Acting Deputy Head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine Yevhen Sokur is likely to continue working in his position, as he has a patron in the person of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy Danylo Hetmantsev. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by former military officer and leader of the Democratic Ax party Yuriy Hudymenko.
Context
Earlier, UNN reported that the acting deputy head of the State Tax Service, Yevhen Sokur, had entered allegedly inaccurate data in his 2023 declaration. In particular, he did not indicate in the document the information about his partner. During the investigation into the alleged assassination attempt, Sokur told law enforcement officers that since 2016 he had been living with a girl named Alina in an apartment at 6-D Lobanovskoho Avenue. Following a deputy appeal from Nina Yuzhanina, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, the NACP launched an investigation into Yevhen Sokur. In response to a request from UNN, the Agency also confirmed that it was conducting monitoring. The head of the Public Council at the NAPC, Kateryna Butko, noted that the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption is checking whether Sokur and his partner Alina had a common household.
In addition, in 2022, he declared income from the sale of securities in the amount of UAH 2.6 million, but these funds were not reflected in his declaration for 2023. This may indicate a violation of the law requiring notification of significant changes in property status. According to Article 52 of the Law of Ukraine "On Prevention of Corruption," the declarant is obliged to report such changes within 10 days. According to Oleksandr Zolotukhin, a member of the National Bar Association, the official may try to explain why he did not declare these expenses by saying that he leads a certain lifestyle and, for example, likes to eat out.
Potentially, I think that they are likely to open some kind of proceedings where he is either a witness or someone else, just to put a check mark that some kind of activity is going on. But I think Sokur will continue to work, because he is, as you say, Hetmantsev's man, it's a fact, and Hetmantsev will cover him to the last, and he will remain in his position, most likely as long as Hetmantsev is satisfied with him, or as long as Hetmantsev holds his position and has his influence
In his opinion, the State Tax Service needs to be completely rebooted and cleared of Hetmantsev's influence. In addition, according to Gudymenko, a supervisory board should be created at the tax office, which will include foreign experts.
"Do we need to reboot - yes, we do. Absolutely. The question is somewhat different: if we just reboot it, just change the top management and move on, Hetmantsev remains in his place, other people who work for Hetmantsev just come in, what is the point of this restructuring? Rebooting for the sake of rebooting, for the sake of ticking a box. No matter how many times you reboot your computer, the same operating system remains there. Therefore, it is necessary to create a permanent supervisory body, including foreigners, who are much harder to corrupt than our own, and it is necessary to have a public control council of Ukrainian activists, representatives of business, perhaps, those who have not yet been affected by the tax authorities, which can constantly monitor this body, putting a collar around its neck and forcing this body to act within the law," he suggested.
Add
As it turned out, on April 21, 2022, the State Tax Service requested the NACP to conduct a monitoring check on Yevhen Sokur. The monitoring did not take place because of martial law declared due to Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the tax office could not but know that the inspection would not take place.
Interestingly, in April 2022, Yevhen Sokur was selected for the position of head of the Economic Analysis Department of the State Tax Service, but the former assistant to the head of the Rada's tax committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, failed the competition. On April 18, 2022, Maryna Baryakhtar was announced the winner of the selection, who, according to media reports, refused to take the position three days later. In other words, she actually gave way to Sokur, whom the media call Hetmantsev's right-hand man at the tax office. At the time, Sokur, who had never worked at the State Tax Service, needed this position as an intermediate step to the position of acting deputy head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine. After all, just two weeks later, on May 7, he received this leadership position. It is possible that there was an agreement with Barakhtyar, since she did not leave the STS, taking the position of Director of the Risk Management Department.
According to media reports, it was in 2022 that acting Deputy Head of the Tax Service Sokur used a zero declaration and indicated UAH 2.5 million, the legal origin of which he would not otherwise have been able to explain to the inspectors. This means that he had actually concealed them from the tax authorities, and in case of monitoring by the NACP, he would probably not have passed the audit.
Recall
Earlier, UNN reported that the attempted assassination of the acting deputy head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, Yevhen Sokur, raises many questions about its credibility. It could have been staged to divert attention from the criminal proceedings against Sokur for abuse of office.