Former defense official Hladkovskiy released on bail

Oleh Hladkovskiy,
the former first deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council,
was released from detention on Oct. 21 after family members posted bail of UAH
10.6 mln (USD 427K), the pravda.com.ua news site reported. Hladkovskiy was detained on Oct. 17, but the next day was named a
suspect in crimes not related to the scandal for which he became notorious. The
nation was stirred during the presidential election campaign when Hladkovskiy
and his son Ihor were accused by the
bihus.info news site in a February report of buying Russian military parts and
selling them to the Ukrainian military at inflated prices.

On Oct. 18,
Hladkovskiy was named a suspect in criminal cases of abuse of authority,
violating tender laws and filing fraudulent declarations in relation to defense
procurements made in his official position to benefit the Bogdan Motors
auto-manufacturing company, where he currently serves as president. In
particular, Hladkovskiy arranged for the military to purchase Bogdan vehicles
at inflated prices, the pravda.com.ua news site reported on Oct. 18. In the
fraudulent documents case, he is accused of failing to declare rental income
from real estate in the Kyiv city center owned by his wife.

Zenon Zawada: It’s amusing that Hladkovskiy
hasn’t been named a suspect in crimes related to the Russian military parts
scandal, along with his alleged partners. It’s also amusing that bail was set
at so low an amount, especially after the Specialized Anti-Corruption
Prosecutor’s Office requested bail at about ten times greater. Hladkovskiy is
the most obvious target for criminal prosecution from the Poroshenko
administration for the scandal that cost the president tens of thousands of
votes. The evidence alleged by bihus.info is as solid as any presented publicly
in a Ukrainian corruption case. It can be said that Hladkovskiy is the
barometer for the Zelensky administration’s commitment to fighting corruption,
especially since it involved an alleged amount (UAH 250 mln) far greater than
the UAH 10.6 mln in damages alleged in these cases.

If Hladkovskiy is not prosecuted and convicted in the next year – for
crimes related to the Russian military parts scandal and not others – several
conclusions can be drawn: (1) Poroshenko administration officials have reached
backroom deals with Zelensky administration officials for immunity from
prosecution, (2) the Zelensky administration is interested in politics – and
corruption – as usual, and (3) most of the remaining support for the Zelensky
administration will evaporate within a year.