Vasyl Veselyi Goes to Work at Ukrposhta Wearing an Electronic Bracelet

Vasyl Veselyi goes to work at Ukrposhta wearing an electronic bracelet

Lately television programs and internet media have been full of reports, articles, and stories about criminal cases and outrageous instances of corruption and abuses at the state enterprise Ukrposhta. Some media ask: why doesn’t Minister of Infrastructure Maksym Burbak react to the actions of his subordinate Mykhailo Pankiv—could it be that one hand washes the other?

In fact, Maksym Burbak has no influence over the “hyena team” brought into Ukrposhta by People’s Deputy from Front for Change Andriy Ivanchuk, who is the “shadow curator” of the state enterprise and a close friend, advisor, and business partner of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. The appointment of Lviv native Vasyl Veselyi as deputy general director of Ukrposhta was lobbied by the Lviv criminal authority nicknamed “Pups”—in civilian life People’s Deputy Ihor Kryvetskyi.

A month ago, deputy general director of Ukrposhta Vasyl Veselyi was officially charged with a serious crime, and the court imposed a preventive measure—simply put, Veselyi now wears a special electronic bracelet that will prevent him from fleeing during the pretrial investigation and court proceedings. At the same time, Vasyl Veselyi remains in a leadership position at the state enterprise. Presumably acting General Director Mykhailo Pankiv cannot do without one of the main organizers of the criminal schemes—so Vasyl Veselyi continues to go to his high-level office and keeps “gutting” the unfortunate Ukrposhta with the despair of someone doomed: who knows how long the investigation will last?

Apparently Veselyi has nothing to fear, since very influential people are looking after him, and the Interior Ministry is headed by a representative of the People’s Front. With such a “roof” one can not only disregard an electronic bracelet and exploit old corrupt schemes at a state enterprise, but also introduce new ones. Can anyone offer another answer to the question: why have law enforcement agencies stubbornly failed to respond for half a year to the abuses at Ukrposhta that Ukrainian mass media openly write about and show?

Recently law enforcement officials detained the director of the Mail Processing and Transportation Directorate, Oleksandr Polinskyi, and his deputy Vitalii Vasyliev for a large bribe; Pankiv appointed them to their positions two months ago. These bribe-takers previously worked in agriculture—so they were appointed not as professionals but for corrupt reasons: to share bribes with him. It’s no wonder that Mykhailo Pankiv was very upset by the news of his subordinates’ detention. He immediately contacted his patron, People’s Deputy Andriy Ivanchuk. They tried to “sweep” the case under the rug at the SBU and the Prosecutor General’s Office and to cover for the bribing director. So far they have not succeeded, but investigators are no longer asking the detainees whom they shared bribes with.

Returning to the peculiar personnel-and-corruption policy at Ukrposhta, it should be noted that Vasyl Veselyi was the former driver for the criminal boss Vasia Pushok and the right-hand man of the late Koli Rokero—Mykola Lozynskyi, whom rivals sent to the other world. When Vasyl Veselyi arrived at the Lviv post office, professional employees began to be dismissed and replaced by bribers-extortionists who forced subordinates to extort money and pass it up to their boss. Journalists recall that when Odesa Governor Oleh Salo was introduced in Lviv, and Oleksandr Vilkul read the decree of appointment, the audience shouted “Shame! Salo to the bunk!” Veselyi’s deputies ran through the hall trying to cover the mouths of those expressing dissatisfaction.

Tamila Polishchuk

Source: ukrpochta