Andriy Hmyrin: The “Toilet” of the Yanukovych and Poroshenko Eras Broke Through to the Trough Under Zelensky

Andriy Hmyrin: The “Toilet” of the Yanukovych and Poroshenko Eras Broke Through to the Trough Under Zelensky

29 March there was a competition for the position of Head of the State Tax Service. At the time of writing, it is not known who won. What is known is different – its course is being actively commented on by someone named Andriy Hmyrin, an associate professor at the University of the State Fiscal Service. Moreover, he distinguished himself with his comments and articles about this competition not only on the day it was held, but began appearing in media pages long before the competition date.

One would think a comment from a university employee of the SFS would be appropriate in this case, if not for a number of circumstances. Andriy Anatoliyovych shows an excessively keen interest in this competition. And the box opens easily – he is actively lobbying for one of the candidates for the position of head of the STS – Oleksandr Kucherenko, who, while head of the SFS in Kyiv region, was involved in at least five corruption scandals.

Also read: Oleksandr Kucherenko to head the STS. Thanks to Shefir, the Presidential Office is awaiting a “Tatarov-2” scandal

As Yuriy Butusov writes, “in the Presidential Office under the leadership of Andriy Yermak a group was created that controls the country’s shadow economy. The overseer of these flows is Andriy Hmyrin himself. Hence his interest in the competition to appoint the head of the State Tax Service.” Let’s see who will “win” this competition, and for now, according to the same Butusov, it is known that Hmyrin visited the Presidential Office six times from 1 to 17 March. Which, if you recall who Hmyrin works as, is rather strange – what is an ordinary lecturer doing there?

But if you remember his unofficial title – “overseer of shadow flows” – the matter changes. Interestingly, Hmyrin goes to the Presidential Office accompanied by a rather burly young man. He is seen with him not only near the Presidential Office, but constantly. Which again is strange for a lecturer – why would a scholar need a bodyguard? But this becomes logical if the media are not lying and Hmyrin really is who they say he is.

Also read: Competition for the position of head of the tax service: corrupt former tax officials are again rushing to the budget trough

Not much is known about Andriy Hmyrin. He was born in 1983, began his career in the Interior Ministry in 2005. In 2007–2011 he worked in the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime. It was then, according to representatives of the capital’s business community, that he began “solving issues.” This euphemism is understood by all Ukrainians and means one thing – businessmen were being squeezed for money. All these “issues” were “solved” in the restaurants Miami, Eshak, Seif, Moscow. And mostly the matter concerned the operation of gaming machine halls, which Hmyrin, by duty, should have been fighting. People who met him remember that he habitually put two Vertu phones on the table. Which, you’ll agree, should have interested the Interior Ministry’s Internal Security – even now the cost of such a phone is striking, and at the time they were owned only by real millionaires.

But for some reason no one took an interest in the activities of the organized crime fighter. And in 2011 Hmyrin was promoted – he moved to the Service for Combating Economic Crimes. He worked there until 2013, when he transferred to the tax police. The Revolution of Dignity did not shake his position. As informed sources say, at that time Hmyrin was actively “working” in Odesa, where he presented himself either as deputy head of internal security of the SFS or as an assistant to its head Ihor Bilous, and offered various cash-out platforms, schemes to optimize unwanted tax credit and customs payments.

He was dismissed by another no less odious figure – Roman Nasirov, who, upon coming to the post of head of the State Fiscal Service in 2015, began purging his agency of Yanukovych-era and “family” personnel. Note in passing that Nasirov did this not out of noble intentions but simply redirected flows to himself. By the way, rumor has it that Nasirov is related by marriage to Hmyrin, but that did not prevent him from dismissing him.

Andriy Anatoliyovych had to look for a new job – he became assistant to the head of the State Property Fund Ihor Bilous (the same one who had headed the SFS), where he worked until 2017. By the way, after leaving the State Property Fund Andriy Hmyrin had to fill out a declaration (this is his only declaration). And for some reason it does not list the Vertu phones or the gold watches he liked to show off. It lists a modest apartment in Bila Tserkva and a salary of 62 342 hryvnias. Although even the suit in the photo above this article costs more. But what can you say – not caught, not a thief.

After the SPF Hmyrin surfaced at the University of the State Fiscal Service. That is official.

Unofficially he became known as the aforementioned “overseer” of shadow money flows in the SFS.

Also read: Andriy Hmyrin: what is known about the new overseer of the tax service

Going back a bit in history, we will quote Obozrevatel (this article, unfortunately, has since been scrubbed): “Hmyrin was well known both to capital ‘authorities’ and big businessmen, as well as to his colleagues in the capital’s law enforcement agencies – in particular the future general Valeriy Heletey and the future Prosecutor General Vitaliy Yarema. These connections, which he uses to provide paid services organizing meetings with the right people, brought Hmyrin an not entirely flattering nickname ‘Nuzhnyk,’ which, however, fully reflects his acquaintances’ attitude toward him.”

So – if such a nickname indeed belongs to Andriy Anatoliyovych, it served its purpose – he proved useful under both Yanukovych and Poroshenko. And under Zelensky he became indispensable: it is known that Andriy Hmyrin closely cooperates with Oleh Tatarov, who oversees the activities of a group of former and current National Police officers. Most of them are former UBEZ members, i.e., those who “fought and fight” economic crime. And the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, for his part, plans to put the Tax and Customs Services under his control, relying on Tatarov and Hmyrin. And it is Yermak who people name as the person promoting Hmyrin’s protégé Oleksandr Kucherenko to the position of head of the STS. Kucherenko, by the way, worked with Hmyrin in the tax service and the State Property Fund when those bodies were headed by Bilous.

As we see, all the “new faces” promised to us by Zelensky and the “servants” are turning out to be the same old thieves. And not just thieves of the Poroshenko era, but wolves from the Yanukovych times. And if they managed to survive Poroshenko, who, however one regards him, was not a fool, then what of the clearly infantile and narrow-minded Zelensky?

After all, it has long been clear that he does not govern the country. The president’s puppeteers simply point to him where to put his signature. The same will happen with the appointment of the head of the State Tax Service – the “grey cardinal” Hmyrin, through the head of the Presidential Office Yermak, will push through his candidate. And the president will put his signature.