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Another Ukrainian “fixer” behind bars: how Martynenko got his comeuppance in Switzerland
For the second time in Ukraine’s history, a high-ranking corrupt official has been imprisoned. And for the second time, it happened abroad. After Pavlo Lazarenko, Swiss prisons await a ally of Yatsenyuk and Poroshenko’s business partner – Mykola Martynenko.
What Martynenko is accused of
He was sentenced to 28 months in prison, of which 1 year Martynenko must actually serve behind bars – for laundering about 2,8 million euros through Swiss banks “as part of a criminal group.”
In addition to Martynenko, his accomplice, Ukrainian citizen Pavlo Skalenko, was found guilty, who helped Martynenko hide money in Switzerland obtained as kickbacks.
According to Swiss investigators, Martynenko asked Skalenko to create an offshore company named “Bradcreast” in the Central American country Panama, headed by local residents who, on paper, acted as nominal owners. But the most interesting thing is that these Panamanians designated Martynenko as their authorized representative.
Martynenko’s involvement was uncovered when Swiss prosecutors conducted searches of Swiss banks and seized what is called “Form A.”
What is this “Form A”?},{
Regardless of who is listed as the fictitious owner of the company, in relations with the Swiss bank, the offshore must show the real owner. And the real owner in Swiss bank forms was Martynenko. The conviction of Martynenko is a restoration of justice regarding one of Ukraine’s most notorious “fixers” in politics. I had the honor to be the first to report the opening of a case against Martynenko in Switzerland – it happened at the end of 2014 year.
Then and in all subsequent years Martynenko insisted there was no proceedings against him in that state. Now, by his own logic, for a non-existent proceeding, he received a verdict that entails a very real year behind bars.
“About the supposed criminal case against me, I learned from the media. The accusations of my involvement in the so‑called ‘bribery’ are nonsense. I did not commit any offenses,” Martynenko said and ordered black PR against me, and when I sued him, he refused his own words and did not cite any evidence.
Now, when Martynenko has received a verdict in Switzerland, he continues to seek those to blame and complains that, due to the quarantine and closed borders, he could not attend the court session.
“I could not personally answer questions of the court and attest to the total groundlessness of mentions of my name in this case,” – commented Martynenko.
I can already imagine – Martynenko enters the Swiss court, gives his testimony, and under the influence of his arguments the court would change its mind. Do you believe in it? I don’t. And therefore Martynenko’s hopes for an appeal are also futile – in Switzerland courts, starting from the first instance, render fair decisions. And appeals rarely overturn them.
About the fact that Martynenko has little chance in Switzerland, he should have understood a few years ago when, through a court, he tried to remove Swiss prosecutor Urs Koell from the investigation of his crimes, allegedly because the prosecutor “illegally disclosed case materials” to me, Sergei Leshchenko.
It all ended sadly for Martynenko – the Swiss prosecutorate found no violations in the actions of its prosecutor regarding informing me about the progress of the investigation, then a similar decision was made by the Swiss tribunal, and Martynenko himself was left with a few thousand francs in compensation for expenses due to the drawn-out tussle with the prosecutor.
Martynenko’s case in Ukraine
Today Martynenko’s crime, besides Switzerland, is being investigated in Ukraine and the Czech Republic, and if Europe already has a decision, in Ukraine the case has been transferred to the Anti-Corruption Court, and NABU director Artem Sytnyk forecasts a quick outcome.
The essence of the crime, which is being investigated in parallel with Swiss authorities by NABU, lies in Martynenko, as head of the Rada committee on energy, acting as an informal supervisor of Energoatom and taking so‑called commissions for products that the nuclear enterprise bought in the Czech Republic at the Skoda plant. These kickbacks went to the Panamanian firm “Bradcrest” in Switzerland, after which law enforcement opened a case.
Where did the money obtained as kickbacks go? To the personal accounts of Martynenko and to rent real estate in Britain, Austria, and Switzerland for family members and close associates, payment for expensive firearms in Britain, transfers to other Martynenko accounts in Cyprus, payment for tourist services for members of the parliament.
Swiss verdict against Martynenko – the second time a Ukrainian corrupt official is sent to prison. And the second time it happened abroad – previously Pavlo Lazarenko was sentenced in the United States to 8 years in prison.
Parallel to this, Lazarenko’s sentence then, 20 years ago, was also pronounced in Switzerland – he was convicted to 18 months in prison, but the term served in Switzerland was credited against the time he spent in American custody. And Lazarenko, at that time, through his lawyers, admitted that through Swiss banks, as a public official, he laundered 9 millions of stolen dollars.
Where it all began
In general, Martynenko’s case is very interesting. As my sources in the United States tell me, in 2015 year Martynenko resigned from the deputy mandate under pressure from the Obama-Biden administration.
The point is that just before his arrival to Ukraine, Biden demanded that 2 the then leaders Petro Poroshenko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk each take a synchronized step to cleanse their circle of corruption.
From Yatsenyuk they demanded Martynenko’s resignation from the Rada, and he followed the advice, and from Poroshenko – the resignation of Shokin from the post of General Prosecutor, as activists, journalists, and deputies demanded.
As a result, Poroshenko carried out his part of the conditions over 4 months, and now this is being presented as US pressure to remove the “honest” Prosecutor General Shokin.
Who stood up for Martynenko
After Switzerland convicted Martynenko, officially recognizing his guilt in laundering criminal funds, it is a timely reminder of the names of those who stood as guarantors for this figure in Ukraine after Martynenko’s arrest in the NABU‑led case.
Those who stood up for Martynenko:
Minister of Youth and Sports Ihor Zhdanov;
Deputy Head of the Central Election Commission Andriy Magera;
18 members of the “Narodnyy Front” faction.
Also under scrutiny were Minister of Education Liliya Hrynevych and Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan.
But it seems that even the then-Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroisman was not opposed to defending Martynenko. When asked to comment on such a move, he said – “this was a team decision.”
“I can say this step by government officials was absolutely deliberate. I have no objection to such a step. I believe it was a team, collective, political decision,” – Hroisman said when asked about the actions of deputies and ministers who defended Martynenko, who, in turn, is suspected of plundering state companies under the purview of the same Hroisman.
All this means that, besides Martynenko himself, those who vouched for him in courts should also bear responsibility. And for shielding a corrupt official they should be removed from Ukrainian politics forever.
compromat
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Еще один украинский «решала» за решеткой: как Мартыненко доигрался в Швейцарии". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.
