Interior Minister Arsen Avakov may stay in the government after a new Cabinet is formed by the newly-elected Verkhovna Rada, according to numerous sources. The new parliament is set to convene on Aug. 29.
Avakov’s possible job prospects at Zelensky’s new government has disappointed many. Ukrainian anti-corruption watchdogs and civic activists have repeatedly called for firing Avakov due to his controversial reputation and numerous corruption scandals associated with him. Avakov denies all accusations of corruption.
David Arakhamia, a member of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, told the Nash television channel on Aug. 22 that Avakov, Finance Minister Oksana Markarova and Health Minister Ulana Suprun could get jobs in the new government.
If they tell you about (the future appointments) with 100 percent probability, this will be a lie,” Arakhamia said. “Markarova’s chances are probably the highest. But there are also others who are being discussed, including Avakov and Suprun.”
Meanwhile, former lawmaker Sergii Leshchenko said on Aug. 23, citing his sources, that Avakov may be appointed as the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.
The Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper reported on Aug. 23, citing its sources, that Avakov is expected to become a deputy prime minister in charge of law enforcement.
Ukrainska Pravda also reported that Zelensky’s Deputy Chief of Staff Oleksiy Honcharuk is expected to become prime minister, while Markarova will remain finance minister, and Iryna Venediktova, a newly-elected lawmaker from Zelensky’s party, is expected to become justice minister.
Another lawmaker from the Servant of the People, Oleksandr Dubinsky, said in an Aug. 6 interview that he would like Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andriy Bohdan to be prime minister and ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Andriy Portnov to become prosecutor-general.
A tainted minister
Avakov is the longest-serving minister, having held his job since February 2014. His stint in office has been marred with numerous accusations of corruption and sabotage of reforms.
In 2017 Avakov’s son Oleksandr and Avakov’s ex-deputy Serhiy Chebotar were arrested and charged by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine with embezzling Hr 14 million in a case related to the supply of overpriced backpacks to the Interior Ministry. They deny the accusations.
In 2018 anti-corruption prosecutors closed the case against Oleksandr Avakov and Chebotar. However, Security Service of Ukraine video footage has been published on the Internet where Oleksandr Avakov and Chebotar discuss a corrupt scheme to supply backpacks to the National Guard in Chebotar’s office.
In another video published on the Internet, 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 in Chebotar’s office.
In the video, Chebotar implicates the minister himself in the deal, saying that Avakov is also aware of the scheme and is worried that the sand has not been sold yet.
Petrivsky has already pled guilty and has been convicted to a suspended prison term in a theft case for the sand sale scheme described in the video.
In yet another video being investigated by the NABU, Avakov’s deputy Vadym Troyan and Chebotar discuss corrupt revenues from the traffic police and extorting money from businesspeople. They deny the accusations of wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, civic groups that took part in police reform efforts said in 2016 that Avakov had taken over vetting commissions and blocked the firing of tainted police officers.
Avakov’s police have also been lambasted for failing to investigate about a hundred attacks on activists and journalists since 2014, including at least 12 murders.
Avakov has also been criticized due to police violence. Examples of such violence include the murder of a man by police officers in the city of Kryve Ozero in 2016, violent crackdowns on protesters in Dnipro in 2017 and in Kyiv in 2018 and the killing of a five-year-old boy by police officers in June.
