 statement. Zlochevsky’s
wealth is about USD 900 mln, according to the 2019 estimate of the annual
survey by the focus.ua news site. He served as ecology minister between 2010
and 2012. In a similar scandal, former MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko alleged he offered stakes in at least
two of Zlochevsky’s businesses in exchange for dropping
criminal charges, releasing alleged audio evidence. Onyshchenko is currently
residing Germany, whose government asked him to leave in late May.

Zenon Zawada: This latest
episode merely bolsters the image of Burisma and Zlochevsky as major sources of
corruption not only at the level of Ukraine, but also on a global scale after
the scandals involving Hunter Biden. Although this scandal has no apparent
relation to the Bidens, it’s significant for being alleged evidence of ongoing
corruption in Ukraine at the highest levels, with USD 6 mln being reported as a
record-setting bribe (among those to have been reported).

However, given the Zelensky administration’s poor record
for prosecuting corruption so far, we expect no criminal convictions to come
from these cases, or any involving Zlochevsky. That likelihood will only
further harm Ukraine’s image among international investors.