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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Vemir Davityan came to Zaporizhzhia not as an ordinary businessman but as someone who quickly began calling himself the local "watcher." He spoke of a friendship with Davyd Arakhamia and ties to the Office of the President, demanded that businesses give 20–30% of tender proceeds, and showed influence over personnel decisions in the region. Behind him stood Dnipro businessman Oleksandr Petrovskyi, known as "Narik."
We are republishing this investigation to remind readers how Davityan entered Zaporizhzhia, how he built his own system of influence there, and where his status as the person through whom, he claimed, governmental and business “questions” were supposed to pass came from.
Everyone seems to know by now about what happened in Ukraine and what happened with Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s "watchers" institute. The sordidness of this phenomenon is underscored by the very figures whom the Office of the President highlights as "watchers" over particular sectors or regions.
And the farther from the capital, the worse. Although in the case of the "servants" it’s even hard to find the right description, since the party itself is appalling because of the caliber of its members. But let’s move to a specific "watcher" and a specific region. This concerns Zaporizhzhia and the person who passes himself off there as Zelenskyy’s "watcher."
Whether he actually is one is somewhat debatable, since in the power system of the "servants"—even with an institute of "watchers" who substitute for legislative, executive, and judicial power—there is no order, as in everything else. But that’s not the point—official "watcher" or self-styled, the important thing is whether most of the region’s key figures perceive him in that role.
Vemir Surenovich Davityan emerged as a "watcher" about a year ago, when he began presenting himself that way to both local "servants" and representatives of the authorities and business. In conversations with them he insisted that all "questions" must now be "resolved" strictly through him. And he persistently told them he was a friend not of just anyone but of Davyd Arakhamia, who heads the "servants" faction in Parliament.
Davityan also claimed to have contacts in the Office of the President at the level of Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the curator of regional policy for the OP. At the same time, Davityan repeatedly recommended that businessmen who were allowed to win tenders "kick back" 20 to 30% of the tender amount to him. And this applied not only to current and future tenders but also to those already won.
Judging by the scale of theft cited earlier by Vice Prime Minister Uruskyi, Davityan does not demand an excessive amount—recall that according to Oleh Uruskyi (vice prime minister in the Shmyhal government), on the "Big Construction" program they steal exactly half of the budgeted funds. So there is plenty for tender winners to share, even if they don’t complain.
But the question is different—who is Vemir Surenovich Davityan, who allows himself to brazenly "push around" the region’s elites? As it turned out, he is the same nobody as most of the "servants." Of course, unlike most deputies and ministers he has several companies and is formally a businessman.
All these companies operate in a wide range of fields—extraction of sand, gravel, and clay; car rental, property management, security services, production of hookah tobacco. As an individual entrepreneur, Vemir Surenovich provides legal services.
But what stands out is that all these businesses are in very different sectors. Moreover, it’s impossible to find any advertising, websites, or social media pages for these companies. So how do they conduct business?
Davityan’s companies do not stand out for exceptional financial performance. That would be his private affair, but he likes to emphasize that he funds the activities of the "servants" in Zaporizhzhia region. Which, oddly enough, is to some extent true.
But the money is not his. Davityan is merely a transmission link—from his boss to the "servants." A cashier. And his boss is by no means Kyrylo Tymoshenko or Davyd Arakhamia. Davityan was sent to Zaporizhzhia several years ago by well-known in certain circles Dnipropetrovsk businessman Oleksandr Petrovskyi (Nalekreshvili), whom, according to former Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, some circles call "Narik."
It was from his charitable foundation "Solidarity" that Davityan began working in Zaporizhzhia.
And Vemir Surenovich’s start in Zaporizhzhia was rather sluggish—on behalf of Petrovskyi he carried out a few low-profile actions, but they made no splash. However, the task was accomplished—Davityan obtained an official facade for his presence in Zaporizhzhia. This is indirectly confirmed by the fact that Petrovskyi either gifted him or lent him a motorcade of several cars with Dnipro plates bearing the numbers "0009" and "0001," and security of about fifteen people.
With those same cars Davityan began driving local "servants," who were surprised by such attention from an "authority." Not all, of course, but the majority, since underlings are always pleased by attention from the "big ones" or those they consider as such. And who the representatives of the ruling party are, presumably needs no explanation.
This tactic, however, bore fruit—after a while Davityan began to be perceived as a person who had influence over personnel policy of the OP in the region. Who brought him to Arakhamia and Tymoshenko can be guessed. But the claim that Arakhamia is his "old friend" clearly does not correspond to reality. Davityan declared the "long friendship" after his car was spotted near the Office of the President at the moment the head of the presidential faction was getting in. Arakhamia also spoke of a "long friendship," while denying any connection between his "friend" and the institute of "watchers."
They denied having any interests in Zaporizhzhia so vigorously that the opposite happened. However, it was after these assurances from Arakhamia and Davityan that investigators became interested in the latter. The clumsy attempt by Davityan’s PR people to "bury" Internet search results with paid materials in which Vemir Surenovich muses about raiding added fuel to the fire.
And it was done clumsily, with the budget Davityan allocated to the effort clearly "sliced"—articles with Vemir Surenovich’s deep reflections that "the victim of raiders is to blame herself" appeared on some marginal sites like volnovakha.city and konotop.city. Which in itself alarmed any experienced observer.
The scandal—which was not much of a scandal, merely another dirty episode from the real life of Holoborodko’s entourage—died down on its own. Simply getting lost in the hell into which the "servants" have turned Ukraine over a couple years of their rule.
But it would be wrong to call Davityan completely unsuccessful—he managed to insert himself into the process of electing the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Council after the local elections in 2020. He even brought Kyrylo Tymoshenko to negotiations. Clearly, in reality Davityan was on the sidelines of that process—local elites simply don’t notice him, but he hovered near Tymoshenko. Which gives Davityan the opportunity to tell his own version of events.
He has the same version regarding the appointment of the head of the regional state administration. According to Davityan, he was the one who "appointed" Oleksandr Starukh to the post. But the truth is that Vemir Davityan not only could not "appoint" anyone, he could not even propose a somewhat suitable candidate to the Office of the President. For the simple reason that he is an outsider in the region with no influence over local elites.
However, Davityan apparently soberly assessed his position and turned to Hennadiy Fuks for help, a well-known businessman, former deputy governor, and head of the "For the Future" faction in the new regional council. Fuks proposed his old comrade Oleksandr Starukh.
And Davityan reported to Kyrylo Tymoshenko that this was "one hundred percent his man."
In the end everyone was satisfied—Fuks and his circle obtained control over the region, Kyrylo Tymoshenko declared that he had "quickly and effectively" resolved the personnel problems in Zaporizhzhia region, and Davityan got a story he can now use to tell everyone that he "appointed the governor and the head of the regional council."
That is what led to his current status as the region’s "watcher." How this story will end is not yet clear. Despite the fact that Davityan now enters the Office of the President and "befriends" Arakhamia, local elites do not really accept him. They rather indulgently allow him to boast about his status as a "watcher" than take him seriously as one.
Guessing the future is ungrateful. And it’s impossible to predict the logic of the people who by fate rule our country because they have none. Although it’s worth remembering who stands behind Davityan’s boss—Oleksandr Petrovskyi "Narik." And behind him stands the same man who stands behind the current president—Ihor Valeriyovych Kolomoiskyi.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Тендерний шантаж, побори з бізнесу та «наближені» кадри: Вемір Давітян намагається стерти з мережі згадки про запорізьке «корито»". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Rozsliduvach.
