Despite the investigation by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and NABU back in February 2024, the situation in the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Kharkiv region remained unchanged. Corruption schemes related to "VAT refunds", listing enterprises on risk lists, and blocking tax invoices continue to operate.
The same people or their “successors” remained in leadership positions. Vladyslav Selezen, the head of the State Tax Service in the Kharkiv region, has houses, land plots, luxury cars, dollar savings, and regularly travels to Europe, although his wife does not work and his son is a student.
Deputy Chief Svitlana Podsokha and her daughter Anna Podsokha, who heads the tax risk department, own apartments, houses, land, luxury cars, and non-residential real estate in the center of Kharkiv. They do not pay utility bills, and collection through the court does not affect their status.
Yulia Pyatash, the former "right hand" of Gladchenko and Marekhin, escaped punishment by betraying her managers and remained in her position as head of the risk department. Her property includes several apartments, land, a car, and dollar savings. Her daughter lives in Poland, and her utility debts exceed 21,000 hryvnias.
Sergei Zakharov, officially the chief state inspector, is actually Selezny's "cashier", collecting "tribute" from businesses and distributing it among his "four". He owns a fleet of cars, real estate, cash and bank accounts. Zakharov was "booked" from mobilization, while the real tax officers are already serving at the front.
Frontline Kharkiv suffers from war every day: people are dying, houses are being destroyed, and tax collectors continue to enrich themselves through shady schemes, hiding behind positions and connections. Experts and activists ask: will the new "tax feudal lords" go unpunished and is the state ready to confront corruption in frontline regions?
