Dictatorship in the Hetmantsev Committee. Expert explains why the Tax Committee of the Verkhovna Rada does not respond to violations in the State Tax Service

The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy ignores scandals related to violations committed by tax officials, including acting Deputy Head of the State Tax Service Yevhen Sokur. This may be due to the fact that all tax appointments, even at the local level, are controlled by the head of the Rada's tax committee, Danylo Hetmantsev. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by the head of the #SaveFOP movement Serhiy Dorotych.

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.

The Parliamentary Tax Committee has not yet responded to this information and has not held a meeting with representatives of the State Tax Service and law enforcement agencies, during which MPs would have heard explanations from tax officials. A working group consisting of MPs, law enforcement officials and members of the public has not been set up to study the situation.

“Will he (Hetmantsev - ed.) initiate measures against himself? Any appointment in recent years without the approval of the chairman of the committee... even I was told that even the heads of district tax offices come to Kyiv for an interview in Hetmantsev's office with his assistants. Not a single appointment has been made without his knowledge,” Dorotych said, commenting on why the Rada's tax committee has not yet responded to the scandals involving Hetmantsev's former assistant Yevhen Sokur and other tax officials who were detained while taking bribes.

At the same time, he said, Hetmantsev managed to build a clear administrative vertical and dictatorship in the Committee.

I have a little experience of communicating with the Committee, repeatedly. I will argue that the committee has a clear administrative vertical and dictatorship... That is, the committee is a clear structure that works like clockwork on the instructions of Hetmantsev. And you should not expect the committee to summon anyone. Until the political regime changes, unfortunately, we will not see anything positive in Ukraine in terms of tax policy

Recall

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 office by 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.