How far can a deputy go? History of Hetmantsev's manipulations in the Concord Bank case

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on finance, tax and customs policy Daniil Hetmantsev accused the co-founders of Concord Bank of fraud and stated that criminal cases were unlawfully closed against them . That these statements are outright manipulations, because against Elena and Yulia Sosedok there were and there are no cases. Moreover, the courts of the first and appellate instances declared the NBU's decision to liquidate the bank illegal. why politicians allow themselves outright lies and manipulations, how they affect trust in state institutions and why it is important to combat manual management of state bodies - understood UNN.

Manipulation and false statements

After the co-founder of the Bank "Concord" Elena Sosedka published a video, which tells about the prosecution and destruction of the financial institution and the involvement of Daniil Hetmantsev, the deputy stated that a criminal case was illegally closed against the shareholders of the Bank "Concord". However, this information turned out to be not just manipulation, but a complete lie. After all, no criminal proceedings were ever opened against Elena and Yulia Sosedok. 

Moreover, the courts of the first and appellate instances recognized the decision of the National Bank of Ukraine to revoke the banking license and liquidate Concord as illegal. this also refutes the accusations made against the bank's shareholders and indicates Hetmantsev's bias.

In fact, he himself admitted that the destruction of the Concord is a personal matter for him.

"Obviously, Hetmantsev became aware that the prosecutor general's Office is considering our application because of his illegal actions against Concord bank. This case is long overdue, because its violation is not just an attack on our bank, but a spit in the face of the entire Ukrainian legal system. but instead of being held accountable for his actions, Hetmantsev decided to act biased. He collected signatures of Deputies in order to reliably force the prosecutor general's Office to open a criminal case against us, the owners of Concord, despite the fact that there are no legal grounds. In this way, he tries to distract attention from his own crimes and discredit those who dared to speak out against him. this is unprecedented. The man who admitted that Concord is a personal matter for him now wants to involve not only deputies in his illegal activities, but also the Office of the prosecutor general, who, logically, should be the guarantor of the law, and not a tool for settling scores. Hetmantsev, as and always, tries to shift his responsibility to others, but we will not allow this arbitrariness to go unnoticed," said Elena Sosedka.

The fact that the chairman of the tax committee is biased and interested in destroying Concord is also indicated by experts interviewed by UNN. For example, retired president of the All-Ukrainian Association of judges Denys Nevyadomsky advises suing Hetmantsev in such a situation.

"A defamation claim should be filed for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation. According to the decision of the ECtHR "Sanchez v. France": the authors of messages in social networks, in particular, public persons, are responsible for the content of comments that other users leave under their publications," Nevyadomsky noted in an exclusive comment UNN .

According to him, the fate of such a claim will depend on the wording used by the defendant and the evidence provided by the plaintiff.

"The peculiarity of these claims is that the plaintiff only needs to prove the fact of spreading false information, and the defendant must prove that these statements or value judgments are true," Nevyadomsky added.

Manual management of government agencies

one of the most egregious facts that were highlighted in the video posted by Elena Sosedka is that Hetmantsev probably tried to influence the Tax Service. In particular, the deputy allegedly Tried to force the tax service to charge VAT on banking services that are not subject to taxation by law. Such actions not only violate the law, but also demonstrate a clear attempt to manage government agencies manually.

Nevyadomsky notes that this may be a criminal offense.

"We need to understand exactly what this impact was and how it was carried out. In case of abuse of office or abuse of office, criminal liability is provided under Article 364 of the Criminal Code," he stressed.

It is worth noting that earlier the media repeatedly pointed out that Hetmantsev influences the decision of the state tax service through his former assistant Yevgeny Sokur, who now serves as deputy chairman of the state tax service of Ukraine.

According to the head of the #Savefop movement Serhiy Dorotich, this behavior of the MP is due to the fact that those in power in Ukraine feel their impunity.

"When you get into power, and I say this not unfounded, I myself am a former civil servant of the second rank, I understand what a warm bath is for a civil servant, when there are no issues for you that you cannot solve with one call, then the temptation is very strong, in fact. And the higher (in power-ed.) – the greater the temptation. so, such levers, that Daniil Getmantsev has... He can feel calm and feels like a god, he understands that he can do anything and he will get nothing for it. He understands that he can destroy the business, raid it, take it away, squeeze it out," Dorotich explained in an exclusive comment to UNN.

All this, according to him, leads to the fact that Hetmantsev openly manipulates, lies and destroys the business he does not like.

It is worth noting that Hetmantsev's manipulations call into question the independence of state bodies and create a dangerous precedent. If a people's deputy can publicly accuse citizens of non-existent crimes and influence tax decisions, tell the courts what decisions to make, this undermines confidence in the state authorities.

Lawyers and public activists note that such cases, as with Hetmantsev and Concord bank, should be considered by law enforcement agencies. in addition, an important step is to create mechanisms to control the statements of public figures and hold them accountable for manipulating and distorting facts.

Getmantsev's accusations against Concord raise the question: Can politicians use their positions to put pressure on businesses and citizens? In a democratic society, this should not be the norm. However, his actions, and especially interference in the activities of the Tax Service, indicate the opposite.

Recall

Earlier it became known that  Concord shareholders appealed in court the decision of the National Bank of Ukraine to withdraw the bank from the market.  the courts of first and appellate instances declared illegal and overturned the decision of the NBU to revoke the license and liquidate Concord bank. However, the Ukrainian legislation is written out in such a way that the process of withdrawing a banking institution from the market, if it is launched, is irrevocable. 

Despite the war in Ukraine, the process of withdrawing banks from the market has not stopped. So, since February 24, 2022, liquidation was Started in relation to 8 banks. In 2023, for the first time in Ukraine, not only bankrupt banks, but also profitable institutions were liquidated and revoked, We are talking about Concord bank. as stated by Elena a neighbor, at the time of the regulator's announcement of the decision to liquidate the bank, there were enough highly liquid assets in the financial institution to make all the necessary payments in 2-3 weeks. But the bank's liquidation process is strictly regulated by law and can generally last up to three years.