NABU suspects that businessmen Borys Kaufman and Alex Borukhovych created a real conveyor belt of corruption in Odesa, and a "single corruption window" in the city council.
In early December, detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) announced the discovery of a new criminal organization in Odesa, which actually controlled the entire city.
The figures in the case created a "one-stop shop" for local entrepreneurs and developers and monitored the decisions of deputies and officials of the city council. And for users of such "services", criminals had their own tariffs and collected millions of hryvnias every month.
NABU suspects Odesa businessmen Boris Kaufman and Alex Borukhovych (formerly Oleksandr Granovskyi) in the organization of the scheme, and their confidant Kostiantyn Efremov in complicity. Detectives detained these persons on December 5. In addition to them, suspicions were announced against three more employees of the Odesa City Council.
According to NABU, the organization emerged only a few months after the bureau managed to stop the activities of a similar organization that actively operated under the same scheme in 2016-2019. The mayor of Odesa, Gennadiy Trukhanov, is in the case of the old "mafia". In the new case, he appears only as a witness.
About why the mayor is not among the suspects, how exactly the criminals acted and what methods of conspiracy they used, in an exclusive interview with the publication of HB said Denys Gulmagomedov, head of the NABU detective department.
— In December, NABU reported the exposure of a criminal organization (CO), which took control of almost the entire economic life of Odesa. Business partners Boris Kaufman and Alex Borukhovych are suspected of its organization. In fact, these people continued the case of Volodymyr Galanternik, a local non-public businessman, who is suspected of leading a similar ZO that operated in 2016-2019. If we draw parallels between these two cases, how are they different? Perhaps a new business of a larger scale and more inventive schemes?
— These two criminal organizations are very similar to each other. The first ZO in Odesa was, in fact, a single window for businesses to resolve issues within the competence of the city government. If a business needed to obtain a permit or service from the Odesa City Council (OCR), it did not apply directly to it, even if it had the right to do so according to the law. The official appeal ended in nothing but problems and complications for the business. Instead, the businessmen addressed their request to certain people who "solved all issues" in the city. The name of these people is known to everyone, they were transmitted through "word of mouth". Thanks to them, developers received communal property (for use or ownership) for nothing and later seized large plots of land for development. In the same way, through these people, the issue of obtaining town planning conditions was resolved or the OMR took a passive position in legal proceedings regarding the protection of the interests of the community. All this was solved through a "single window", where a price tag for the performance of works and turnkey services was determined for the business.
When in the summer of 2021 we effectively stopped the work of the first criminal organization, and its organizer fled abroad, the competition between various influence groups for the vacant place began. These were not some civil strife or wars of authority. But those who felt their greatest authority and representativeness in this region took the situation under control in a few months and became the new owners of the "single window" in Odessa.
We must realize that a criminal organization is a large group of people. Part of the first ZO after the exposure of its tops remained in place. These are both private individuals and city council officials. They are inherently trained to work only under shadow schemes. They even had a question about who would organize their work in the future. Do you understand?!
And in fact, this new criminal organization consists of 80% of the same people who were part of the first one.
Although the content of the work of both ZOs is similar, there are still certain differences.
First, the new organization is smaller. Maybe because she's just "younger". Secondly, its organizers tried to give their activities a more legal appearance. The first ZO operated with so-called notional agreements, which directly fixed the obligations of the ZO and their price. The organization assumed the responsibility of resolving issues with the votes of local deputies, closing issues with law enforcement agencies, ensuring the provision of urban development conditions, regardless of whether this contradicts the general development plan or the intended use of these land plots, regardless of the fact that the land plots should be handed over at a tender - this did not bother anyone. The new group tried to wrap everything in the guise of patronage and business support. But in fact the essence is the same, the same "single window".
— Do you have any price list in the case file, what was the cost?
— There is no such price list in the case of a new criminal organization. I think they haven't made it up for themselves yet. And in the previous one there was. I will not quote him from memory, but the most amazing sums related to land issues. And there appeared figures of $4-5 million for some land plots. The most that caught the eye was $16 million. And this is money that did not go to the local community, but ended up in the pockets of a criminal organization. It seems that this price list was just being formed at the new ZO, but we got in the way of their plans a little.
- This new group of criminals also worked under a conspiracy, like the previous one. And they even had bunkers with silencers. What kind of accommodation was that? Were your detectives there?
- We were there, conducting a search. It can be seen that for the purpose of the conspiracy, people made efforts to protect both themselves and visitors as much as possible from prying eyes and prying eyes. Unfortunately, the representatives of law enforcement agencies, who were supposed to fight them, visited these offices and did so rather conspiratorially. And there is a question for what purpose this visit took place and why there was no response.
You see, the previous criminal organization gave out apartments to those who helped it implement its plans. Officials had luxurious apartments in beautiful residential complexes with a view of the sea or beautiful parks. This is in addition to the fact that they somehow separately supported financially. And this was the reason why they turned a blind eye to abuse for an abnormally long time. I am sure that nothing would have happened if it were not for NABU.
— Why did a new one grow so quickly in place of this old organization? Were they not afraid of punishment? Are these the consequences of the fact that the predecessors have not yet been punished?
- They were afraid and worried. They really didn't want to be exposed. And in fact, many of these conspiratorial measures were created for this very purpose. But criminal activity is like gambling. For many people, according to my observations, at some stage this risk of being exposed in a crime is acceptable. Why do they do this? Because the cash flow is very large. And at some stage they simply understand that such a risk should be included in the marginality of their activity.
— This last case is especially cynical in that the activities of criminals continued, despite the fact that a full-scale war had begun, and Odesa was under enemy fire at that time. Did the martial law hinder them in any way, or did it help them?
- It got in the way. They had certain plans and schemes that they wanted to implement in early 2022. But the war took their breath away. But the lull did not last long. As soon as it became clear that the situation has more or less stabilized and in principle the possibilities are open, and as soon as there was a request from the business to continue work, they quickly began to spread their wings. As soon as there was some money flow through the local budget, here they felt that it was possible to approach the continuation of their activities with new forces.
- Are they still working now?
- We hope not. But, probably, we will be able to tell with time.
- You said that there are many more people than suspects involved in this case. How many of them can be according to your estimates?
— We rely on the experience of the previous investigation: the episode on the transfer of the premises of the "Krayana" plant, the episode with the Western Cemetery, episodes with various real estate objects and land. Within these proceedings, 26 people are brought to justice: officials, appraisers, entrepreneurs, and so on. And we still have questions for a dozen people. I think we will answer them as well.
The circle of people involved in the new criminal organization is probably a little smaller, because it did not exist as long as the previous one. But in principle, it is somewhat similar in its volume. If you take and scrupulously evaluate the activities of everyone, it will be a long list.
— Currently, the mayor of Odesa, Gennadiy Trukhanov, is acting as a witness in this case. How do you rate his chances in the suspect category? It is very doubtful that such an experienced mayor, who is involved in many criminal proceedings, could not know what was happening under his nose.
— Now the investigation is ongoing and therefore it is not time to draw any conclusions, especially in public. There is a presumption of innocence and we must uphold it.
— The mayor is suspected of participating in a previous criminal organization. At what stage is the investigation today?
— The investigation of the activities of the previous criminal group continues. But we were collecting very small particles. When we started investigating the Cryan case in 2016, we did not realize that we were dealing with a criminal organization. Gradually, step by step, we revealed the global scheme. And when we went to disclosure, we already had a number of proven episodes with established losses.
— Is there any connection between the figures Kaufman and Granovsky with the current government? We remember the press report from 2020 about Kaufman's meeting with President Zelensky. It is also known that his tobacco distribution company is still a market monopolist. Maybe explore it within the case?
— The investigation continues, we are collecting evidence. Based on them, we will gradually provide answers to the society's questions about why this is happening.
— Did you receive threats while you were investigating this case?
- No, we did not receive threats. Previously, there were occasional offers of undue benefit for changing procedural behavior, today this case is in the Pechersk Court.
— If we generally evaluate all these Odessa cases, which NABU has been investigating for more than a year, can we hope that in the near future we will see the first verdicts and punishments? This is such a multifaceted and multi-year story. Everyone knows about it, everyone talks about it, but so far none of the officials of the Odesa region has been punished.
- We also have high expectations. Because court decisions are the quintessence of our work. Court convictions with real prison terms and forfeitures are a powerful response to a corrupt system. First of all, those who cover it, sitting in powerful offices not only in Odessa. It is also a signal for business that it is necessary not to negotiate with officials, but to work according to the law.
However, "landings" are not a panacea. These are all our citizens, we do not have a goal to transfer everyone to prison. Our goal is for everyone to work honestly for the good of the country and win the war. Therefore, we need to unite at the state level, reform state institutions and change the rules of the game.
