Allies of the new interior minister from the Mykolaiv region received apartments and promotions despite the scandals

PHOTO: npu.gov.ua

The inner circle of the new Interior Minister, Ivan Vyhovskyi, has been climbing the career ladder alongside their boss for years, securing positions and government housing despite various scandals. A number of people have made their way from the Mykolaiv region to Kyiv.

This was reported by Bihus.Info.

Ivan Vyhovskyi began his career in the Mykolaiv region, where he became deputy head of the regional police. Later, he headed the Poltava regional police, then led the Kyiv City Police Department, and finally became head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The people with whom he was closely associated also moved with him as his posts changed locations. These include, in particular:

Araik Kochkadamyan. He rose through the ranks alongside Vyhovskyi, starting at a district police station in the Mykolaiv region and eventually becoming head of the Holosiivskyi Police Department in Kyiv. After the April shooting that left seven people dead, the public demanded his resignation, but he was promoted to deputy chief of the Kyiv Oblast Police.

Artem Rodigin served as Vygivsky’s deputy in the regions and the capital. He later privatized his four-room service apartment in Kyiv. In addition, journalists discovered that Rodigin’s common-law wife became a co-owner of an agribusiness with the mother of Taras Chekurda, who was convicted of collaboration.

Andriy Harastyuk also made his way from the Mykolaiv region to the Poltava region, and from there to the capital, following in Vygivsky’s footsteps. In the capital, he privatized a government-provided apartment with an area of nearly 100 square meters.Prior to the privatization, Harastyuk declared approximately $100,000 in family savings, part of which was ultimately used to purchase a luxury Mercedes GLE for an estimated $50,000.

Dmytro Sokolov (head of the National Police’s Property Management Department) also began his career in the Mykolaiv region, then worked in the Poltava region, and later moved to Kyiv. In the capital, he privatized an apartment in the “Slavutych” residential complex, while his mother and mother-in-law were purchasing expensive real estate outside Kyiv.

Roman Butko transferred from the Poltava region to Kyiv and became head of the Criminal Analysis Department when Vygivsky took over as head of the Kyiv Regional Police Headquarters. He waited longer than others for his official apartment in the “Crystal Springs” residential complex, but eventually received it and quickly privatized it.

Oleg Gudima also began his career in Mykolaiv. Following Vygivsky, he moved to Kyiv, where he headed the Darnytsia Police Department and was later promoted to chief of police for the Cherkasy region. In January, after people were killed during a police raid, the public demanded Oleg Gudyma’s resignation. He stepped down, but by February he had been appointed assistant to the head of the department that supports the National Police chief.

Earlier in Odesa, a city hall official was detained for accepting a bribe in exchange for granting immunity to a small retail kiosk. According to the investigation, a 50-year-old chief specialist at one of the Odesa City Council’s departments oversaw the operation of temporary structures and street vending facilities and had the authority toorder their dismantling. The official decided to use his official position for personal gain.

Юлія Калабайда

MBC Mykolaiv investigation prevention of corruption