In Kyiv, the head of the entrepreneurship department of the Desnyanska RDA, Vasyl Binkovsky, was detained. According to investigators, he demanded a bribe of 120,000 hryvnias from an entrepreneur for “not obstructing trade in excisable goods” in the district.
This was reported by Maksym Bakhmatov, who has already been approved by the government for the position of head of the Desnyansk RDA. According to him, the detention occurred during the transfer of money, and the person involved is only part of a deeper vertical of corrupt influence.
Bakhmatov openly stated that Binkovsky was promoted to the position not without the participation of people from the Kyiv mayor's inner circle. In particular, we are talking about Artur Palatny, an associate of Vitali Klitschko, who "really asked" for Binkovsky to be appointed.
In addition, according to Bakhmatov, the official worked in a "corrupt relationship" with Mykola Zagumenny, deputy head of the Desnyansk RDA. The latter's son, Dmytro Zagumenny, heads the Kyiv City State Administration, that is, he holds one of the key positions in Klitschko's vertical.
“This is not an isolated story, but a typical one – an official, covered by political roofs, collects cash from business. This must be broken,” Bakhmatov concluded.
According to the investigation, Binkovskyi guaranteed the entrepreneur the "green light" to trade in alcohol and other excisable goods without inspections and without obstacles. In return, he asked for a one-time "thank you" of 120,000 hryvnias.
Law enforcement officers detained the official while receiving the entire amount.
Suspicions and the selection of a preventive measure are currently being prepared. It is expected that Binkovsky's detention may be the beginning of a larger investigation into extortion schemes in the capital's regional state administrations and the influence of people close to Mayor Klitschko on the appointment of loyal officials.
In the Desnyanskyi district of Kyiv, the bureaucracy has had an extremely bad reputation for several years: regular stories about extortion from entrepreneurs, "covering" MAFs and illegal trade, as well as shadow flows at the district level.
