Will the NACP follow the trail of Kuzminykh's pharmacies? There are now more than enough grounds for conducting an inspection

UNN found out that the people's deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh, accused of bribery, is obviously connected with the pharmacy business, hidden through close persons. According to Kateryna Butko, head of the Public Council at the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, if the information is confirmed and it turns out that the people's deputy receives income from lobbying business interests, the NAPC may draw up an administrative protocol and transfer the materials to law enforcement agencies.

Context

As UNN found out, the people's deputy of Ukraine Serhiy Kuzminykh, who is currently accused in criminal proceedings regarding receiving 558 thousand hryvnias of illegal profit, obviously used the scheme to hide his assets and conduct business activities.

In particular, according to open data, the driver of the people's deputy, Maksym Tokovyi, who also appears in the mentioned criminal case (he was an intermediary in Serhiy Kuzminykh's receipt of illegal benefits), is registered as LLC "MAXIMUM EF", the KVED of which indicates that it is a network of pharmacies.

In addition, there is another obvious connection between the people's deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh and pharmacies. Ihor Salko is indicated as the person authorized to perform actions on behalf of the legal entity LLC "MAXIMUM EF", including signing contracts. He is also a signatory to the International Charitable Foundation of the Kuzminykh brothers, founded by the people's deputy.

If the media, the public or someone else sends an appeal to the NAPC with facts and a request to check them, the NAPC will consider it. If the information is confirmed and there are violations, then, of course, it will be sent further (to law enforcement agencies - ed.) 

According to her, if evidence is found that the people's deputy is lobbying the interests of the business, the NAPC may issue an administrative protocol due to a conflict of interest. However, the court finally confirms the existence of such a conflict of interest.

Butko added that if there is a documented fact, for example, receiving illegal benefits, then this should already be an open criminal proceeding, which should be investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

At the same time, according to her, the practice of registering a business in the name of relatives or close people is quite common among people's deputies.

If there is evidence that the deputy promotes the interests of this business in his work for which he receives income - this can already be investigated as a possible conflict of interest

It is worth noting that Serhiy Kuzminykh works as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Activities of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health, Medical Assistance and Medical Insurance. According to media reports, in this position, Serhiy Kuzminykh actively lobbies legislative initiatives aimed at destroying large pharmacy chains. Journalists suggest that the pharmaceutical plant "Darnitsa" finances such deputy activity of the people's deputy.

The combination of these facts should obviously serve as a reason to check the activities of the people's deputy. The editors of UNN sent a corresponding request to the NAPC regarding the verification of the activities of the people's deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh.

Let us remind you

Earlier, People's Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh was exposed "red-handed" while receiving illegal benefits in the amount of 558,000 hryvnias. According to the investigation, he received funds for assisting in the signing of 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 for 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 several days of "hiding", the people's deputy was still detained to choose a preventive measure.

In May 2022, Kuzminykh was chosen as a preventive measure in the form of bail in the amount of 49,600 hryvnias. Of course, the bail for the people's choice was paid.

In September 2022, the indictment in the case against Kuzminykh was sent to the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court for consideration on the merits. Currently, the stage of evidence examination is ongoing. During this time, the people's deputy repeatedly ignored court hearings.