Kuzminykh scheme: how the MP accused of bribery hid a network of pharmacies in Zhytomyr

Despite the ban on entrepreneurial activities for People's Deputies, Serhiy Kuzminykh, a parliamentarian accused of bribery, owns a network of pharmacies in Zhytomyr, as journalists have found out. The business is registered to his driver, Maksym Tokovyi, who, according to the investigation, is also involved in the case of a bribe of more than half a million hryvnias. Coincidence? Hardly. The revealed connections lead to the Kuzminykh Charitable Foundation and open a new line of potential conflict of interest, which obviously requires a response from anti-corruption bodies, writes UNN.

According to Ukrainian law, People's Deputies cannot engage in entrepreneurial activities. Understanding that being a deputy can be temporary, people's representatives often try to sit on two chairs. To do this, the same scheme is usually used - the business is registered to relatives or close people.

People's Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh was no exception. In 2019, he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 9th convocation from the "Servant of the People" party in electoral district No. 67 (Zhytomyr region). 

Officially, Serhiy Kuzminykh is the founder and chairman of the charitable organization "International Charitable Foundation of the Kuzminykh Brothers". In addition, he opened rehabilitation centers for free rehabilitation of wounded soldiers in Zhytomyr, Cherkasy and Kyiv. However, as it turned out, the deputy carefully hides that he has a network of pharmacies in Zhytomyr. 

Recently, there has been more and more information in the media regarding the possible lobbying by the MP of the interests of specific pharmaceutical manufacturers. At the same time, he is accused of promoting legislative initiatives that could destroy large pharmacy chains. This forces a closer look at Serhiy Kuzminykh and his activities.

Currently, the High Anti-Corruption Court is hearing on the merits the criminal proceedings on charges of Serhiy Kuzminykh receiving more than half a million hryvnias in bribes. According to the investigation, the MP received funds for lobbying the interests of one of the companies supplying medical equipment for hospitals.

Interestingly, according to the investigation, the bribe for Kuzminykh was taken by his driver Maksym Tokovyi, which is confirmed by evidence in the form of correspondence between the MP and the driver. 

"At 6:28, Bondarenko takes out a gift package with the inscription "Holliday", with illegal benefits for Kuzminykh... At 16:30, Kuzminykh calls a person named Maksym and asks him to come to the cafe. He notes that he will drop the location. During the study of the contents of the phone, we seized correspondence with Maksym Tokovyi, who is Kuzminykh's driver, to whom Kuzminykh dropped the location of the public catering establishment, at 11a Instytutska Street. Tokovyi was identified in Kuzminykh as "Maksym car." The same message was also found in the phone seized during the search of Tokovyi himself. It was duplicated... At 16:33 Tokovyi enters the premises. Posivnyi turns to him, at this time and indicates that he should take the package that Bondarenko brought. After that, Tokovyi takes the package. Thus, Kuzminykh received an illegal benefit. Also, during the video recording, it was indeed shown how he entered the premises, looked around, took the package and tried to leave the premises. The conversation was also recorded in audio and video," the prosecutor said during one of the court hearings. 

Maksym Tokovyi is also listed in Serhiy Kuzminykh's declarations as a person who has the right to drive a car that the MP rents.

However, the most interesting thing is that a network of pharmacies with a place of registration in Zhytomyr is registered to Maksym Tokovyi. According to the youcontrol system, Maksym Tokovyi is the beneficiary and head of MAXIMUM EF LLC, whose main KVED activity is retail trade in pharmaceutical products in specialized stores. Accordingly, MAXIMUM EF has a license for retail trade in medicines. It is noteworthy that the pharmacies of Kuzminykh's driver appeared in 2019, a few months after the election of the new parliament.

One could talk about a coincidence or a sharp improvement in the financial situation of Kuzminykh's driver, who suddenly became the happy owner of a pharmacy chain, if it were not for one thing.

There is another direct connection between the MP and the pharmacies. According to youcontrol data, Ihor Salko is the person authorized to perform actions on behalf of the legal entity, including signing contracts.

This same character, according to the youcontrol system, is a signatory in the already mentioned International Charitable Foundation of the Kuzminykh Brothers.

And this is by no means a coincidence. By the way, the preservation of assets that obviously belong to the MP probably explains the fact why Kuzminykh turns a blind eye to the constant violations of traffic rules by his driver Maksym Tokovyi. There are court decisions in the court register, according to which he drove a car several times while intoxicated, and also fled the scene of an accident.

In addition, a close connection with a small network of pharmacies may explain such an overwhelming desire of the MP to destroy large pharmacy chains. After all, without them, there will be no competition and things will be much better for "Maximum EF".

Obviously, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), like the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, should pay attention to the facts revealed by journalists and conduct a detailed audit of the activities of the mentioned pharmacy chain and charitable foundation, as well as of the People's Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh himself. For its part, the editorial board will transfer the revealed information to anti-corruption bodies and will address them with relevant requests.

Let us remind you

Earlier, Serhiy Kuzminykh repeatedly ignored the meeting of the High Anti-Corruption Court under the pretext of a business trip to Moldova in order to strengthen inter-parliamentary cooperation. As explained UNN in the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, the MP was not obliged to surrender his foreign passports and notify the prosecution about leaving the country.

Former Deputy Prosecutor General, lawyer Oleksiy Bahanets, in a comment to UNN, noted that the prosecution should ask the court to change Kuzminykh's preventive measure to detention due to his failure to fulfill his procedural obligations.

Let's add

People's Deputy, Head of the Subcommittee on Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Activities of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health Serhiy Kuzminykh was exposed "red-handed" while receiving an illegal benefit of 558 thousand hryvnias. According to the investigation, he received funds for assistance in signing contracts between private companies and one of the hospitals in the Zhytomyr region for the supply of medical equipment. 

At the end of January 2022, NABU recorded the transfer of money and published a video about it. In it, a person with a voice similar to Kuzminykh promises his assistance and adds that he can resolve the issue with all medical institutions in the region. 

On January 31, 2022, the then Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova signed a suspicion against him. 

Serhiy Kuzminykh was not detained due to "deputy immunity", but he ignored interrogations, which is why he was put on the wanted list. After a few days of "hiding", the MP was still detained for the election of a preventive measure.

In May 2022, Kuzminykh, who, we remind you, is suspected of receiving more than half a million hryvnias in bribes, was chosen as a preventive measure in the form of bail in the amount of 49 thousand 600 hryvnias. Of course, bail was paid for the people's choice.

In September 2022, the indictment in the case against Kuzminykh was sent to the High Anti-Corruption Court for consideration on the merits. Currently, the stage of evidence investigation is ongoing. During this time, the MP repeatedly ignored court hearings.