The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine on Oct. 31 arrested Oleksandr Avakov, the son of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, in Kyiv in a corruption case, Ilya Kyva, a former advisor to Avakov, told 112 Ukraine television.
The report was confirmed to the Kyiv Post by a source close to the investigation. The source spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press about the issue.
The arrest of the son of Avakov, arguably Ukraine’s second most powerful person, is the most high-profile action by the NABU since the detention of State Fiscal Service Chief Roman Nasirov in March and influential ex-People’s Front party lawmaker Mykola Martynenko in April.
The NABU said in a statement that it had arrested a former deputy interior minister, a representative of a firm that won a contract to supply backpacks to the Interior Ministry, and a private person.
The Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper said, citing its sources, that the former deputy interior minister detained by the NABU was Serhiy Chebotar. Radio Liberty’s Schemes investigative project said, citing its sources, that the firm representative was Volodymyr Lytvyn, CEO of IT company Turboseo.
Ukrainska Pravda reported that notices of suspicion had been filed for Oleksandr Avakov and Chebotar.
The Interior Ministry denied the corruption accusations.
“A hybrid war continues in Ukraine that is aimed at discrediting politicians who are committed to reforming and cleansing state institutions, including law enforcement,” the ministry said in a statement. “…The NABU is involved in political, not legal, activities, which is unacceptable and must be immediately corrected.”
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov’s son Oleksandr and ex-Deputy Interior Minister Serhiy Chebotar negotiate an allegedly corrupt backpack supply deal.
Arsen Avavkov also commented on the accusations on Facebook.
“Neither my son nor the firms co-founded by him have taken a single kopeck from the Ukrainian budget,” he said. “And Oleksandr Avakov will pass through necessary procedures and prove this in court… Pressure on me by the organizers of today’s actions against my son and my former subordinates will not succeed.”
Kyiv’s Solomyansky Court said it would not consider Oleksandr Avakov’s arrest on Oct. 31 because the working day was over and would likely consider it on Nov. 1. This was seen by critics as a sign of political interference in the judiciary.
The bureau conducted searches at premises that belong to Avakov in Kharkiv on Oct. 31.
Volodymyr Rysenko, an activist of the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center, said on Facebook that police officers had completely surrounded the premises and were blocking NABU detectives inside in what he saw as an effort to obstruct them. He published video footage of the police surrounding the building.
Lawmaker Sergii Leshchenko said that National Guards had been brought to the NABU building in Kyiv in another apparent effort to thwart the bureau.
Leshchenko said that the NABU had been ready to charge Oleksandr Avakov in early 2017 but Chief Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Nazar Kholodnytsky had been dragging his feet on approving the notice of suspicion for him. Kholodnytsky, who is accused of being influenced by the Presidential Administration and denies the accusations, authorized it only now amid a conlfict between President Petro Poroshenko and Avakov, Leshchenko added.
Igor Lutsenko, a lawmaker from the Batkivshchyna party, said on Facebook that Avakov should be suspended from his job during the investigation.
The suspects are accused of embezzling Hr 14 million in a case related to the supply of backpacks to the Interior Ministry. The prices of backpacks were significantly higher than market ones, the NABU said.
Video footage has been published on the Internet where Oleksandr Avakov and Chebotar discuss an allegedly corrupt scheme to supply backpacks to the Interior Ministry.
Meanwhile, in video footage recorded by the Security Service of Ukraine and recognized by courts as genuine, Chebotar, the Interior Ministry’s State Secretary Oleksiy Takhtai and state firm Spetsvervis CEO Vasyl Petrivsky, an ex-aide to Avakov, negotiate a corrupt deal to sell sand at a rigged auction. Commenting on the accusations, Takhtai has said that he had not seen the video.
In the video, Chebotar says that Avakov is also aware of the deal and is worried that the sand has not been sold yet. Petrivsky has pled guilty and has been convicted in a theft case for selling the sand.
Avakov denies graft accusations, while Chebotar has resigned amid graft scandals.
The NABU is also investigating Avakov’s deputy Vadym Troyan over video footage where people resembling Troyan and Chebotar discuss corrupt revenues from the traffic police and extorting money from businesspeople. Troyan denies accusations of corruption.
Troyan’s house was searched in July as part of a bribery case. The Security Service of Ukraine and prosecutors said that three associates of Troyan had been arrested for extorting a Hr 1.5 million ($58,000) bribe, while he had nothing to do with the bribery. The statement was seen by Troyan’s critics as an effort to let him escape punishment.
The Novoye Vremya magazine has published an investigation on alleged tax evasion by Avakov – accusations that Avakov denies. Meanwhile, Avakov’s top ally and lawmaker Ihor Kotvitsky is under investigation over an undeclared transfer of $40 million to Panama.
In 2015 Leshchenko also published a document according to which Avakov is identified as Italian company Avitalia’s president as of April 30, 2015.
Ukrainian law bans ministers from simultaneously working as business executives. According to Avakov’s property declaration, the minister owns 100 percent in Avitalia.
In his 2015 asset disclosure, Avakov declared a luxurious collection of premium wine bottles, high-end watches, pictures, including a Pablo Picasso one, and furniture, as well as Hr 265,000, $178,000 and 118,000 euros in cash.
