Guys are stuffing their pockets: the Verkhovna Rada's agrarian committee is interested in schemes at the State Land Bank

The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy calls on law enforcement and the NACP to investigate a possible conflict of interest in the management of Derzhzembank LLC, and also plans to study the scheme of duplicating the state land management institute in favor of the family business of Yaroslav Yaroslavsky, CEO of Derzhzembank. According to committee member Andriy Bogdanets, under the guise of reforms, the bank's management is actually sabotaging the work, "stuffing their pockets," while thousands of hectares of state land are idle, UNN writes.

Context

As reported by UNN, the head of Derzhzembank LLC, Yaroslav Yaroslavsky, headed the State Enterprise "Vinnytsia Scientific-Research and Design Institute of Land Management" in 2016. According to open information, Yaroslavsky is still listed as the head of the State Enterprise "Vinnytsia Scientific-Research and Design Institute of Land Management." However, in July 2024, a decision was made by the founders (the State Property Fund) to terminate the legal entity as a result of reorganization. And Yaroslavsky is currently managing this process.

According to Yaroslavsky's declaration, his wife, Svitlana Yaroslavska, indicated that she received income from an institute with a similar name in 2024. However, the form of management of the institute is not a state enterprise, but an LLC. The company is registered at the same address as the State Geocadastre Department in the Vinnytsia region, as well as the state institute of the same name as the LLC. The main activity of the company is engineering, geology and geodesy, and the provision of technical consulting services in these areas.

In 10 months of existence, the LLC participated in 103 purchases, won 101, concluding agreements for a total amount of UAH 2.41 million. All purchases, except for one, took place in the Vinnytsia region, and 72 were non-competitive. The total income of the enterprise for 24 years amounted to UAH 5.2 million.

Details

Great! Nothing changes. People are trying, telling under slogans that we are for the state, we have a war, nothing changes, the guys are stuffing their pockets further... Definitely, definitely we will raise (this issue - ed.) at the committee. In general, I really like to raise such things at the committee, just to expose these "abscesses", you know, when you are told under the guise of how correct managers are, how great they are, that God forbid, "this is us, we are the most honest and correct", you show how deficient they are in the fact that under these slogans, they are actually trying to rob the state further, well, this is terrible

The deputy did not rule out that Yaroslavsky could have deliberately bankrupted the research institute.

He added that at the last meeting of the Verkhovna Rada's agrarian committee, where the issue of the State Property Fund's attempt to "vandalize" the land used by the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences (NAAS) was considered, the director of Derzhzembank LLC was not present.

"We listened, but the head was not there, his deputy was there, and they drew nice slides there, everything looks nice, but the essence remains the essence. How much will be, how will it be, why are not all the lands occupied, why are there lands that are not leased, the land has been standing there for 5 years, 6 years, who cultivates it, and in general we asked questions that they have to answer us about the quality of management of the State Bank and the land in particular. We don't know yet...", - Bogdanets said.

According to him, deputies were shocked when they learned that out of more than 90,000 hectares of state land already transferred to Derzhzembank LLC for further sublease, only 20,000 hectares have been leased.

"When we asked, one single question: "please tell me, how much land do you cultivate, which we filled in accordance with the law, we transferred the land of state enterprises, how much state land did you transfer at the auction for these tenders?" The answer was simply shocking: less than half. We say: "listen, why isn't it leased?" "Well, we have a problem there, there's this, there's that, a lot of different situations." They named some. Why do you need this land further, when you can't cope with the land you already have? That is, there should be some kind of KPI (key performance indicators - ed.), you position yourself as serious managers, correct managers, those who create, give the opportunity to earn, fill the state budget of the country, and why is the land standing?", - Bogdanets said.

In addition, according to him, people's deputies raised the issue of the existing conflict of interest of the chairman of the supervisory board of Derzhzembank LLC, Oleksandr Vasylchenko. He is also the head of the agricultural enterprises department of the State Property Fund, which created Derzhzembank. In their conclusions, the committee members called on the NACP to check Vasylchenko for a possible conflict of interest. Deputies also appealed to law enforcement agencies regarding this issue.

We have officially sent a letter-appeal from the members of the agrarian committee on behalf of the agrarian committee, both to the SBI and to the NABU, so that they can give us clarification, qualified, regarding a possible conflict of interest. Therefore, we are waiting for an answer

Let us remind you

The Verkhovna Rada Committee also demands a detailed analysis of the state lands of the State Property Fund transferred for sublease. People's deputies suspect violations of the law during the transfer, in particular, failure to take into account the type of land. In addition, the relevant committee demands a report on state lands that were transferred to the Fund, but were never leased.

The Agrarian Committee of the Verkhovna Rada called on the Cabinet of Ministers not to withdraw the state lands of the NAAS in favor of the State Property Fund. People's deputies are convinced that this threatens the loss of domestic selection, scientific schools, jobs and food security. The committee members stressed that the dispossession of land from scientific institutions and state enterprises of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, which carry out effective economic activities, will result in a reduction in jobs, which will lead to social tension in the context of war and undermine the food and economic security of Ukraine.

In addition, the government should determine the optimal amount of land use for scientific institutions and enterprises of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, which will ensure the implementation of state programs and statutory tasks and the preservation of the selection, seed production, horticulture, viticulture and microbiology industries.

At the same time, the State Property Fund of Ukraine should withdraw, review and amend the draft order of the Cabinet of Ministers regarding the withdrawal of state land plots, in particular, the NAAS.

Add

Almost a year ago, the State Property Fund created the first operator of state lands, Derzhavnyy Zemelnyy Bank LLC, the purpose of which is to lease plots and thus fill the state budget. The first pool of state land with a total area of almost 91,000 hectares, which the State Property Fund took from various state enterprises and institutions, was transferred there. However, during this time, Derzhzembank managed to lease only a little more than 20,000 hectares in rent.