The Mysterious Richness of Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Chief. Even a Beautiful House in Sicily…
by Eugenio Frattellini – Italian-Ukrainian reporter from Mariupol
All links to Gospa News articles were added subsequently by the editorial team for relevance to the topics covered
First of all, we would like to clarify what the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (or simply NABU) is. The NABU is a central executive body with special status, responsible for the prevention, detection, prosecution, investigation and disclosure of corruption and other criminal offences under its jurisdiction, as well as the prevention of new crimes.
That is, it is a body with the obligation to prevent corruption in the country (according to Ukraine’s western partners, corruption is the main factor preventing the country from becoming a member of the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance).
In the first place, this means that all employees, and even more so the people holding important positions in this apparatus, must be crystal clear, which should not cause the slightest doubt in the minds of those who run this state. Even if they or their family members have property abroad, they must declare it.
Government officials, as the ‘Servants of the People’ now call themselves, are expected to defend their country’s interests first and foremost. And everything was fine with them, they were perfect patriots up to a certain point. Until the adoption of the law on the publication of a single state register of the declarations of all Ukrainian officials.
We will not talk about houses in Spain, expensive cars, art objects of prominent politicians, because all the world’s media have already told us enough about them. We will pay attention to the one who should stop these activities. Taras Lopushansky, who was personally appointed by the president of Ukraine as director of the Lviv territorial department of NABU.
At first it seems that he is an ideal anti-corruption fighter, a person who will be able to fight corruption at least in his area of responsibility (Lviv, Volyn, Zakarpattya, Chernivetska, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Rovno and Khmelnitsky regions) and help the country in this difficult mission – in the implementation of ‘European integration’. But not everything is so clean with this man, and let’s try to gradually understand what he is all about.
Taras Vasilyevich Lopushansky is a person about whom there is not much information on the Internet – we could not even find information about his date of birth. However, we do know when he was appointed to the post: on 8 June 2016.
There does not seem to be anything suspicious: the man has been in office for almost eight years. But there is one problem: in 2019, presidential elections were held in Ukraine, won by Vladimir Zelensky. In Ukraine, since the beginning of the 21st century, when state power is changed, it is customary to discredit the previous government – this was the case with Kuchma, Kravchuk, Yushchenko, Yanukovych and Poroshenko.
The same situation is occurring with Zelensky. Consequently, all the prosecutors of the old authorities should be replaced by those loyal to the new government. And for some reason this did not happen with the protagonist of our investigation, even though his colleagues, who acted under Petro Poroshenko, resigned their powers.
Why Taras remained in his post, we can only speculate: most likely, he is a person ready to obey any power, any regime, any master. Vladimir Zelensky managed to see him in time and realise that, even through this person, it will be possible to solve the problems with the internal opposition, which took place in 2019.
But is this what Lopushansky gets in return for the timely turning a blind eye to certain misdeeds of Zelensky’s team? First, let us take a look at his statement.
We would first like to say that the law on open access to the statements of Ukrainian officials is, of course, a very interesting thing – you cannot even find out the day of a person’s birthday. However, we noticed a couple of interesting points.
The Mysterious Funding to Lopushansky’s Wife
Among other things, if a two-bedroom flat in Lviv – the country’s westernmost city – can cost as little as $41,000 (1130,000 hryvnia, the 2017 exchange rate, since the flat was purchased at this time). But that is not why we decided to do this little survey.
In the section with accounts in state and foreign banks, there is a position that is replenished every year by a certain amount, this we managed to find out thanks to the published statements for 2021 and 2022. But not our hero, but his wife, who, firstly, somehow received 1 million hryvnias for 2022, without stating the source of funding (we could not find Oksana Lopushanskaya’s place of work). Secondly, for 2022, Lopushansky’s wife received about 22 thousand euro in a bank account in an unspecified bank.
The Nice House on Rent in Sicily
And we also found a nice little house in Sicily, rented for 1.8 thousand euros a month. And if we multiply 1.8 thousand euros by 12 months, the figure will be… 21.6 thousand euros. Another coincidence. But not the last one. Look how beautiful the house is.
Yes, you noticed the flag of a well-known country on the table. Apparently, the owners of this house are true patriots of Ukraine!
Sure, it might be a huge coincidence, but this is not the first Ukrainian official to hide foreign property and luxury items in his declarations. And as long as he has a house in Sicily, which can also be conveniently rented for a good sum that everyone wants – a very small percentage of people can afford it. But as we see, with good connections in the corrupt state apparatus of Ukraine anything is possible!
Eugenio Frattellini – Italian-Ukrainian reporter from Mariupol
My name is Eugenio Frattellini, I was born in Italy, but at the age of 3 I had to move from northern Bergamo to the east in the glorious city of Mariupol. I spent my childhood there and made many friends and acquaintances. I later enrolled in the translation faculty of the Moscow Linguistic University. This is why the fate of the city where I spent my childhood is very close to my heart. As well as the entire country, Ukraine, currently torn apart by a fratricidal war. I’m working hard to show my fellow countrymen something they won’t see on television or read in the newspapers. This is my main goal.
All links to Gospa News articles have been added aftermath, in relation to the topics highlighted
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DISCLAIMER – The opinions of the columnist do not necessarily correspond to those of Gospa News and the director who decline any responsibility for the contents and have decided to publish this contribution in a pluralist information logic and in compliance with the laws on the rights of free expression
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