More and more often, the media have been reporting on exposing bribe-takers and corrupt officials in the ranks of the State Tax Service of Ukraine. Alleged offenders are being identified both among ordinary tax officers and among the management. For example, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption has become interested in the lifestyle of Yevhen Sokur, acting deputy head of the State Tax Service. All these facts negatively affect the credibility of the tax authorities, and the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy should have reacted to the situation. However, strangely enough, the parliamentarians do not plan to intervene yet, UNN writes.
Context
According to UNN , the acting deputy head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, Yevhen Sokur, allegedly entered inaccurate datain his 2023 declaration. In particular, he did not indicate in the document the information about his partner. During the investigation into the case of an alleged assassination attempt, Sokur himself 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 audit of Yevhen Sokur. In response to a request from UNN, the Agency also confirmed that they are monitoring the official's lifestyle. Kateryna Butko, head of the Public Council at the NAPC, noted that the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption is checking whether Sokur and his live-in girlfriend Alina had a common life.
Also, 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 lifestyle and, for example, likes to eat out.
In addition, Sokur is a defendant in the criminal proceedingsopened on November 4, 2022 under Part 3 of Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on the fact of abuse of power by the acting Deputy Head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine Yevhen Sokur. The case was opened because on October 26, 2022, Sokur signed an order to revoke the license of PJSC Ukrtatnafta for the production of fuel. Such actions of the official, according to the investigation, caused serious consequences for the company and the state in the form of the inability to fulfill the mobilization tasks of the Ministry of Defense for the production and supply of petroleum products for the needs of defense and defense capability of the state. According to the SBI, this criminal proceeding is still under investigation.
The described alleged violations of one of the country's top tax authorities are too serious to be ignored by the parliamentary committee as a supervisory body. To begin with, the chairman of the Rada's tax committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, should summon the leadership of the State Tax Service to a meeting to demand clear explanations of the actions of their officials and present a plan of further actions to prevent such violations in the future.
Another tool that MPs could use is the creation of a working group to study in detail the facts of alleged abuses at the State Tax Service. This group should include MPs, law enforcement officers and representatives of NGOs engaged in anti-corruption activities. This process should be transparent, involving the public and the media, to ensure maximum openness and public control.
The main tasks of the working group should be:
- analysis of the actions of STS officials suspected of violations, including the case of Yevhen Sokur.
- development of recommendations for strengthening control over the activities of the STS management.
- Assessment of systemic problems in the management of tax authorities that may contribute to abuse of power.
However, for some reason, Hetmantsev is in no hurry to deal with the situation with his former assistant Yevhen Sokur, who, by the way, is called the MP's right-hand man in the tax office.
Скандали у податковій: як Гетманцев "не помічає" порушень свого протеже07.10.24, 12:08
In an exclusive commentary to UNN , the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Excise Tax and Legislative Regulation of the Market of Alcohol, Alcohol and Tobacco of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, Yevhen Petruniak, said that no meetings of the committee with the participation of the State Tax Service leadership were announced in the near future.
There are no meetings of the Committee with the participation of the tax authorities announced for the near future
In his turn, Danylo Hetmantsev, who has always declared his integrity and intolerance of crimes in the tax service, ignores UNN's request whether his committee plans to examine the situation with the acting deputy head of the State Tax Service, Yevhen Sokur.
Therefore, the question of whether the Rada's tax committee will demonstrate integrity and determination in responding to violations at the State Tax Service remains open.