MP: Cabinet of Ministers should dismiss acting Deputy Head of the State Tax Service Sokur from his post for the duration of the criminal case against him
Kyiv • UNN
The Cabinet of Ministers should suspend the acting deputy head of the State Tax Service, Yevhen Sokur, from his duties while the criminal case against him is being investigated for abuse of office.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine should remove Yevhen Sokur, acting deputy head of the State Tax Service, from his post for the duration of the criminal investigation against him. This opinion was expressed by MP Mykola Velychkovych in an exclusive commentary to UNN.
Earlier UNN reported that criminal proceedings were opened on November 4, 2022 against the protégé and right-hand man of the Chairman of the Tax Committee of the Rada, Danylo Hetmantsev, acting Deputy Chairman of the State Tax Service, Yevhen Sokur under Part 3 of Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The case was opened on the fact of abuse of power by Sokur, who on October 26, 2022, issued an order to revoke the license of PJSC Ukrtatnafta for the production of fuel. His actions allegedly caused severe consequences for the company, as well as for 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.
"This is more of a question for law enforcement agencies and the Cabinet of Ministers, why is this happening, why aren't the people who should be helping the army to receive fuel without hindrance being suspended at the same time? This is not clear to me. There should have been a suspension. But this is a question to the Minister of Finance, to the Cabinet of Ministers - why there is no suspension during the investigation. For the current Cabinet of Ministers, it turns out that it is a normal practice if their subordinates are involved in some criminal cases, and it is normal not to suspend them for the duration of the investigation. Is this a practice that is not considered normal in the civilized world? Is this a hand-washing practice, or what?" Velichkovych said.
Add
The case against Yevhen Sokur was opened because of two identical orders dated October 26, 2022, which he issued to revoke the license of PJSC Ukrtatnafta. The documents had an identical number and date, but the grounds for license revocation were different. In one, the company allegedly refused to allow the tax authorities to conduct an audit without legal grounds. The second was the failure to pay the next license fee within 30 days of the license suspension. At the same time, only one Sokur's order related to a tax audit is published on the tax authority's website.
The company appealed Sokur's decision in court. The courts of first, appellate and cassation instances recognized that the tax audit was conducted in violation of the law and that Ukrtatnafta had every right to prevent the STS representatives from entering its territory. As a result, the orders of the State Tax Service of Ukraine to revoke Ukrtatnafta's license for fuel production, valid from 01.07.2019 to 01.07.2024, were also declared illegal. The courts ordered the STS to cancel them.
Recall
After law enforcement opened criminal proceedings against Sokur, he was allegedly assassinated on August 17, 2023. Earlier, we told you that there are many questions about the "assassination attempt" case and that it seems that it was not an order, but rather a staging. After all, the information that law enforcement officers prevented an assassination attempt on the acting deputy head of the tax service diverted public attention from the criminal case against him.
