Forbes | Ukraine Is Silently Leading A Digital Currency Revolution Forbes There's a witticism sometimes used among Ukrainians: may you be forced to survive only on your official salary. The quip is both a tongue-in-cheek nod to the endemic corruption that is a daily, often necessary, reality of life in Ukraine and also ... |
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Ukraine Is Silently Leading A Digital Currency Revolution - Forbes
COMMENTARY by Chad Bannone
Recent media coverage addressing Ukrainian governments efforts to derail President Donald Trumps candidacy and embarrass his former campaign manager and political insider Paul Manafort is another indication that President Poroshenko is struggling to contain Ukraines growing corruption. A European country of some 44 million people that was once part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine is now engulfed in expanding regional civil unrest and economic and political turmoil. Stability in Ukraine is important for U.S. interests because of its strategic location, its conflict with its neighbor, Russia, and exorbitant stockpile of weapons it still possesses.
Ongoing jousting between former Ukrainian Parliament member Alexandre Onishchenko and Poroshenko are another example of the disarray in Ukraines government. Onishchenko, who is now purportedly hiding out in Moscow, is occasionally spotted in England and elsewhere in Europe with a Russian diplomatic passport, was a supporter of Ukraines former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko. Onishchenko has yet again released taped conversations that implicate Ukraines President in bribery, extortion, and grandiose self-dealing.
Ukrainian Oligarchs have divvied up regions and industries, hired mercenaries to run private battalions, and now resemble Somalian warlords rather than defenders of democratic principles embraced by the recent Maidan revolution. Recent coverage of Ukrainian governments shady tactics to win favor with Hillary Clinton and help her win the U.S. presidency was revealing. Ultimately, Ukraine has not changed. The new rhetoric embracing democracy is thinly veiled and hollow. It prostitutes slogans about human rights and Ukrainian self-determination to cover up corruption at levels Europe has not seen. The disintegration of Ukraine has been exacerbated by the Ukraine Russia conflict, which has all the earmarks of a budding civil war, and serves to deflect from serious ethical and operational challenges plaguing Ukraines government. The new Trump Administration, Congress and Senate are poised to investigate systemic Ukrainian government graft, and experts are lining up to provide insight into the political culture of the Poroshenko administration and to follow the money flowing out of Ukraine, which many insiders claim is in the billions of dollars.
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who chairs U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats, has been the main voice on the subject of corruption in Ukraine. The Committee scheduled a hearing to review the clandestine business activities of numerous Ukrainian politicians and business influencers. These business and political insiders have been accused of massive scale graft. They include Valeria Gontareva, Ihor Kononenko, Alexander Hranovsky, Vitaly Homutynnik and Alexander and Sergey Buryak, Anatoli Matios, Sergey Kurchenko, Igor Kononenko, Sergey Alexeev, Vasily Burba, Valery Kondratuk, Sergey Berezenko Maksym Burbak, Vitalii Nayda, Anatolii Mateos, and Boris Timonikin. There are many others.
Additional people are being investigated as they relate to U.S. national security, terrorism, and funds that have been directed by U.S. and its western allies to provide aid to the post-Maidan Ukraine. Members of Ukraines parliament and its ministers and officials still maintain ties to organized criminal groups in Eastern Europe and to the former President Yanukovych loyalists who have been accused of funding Ukraines separatist movement.
In particular, the activities of the head of the National Bank of Ukraine, Valeria Gontareva have caught attention of Western observers. A number of disparate charges of corruption have been leveled against her, and her cohorts. Gontarevas business was one of the main actors in a scandal with the Brokbusinessbank, a banking institution that was controlled by a Yunukovich frontman, businessman Sergey Kurchenko. Kurchenko was one of the youngest and most successful businessmen within the Yanukovych kitchen cabinet. He bought an 80% stake in the bank from brothers Sergey and Alexander Buryak. Alexander Buryak became a deputy head of the Supervisory Board. Gontarevas company had transferred the securities in amount equivalent to $240 million to that bank. Brokbusinessbank made a similar deal with the National bank of Ukraine. It sold bonds and received cash. In 17 days the National Bank of Ukraine, that was managed by Stepan Kubiv, declared Brokbusinessbank to be insolvent. Massive losses were booked to Ukraines treasury as a result of this scheme.
There is no shortage of controversial business and political personalities in Ukraine. Igor Kononenko is close to President Poroshenko. Kononenko is a major business magnate and member of the Ukrainian Parliament, the first deputy head of Poroshenkos faction. Companies that were managed by Kononenko were accused of money laundering, tax evasion. In turn, Mr. Granovsky is a close partner of Kononenko. He also has been repeatedly accused of corruption and even of raider-style seizures of businesses. Granovsky used to participate in a number of pro-Russian political projects, one of which was associated with Viktor Medvedchuk, who is in a close relationship with Russian President Putin.
Another Ukrainian parliamentarian, Serhiy Alexeev is a close ally of Alexander Granovsky. Alexeev is associated with illegal laundering of 300 Million Hrivna, illicit links to Yanukovych appointed judge Viktor Tatkov and Artur Emilyanov, as well as pressure on Ukraines judiciary to facilitate attacks and prosecutions in order to confiscate businesses and assets of other Ukrainian businessmen. Alexeev also collaborated in raider style schemes with Sergey Kurchenko and Boris Timonkin.
Bureaucrats turned business expediters close to President Poroshenko such as Sergey Berezenko, Alexander Gronovsky, Sergey Kovolenko, Vasily Burba, and Valery Kondrachuk have engaged in schemes for personal pecuniary gain that have threatened Ukraines national security. Contraband sale of cigarettes via military conflict zones, human trafficking, and weapon smuggling into the rest of Europe seem to be their forte. Money for contraband cigarettes smuggled into Europe is controlled by an individual by the name of Seyar Korshutov. A criminal kingpin based in Russian occupied Crimea, he is purported to collects funds from these illegal ventures. In turn, Korshutov is protected by Yuriy Sheremeta, an agent of the Fiscal Services of Ukraine.
Ukraines Military prosecutor, Anatoli Mateos is another enigmatic and corrupt business tycoon. He seems to be in charge of coal distribution and all funds from transport of vodka and general consumption products in Ukraine. Mateos is a relative of former speaker of Ukraines parliament, Vladimir Litvin. Criminal schemes headed by him deplete Ukraines budget and increase prices for consumer goods. Many of the Maidan personalities have turned out to be Ukraines false prophets, making unholy alliance with corrupt business elite and are now promoting Mateos for higher posts. The list of corrupt transactions and politicians that are embroiled in them is a long one as long as Ukraines history of political discord, growing civic unrest, and descent into what may soon become a completely defunct nation in the middle of Europe. Corrupt business and political associates such as Kononenko, Granovsky, Kovalenko, Kontratuk, Kurshutov, Mateos, and scores of others are leading Ukraine and its president on an inexorable march to economic destruction. Corruption that has weighed down Poroshenko administration is bringing Ukraine towards another revolution. Kremlin is using this for its advantage and has used the corrupt Ukrainian system to create a blocade in Donbas. These well know personalities like Medvechuk, Levochkin, Sadovoy, Tymoshenko, Semenchenko are some of the engineers of Ukraines continuing downfall. Supported by people like Kondrachuk, Nalivaychenko, Burba, and Mateos, criminal organizations are systemically depleting Ukraines resources.
As it examines Americas relationship with Europe and the delicate condition of the European Union, Trumps administration and U.S. Congress ought to consider consequences of Ukraine becoming a major destabilizing force in Europe, with business elite resembling warlords, and Ukraines politicians forsaking their duties as public officials for short term profit. They and their ties with the Yanukovychs people, their offshore accounts and corrupt schemes will be an object of the downfall of Ukraine as a country.
Congress ought to consider creating a special committee to investigate financial crimes of Ukrainian government official both appointed and elected. The U.S. government has not ignored the requests of Mikheil Saakasvili, former governor of Odessa, and once President of the post-Soviet Georgia. Sakashvili urged the U.S. government to investigate offshore accounts and business practices of parliamentarian Homutynnik accusing him of tax kickback schemes.
The Trump Administration should establish a list of corrupt Ukrainian politicians, suggest corrective measures and possible list of sanctions. It should investigate illicit flow of funds into offshore accounts and start holding Ukrainian politicians and their financiers accountable. These measures should prevent the disintegration of Ukraine. If that happens, Ukraine will become a polygon for illicit trafficking of weapons, drugs, and extremist groups. The risks to Europes economic and political stability and Russias further incursion into Ukraine are real, and the implications of Ukraine breaking up and erupting into warring regions can impact U.S. and Europe in terms of geopolitical leverage and expansion of Russias influence.
The invocation of democratic principles and efforts to appease current American political insiders are nothing more than rhetoric aimed at deflecting and confusing Western leaders to avoid being exposed as fraudsters and thugs that have yet again seized control of a European country of nearly 44 million people a country that once was called the Breadbasket of the Soviet Union with stockpiles of dangerous weapons and an even more dangerous culture of political graft.
This article is paid promo content as syndicated from PR NewsChannel, the press release newswire. For more information about advertising on DADDYHOOD, please contact Donna Tafuro at (813) 708-1220.
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Ukraine's escalating government corruption harms US interests abroad - Daddyhood
This isnt a cold war; its a hot war. And experts caution that the conflict in Eastern Ukraine could soon get a whole lot hotter if fighting damages huge industrial storage units of chlorine gas and there is a deadly release of the toxic gas.
If one of those uncontrolled sites containing chemicals were to detonate, tens of thousands of people could be poisoned. It is a potential disaster on the scale of Chernobyl, Robert Amsterdam, Russian political expert and lawyer at international law firm Amsterdam & Partners, told Fox News.
The risk is hardly hypothetical. Late last month a stray artillery shell hit the Donetsk Filter Stations chlorine gas depot, which holds 15,000 pounds of chlorine gas. While the containers -- by sheer luck were not damaged, the incident raised serious red flags.
In a situation like this, where a war zone is near a concentration of industrial facilities where toxic and explosive chemicals are manufactured and stored, it is possible that massive releases of toxic chemicals could be released, Rudy Richardson, professor of toxicology at the University of Michigan, told Fox News. And that would result in high levels of civilian casualties.
According to Baskut Tuncak,U.N. special rapporteuron human rights and hazardous substances and wastes, damage to just one chlorine-filled, 2,000-pound container has the potential to kill anyone within a 600-foot distance and poses dire health risks to the tens of thousands of surrounding residents.
RUSSIA SAYS US MISSILE SYSTEMS A RISK TO REGIONAL SECURITY
Large chemical and industrial facilities are in areas where fighting is ongoing, Tuncak said. Battles are now being fought in cities, close to industrial centers with factories increasingly at risk of being hit: The consequences for anyone living close by would be severe.
The three-year war which started as a trade agreement dispute but then burgeoned into a bloody conflict between support for Western-backed Ukraine and the Kremlin-supported separatists has already claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people, including 2,000 civilians, and wounded some 23,000. An estimated 2 million have been displaced or deeply impacted by dire shortages of food, electricity, water, heat, medical and social services.
Before the war, the Donbass region held more than 5,300 operational industrial enterprises, many of which are now under the control of separatist rebels who seized control of dozens of factories and mines, including those used to distribute aid.
John Gilbert, a senior science fellow with the Center for Arms Control and Non Proliferations Chemical and Biological Arms Control Working Group who previously conducted inspections in Russia and the Ukraine as a U.S. military officer concurred that a chlorine release would result in significant injuries and would be fatal to most. He also said that steps should be put in place now to minimize potential fallout.
The fact that there are many large industrial facilities and water treatment plants in the conflict zone is cause for concern. Ensuring that workers in the vicinity of toxic stockpiles have immediate access to protective equipment (such as masks) is important, Gilbert noted, cautioning that safety equipment is both costly and requires training to don and wear properly, in addition to having a limited shelf life. Collateral or even intentional chemical casualties from the Ukraine conflict is a real possibility.
AS CASUALTIES MOUNT IN EASTERN UKRAINE, SOME WONDER WHETHER PUTIN IS TESTING TRUMP
A reportissuedlast week by the Geneva-based Zoi Environment Network and the Toxic Remnants of War Project claimed that the damage to industrial installations has already resulted in a number of civilian health risks, and reinforced concerns over future disaster.
Gilbert stressed that there are precautions that industrial facilities can take, such as dispersing chemical storage containers rather than clustering them and looking at outside storage rather than inside a building. However, it is unknown if any such precautions are being implemented.
Several civilian sources on the ground in the conflict zone told Fox News that the chemical issue isnt even one being routinely discussed among them that they are merely trying to eat, keep a roof over their heads and live to see another day.
Russian forces have been accused of using chemical weapons in the Ukraine already, during the 2015 battle over the Donetsk airport in which 80 Ukrainian soldiers showed symptoms of being exposed to nerve agents, James Kirchick, author of The End of Europe, said. The Ukraine transferred its chemical weapons stockpiles to Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and is not known to be in possession of any chemical weapons while Russia maintains stockpiles of VR, Sarin and mustard gas.
Hollie McKay has been a FoxNews.com staff reporter since 2007. She has reported extensively from the Middle East on the rise and fall of terrorist groups such as ISIS in Iraq. Follow her on twitter at @holliesmckay
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Chernobyl-scale chemical disaster looms in Eastern Ukraine war, experts warn - Fox News
Paul Manafort, who served as President Trumps campaign chairman during the summer of 2016, is wanted for questioning in a Ukrainian corruption case, CNN reported.
Ukraine first sent requests to question Manafort to U.S. authorities in December of 2014 in case related to Oleksandr Lavrynovych, a former Ukrainian justice minister.
U.S. officials confirmed the requests to CNN but refused to provide further comment to the network.
"We believe they wanted to avoid the time-consuming competition they would have had to organize to hire the law firm legally, so they drew up the undervalued contract and probably arranged to pay the real fee in cash," Serhiy Gorbatyuk, the prosecutor for special investigations in Ukraine, told CNN.
According to documents reviewed by the news network and provided by Ukrainian officials, prosecutors told U.S. officials that the probe"established that the well-known American political strategist Paul Manafort is implicated in the relationship."
One letter sent to the U.S. Department of Justice said Manafort "was likely the person who advised representatives of the former Government of Ukraine to hire the law firm and was present during talks about this issue."
Manafort, who the story notes is not being charged, refused to comment for CNNs story.
Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign in August of 2016 following reports that he was paid millions of dollars for work for the Russia-supported former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych.
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Manafort wanted for questioning in Ukraine: report | TheHill - The Hill
20.03.17 (UKRAINE) - Fedcominvest will strongly contest the politically motivated freezing of the Ukrainian assets of the company`s Chairman, Alekszej Fedoricsev. The company is confident that the arbitrary nature of the State of Ukraine`s actions will be uncovered in the appropriate courts.
Fedcominvest would like to make it clear that any accusations of wrongdoing against its Chairman by the controversial and discredited National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) are strenuously denied and are part of an ill-informed and politically motivated attack.
This attempt by the State of Ukraine to seize Mr Fedoricsev`s assets has its origins in a series of contracts entered into by the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine, PJSC (SF&G) to export grain from Ukraine to China.
In 2012, SF&G entered into a US$ 3 billion `loan-for-grains` contract, which the Ukrainian Government agreed with the Chinese government, knowing that the maximum transhipment capacity of their own terminals was just 2.4 million tonnes per year. From more or less the commencement of the loan term, China demanded more grain from Ukraine than could be transhipped through State terminals. In 2013, demand reached such a level that the SF&G was unable to perform its obligations to China.
The SF&G therefore sought use of Ukraine`s privately owned terminals to tranship grain. They approached the owner of TIS terminals Mr Fedoricsev, as TIS terminals are the largest deep-water terminals in Ukraine, with transhipment capacities of 27 million tonnes per year.
Unaccustomed to using private terminals and abiding by accepted market practices, SF&G entered into a commercial dispute over a deal made in Mr Fedoricsev`s TIS terminals with a separate company (Lirtavis). It is important to note that Mr Fedoricsev has no commercial or other interest in Lirtavis. Despite having no legal interest in the dispute between SF&G and Lirtavis, the Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities have now seized the assets of Mr Fedoricsev as part of a wide-ranging and arbitrary criminal investigation flowing from the dispute.
The ultimate objective of the Ukrainian state`s investigations appear to be to appropriate the privately owned TIS terminals in order to service the SF&G`s growing need for transhipment capacity and meet the current high demand for grain exports. Only last year, SF&G`s Deputy Chairman, Andriy Repko admitted that the Ukrainian Government needed to build a new grain terminal suitable for large vessels in order to meet the demand of grain shipments to China. Their desperation is only exacerbated by the fact that the Chinese Import-Export bank has already brought arbitration proceedings against Ukraine for defaulting on the loan.
Spotting an opportunity to appropriate Mr Fedoricsev`s property, the Ukrainian authorities expanded their criminal investigation against SF&G into arbitrary and unlawful criminal investigation into Mr Fedoricsev`s companies. They have unjustly pursued key figures at Mr Fedoricsev`s TIS terminals and Mr Fedoricsev himself. This has now culminated in the unreasonable freezing of Mr Fedorisev`s Ukrainian assets.
Fedcominvest is completely confident that these illogical state actions will be overturned in the appropriate courts. Mr Alekszej Fedoricsev will of course help the authorities in any way he can.
Mr Fedoricsev says,
"I am disappointed by the lack of due process and malicious lies that have been spread about me and my businesses in Ukraine. It is unfathomable to think that I am being punished by the authorities for giving them the opportunity to meet their obligations under a loan which is hugely important to the Ukrainian state. It is clear to me that those who invest in Ukraine`s infrastructure, create employment and improve its economy are rewarded by the State with nothing but contempt. These arbitrary actions are indicative of a desperate State which is willing to go to any length to protect itself, with no regard for its people or economy."
Marco Garzone, Vice President of Fedcominvest, says, "We are confident that these malicious and cruel actions taken by the Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Bureau will be proven to be groundless by the appropriate courts. This absolutely baseless attack by the NABU on our Chairman, who is a well-respected international businessman, will not be accepted by Fedcominvest. We will support him completely throughout this ordeal."
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**ENDS**
Background information:
1. Fedcominvest Europe SARL
Fedcominvest Europe SARL, is a world-leading export business, specialising in the trading of grain, sulphur and fertilizers.
Founded in 2009 in the Principality of Monaco, the company has expertise in the storage, shipping and distribution of a variety of commodities. Fedcominvest has a significant presence in Western Europe and is a market-leader in the supply of grain from the deep-water ports of Odessa region to countries in the MENA region.
In 2016 Fedcominvest shipped over 5 million tonnes of grain to countries around the world including, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.
2. Alekszej Fedoricsev
Alekszej Fedoricsev is a successful Russian-born businessman. He is the founder of Fedcominvest, a global export business, specialising in the trading of sulphur and fertilizers.
After starting his career as a professional footballer for Moscow club FC Dynamo, Mr Fedoricsev began trading in car parts during the fall of the Soviet Union. He quickly became a specialist in the business of logistics, concentrating on transporting and trading in grain and chemicals including ammonia, phosphates and sulphur. His company, Fedcominvest, is now a global leader in the field.
A values-driven and self-made businessman, Mr Fedoricsev`s business ethos is centred on re-investing profits back into his businesses. This has proven to be a hugely successful model, with his business interests now spanning across commodities, sport, media, shipping and property.
A passionate sportsperson, Mr Fedoricsev is a leading figure in European football. Fedcominvest is a sponsor of Monaco FC and Mr Fedoricsev previously owned a significant stake in FC Dynamo (Moscow). As part of his commitment to make football accessible to all, he bought the rights to show football in Russia and allowed fans to watch the matches for no charge.
3. 2012 Loan-For-Grains Contract between the Governments of China and Ukraine
In 2012, the Ukrainian Government entered into a Loan-For-Grains Contract with the China National Complete Engineering Corporation ("CCEC") under which the Chinese Government agreed to provide Ukraine with access to $3 billion in credit lines in exchange for supplies of corn. It was reported that the Export-Import Bank of China ("Eximbank") agreed to lend this money at six-month LIBOR+4.5% over 15 years with a five-year grace period.
The first $1.5-billion tranche of a loan was sent by China`s Eximbank to the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine in 2013.
At the time this agreement was reached the Ukrainian Farm Minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk was quoted as stating that Ukraine expected to supply between 2.0 million to 2.5 million tonnes of maize to China every year to pay off the $3 billion loan.
See: https://www.ft.com/content/79bc2174-0276-11e2-8cf8-00144feabdc0 http://china.aiddata.org/projects/42559
4. The dispute between SF&G and Lirtavis
In 2012, SF&G entered into a US$ 3 billion `loan-for-grains` contract, which the Ukrainian Government agreed with the Chinese government, knowing that the maximum transhipment capacity of their own terminals was just around 2 million tonnes per year.
From more or less the commencement of the loan term, China demanded more grain from Ukraine that could be transhipped through State terminals. In 2013, this demand reached such a level that the SF&G was unable to perform its obligations under the loan. SF&G therefore sought use of Ukraine`s privately owned TIS terminals to tranship their grain.
In order to secure the transhipment services at privately owned terminals in Odesa region SF&G had to do two things they were unaccustomed to doing:
Due to Ukrainian currency restrictions on foreign companies, SF&G were unable to pay for transhipment directly to the foreign company (which was Mr Fedoricsev`s logistics company Grain-Trans, which provides informational and commercial support of the transhipment process) and agreed with TIS terminals` owner, Mr Fedoricsev, that they would pay the part of transhipment costs to the foreign company once the restrictions are lifted.
To facilitate the deal, SF&G secured their obligation to pay for transhipment with the grain to a third company (Lirtavis), which would prepay the transhipment costs to Grain-Trans. It is important to note that Mr Fedoricsev has no commercial or other interest in Lirtavis. He is, however, the owner of the terminals which SF&G desperately required to meet demand for grain exports.
To this day, SF&G has not paid the balance of transhipment costs to Grain-Trans, so Lirtavis has lawfully withheld part-payment of the grain to cover this expense.
5. National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU)
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) is a Ukrainian law enforcement agency founded in October 2014 which investigates corruption in Ukraine and prepares cases for prosecution. NABU has investigatory powers although it cannot indict suspects directly and must pass any evidence of corruption over to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
NABU was created at the request of the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission in return for the relaxation of visa restrictions between Ukraine and the European Union. NABU`s funding by the Ukrainian Government is mandated under US and European Union aid programs.
NABU recently received funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) as part of the Good Governance Fund for Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans.
The NABU`s first 70 detectives only started work on 1 October 2015 and NABU has already been the subject of allegations of corruption and ineffectiveness.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General`s office has strongly criticised the bureau`s impartiality and President Poroshenko is currently trying to appoint his choice to be the independent auditor to NABU, despite the Ukrainian Parliament`s backing a different candidate.
In February 2017, the Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli expressed concern about proposed amendments to the laws governing NABU and noted the EU Delegation was `alarmed` at the state of anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine.
Contact: media@fedcominvestmonaco.com
This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Fedcominvest Monaco SAM via GlobeNewswire HUG#2089147
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Fedcominvest denounces Ukraine's politically motivated attack on its Chairman, Alekszej Fedoricsev - Yahoo Finance