Ex-Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk came out swinging — both figurately and literally against another ex-minister — after he was disqualified from running for head of the newly created Bureau of Economic Security on July 29.
Timofiy Mylovanov, who ran the economy ministry in 2019, said Danyliuk punched him several times on July 31 at Danyliuk’s birthday party. Danyliuk blamed Mylovanov, now an adviser for President Volodymyr Zelensky, for doing the president’s bidding in getting a selection committee to disqualify him from the post.
“He smacked me and I did not hit back. He tried to kick me a couple of times. I stepped back. Then he started running at me and landed two-three punches. Most missed but one was a heavy hit in my left eye. I did not counterattack. Just tried to dodge,” Mylovanov told the Kyiv Post.
Danyliuk had invited Mylovanov to his birthday at Creative State of Arsenal, 8 Moscovska Street, prior to the committee’s exclusion of Danyliuk as a contender. At first, Mylovanov said, they had a friendly conversation and Danyliuk even posted a selfie of them together.
But later in the party, Mylovanov said Danyliuk became angry after Mylovanov denied that the president had anything to do with the committee rejecting him for the post. During the heated argument, Mylovanov said he agreed with the committee’s rejection of Danyliuk and then “the situation escalated.”
Afterward, on Facebook, Mylovanov wrote: “Danyliuk accused me of collaborating with the authorities. I reminded him how he worked and received money from (ex-President Viktor) Yanukovych. Danyliuk had nothing to answer and he resorted to physical violence. Danyliuk is not a reformer, but a ‘gopnik’ (derogatory slang word) and a poser. He applies physical and moral pressure. The Bureau of Economic Security reform is not his reform, it was prepared by other people. He is no different from Yanukovych or (billionaire oligarch Ihor) Kolomoisky. Because he uses the same methods. Danyliuk is not interested in the fate of Ukraine, but only in his ego and power. Moreover, he is a traitor. He betrayed all the teams he worked with – Yanukovych, then (ex-President Petro) Poroshenko, later Zelensky. I am fighting for the rule of law and the rule of fact in Ukraine. The commission acts on the basis of the law.”
Danyliuk dismissed Mylovanov’s account as a lie. “His accounts I totally deny, they are not true,” Danyliuk told the Kyiv Post.
A total of 48 people were permitted to take part in the competition, while 11 — including Danyliuk — were dismissed. According to Milovanov, who is the head of the selection committee, Danyliuk didn’t submit his MBA from Indiana University for a nostrification procedure in Ukraine. Nostrification is a procedure conducted by the Ministry of Education for recognizing foreign diplomas. Danyliuk says that it isn’t required by law. Milovanov says the commission received a letter from the Ministry of Education, obliging the commission to require nostrification.
In his own Facebook post on July 29, Danyliuk accused Milavanov of being a puppet who carries out the president’s orders.
“In a personal conversation yesterday, Tymofiy (Milovanov) admitted that he had complied with an instruction from the president’s office to remove me from the competition for the position of director of the Bureau of Economic Security,” wrote Danyliuk on Facebook, an accusation that Mylovanov calls a lie. “The whole system of power is now built on puppets. Puppets are headed by competition commissions, courts, and public authorities. The country’s leadership is proud of this. And he wants the director of the Bureau of Economic Security to be pocket-sized as well. And I have repeatedly proved that I do not bend under anyone.”
Danyliuk said there are larger governance issues at stake. He told the Kyiv Post that “all decisions that are taken by authorities are done through the president’s office.” Danyliuk also said he’ll go to court after he receives the official notice of refusal.
He wrote on Facebook: “I have a conflict with the country’s leaders over the essence of their policies. I believe that Zelensky should give an explanation now…Where is Zelensky’s explanation for the failure of international policy, which in particular leads to the launch of Nord Stream 2? Where is Zelensky’s explanation of the words of the leader of his faction about nuclear blackmail or a turn to the East? Where is Zelensky’s explanation about the sabotage of the competition for the head of the SAP (Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor)? Where is the explanation for (Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy) Yermak’s interference in the competition for the position of Bureau of Economic Security director? Society and I demand explanations and answers to these important questions.”
But Mylovanov told the Kyiv Post that Danyliuk’s behavior shows why he is unfit for high office.
“I have two points. First, no attack on government officials is justified regardless of their decision. And that people who resort to violence are unfit for the office of the head of the Bureau of Economic Security. Two, the commission and I did not act on instructions of the office of the president. The decision was made procedurally correct, fully independently, and in accordance with the law. Danilyuk should learn to do the paperwork competently rather than use his procedural mistakes for a political PR, although I understand why he does it.”
The Bureau of Economic Security was created in May by the government. The law on establishing the bureau was passed by parliament in January and signed by Zelensky in March.
The new agency will investigate economic and white-collar crimes other than those within the jurisdiction of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. These crimes include tax evasion. Danyliuk was vocal in calling for the establishment of such an agency when he was finance minister from 2016-2018, but its creation was obstructed and delayed in parliament.
With the advent of the new agency, the National Police and the Security Service of Ukraine are expected to be stripped of most of their economic investigative powers by 2024. About 4,000 employees are expected to work at the Bureau of Economic Security.
