More than 60 heads and doctors of MSECs in Kharkiv region have pensions, many of them have significant assets - Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center
Against the backdrop of the prosecutor-physician scandal, the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Centre has investigated all declarations of doctors of medical and social expert commissions in Kharkiv region that are available in the public space.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the publication's website.
As noted, it was possible to find and analyse 120 financial reports of people who work and head inter-district commissions in Kharkiv, regional commissions, district commissions in the region (Balakliia, Izium, Kupiansk) and specialised commissions by disease (specialised psychiatric, cardiology, cerebrovascular, etc.). All declarations are available in the form of open data on the NACP website.
What did the analysis show?
The first studies were striking: out of 120 filers of declarations for 2023, more than half, namely 62 (!) MSEC doctors, have pensions. The reasons for the pensions are not known: age or disability. As in the case of prosecutors, doctors cannot receive payments from the state for length of service (in this case, they must change their occupation). Only a few of the people surveyed explicitly stated that they receive a pension because of their disability. Also, in 120 declarations, we found 13 husbands/wives of MSEC doctors who receive pensions (some of them due to disability).
Interesting facts from the declarations
The husband of Tetiana Korshak, the head of the Interdistrict Industrial MSEC in Kharkiv, who is also a doctor, drives a 2019 Jaguar F-Pace for UAH 1.25 million, and Tetiana Korshak herself bought a 2011 Nuovo Doblo for UAH 181,000 in 2023. At the same time, the spouses do not indicate where they live. Both Tetiana Korshak and her husband receive a pension.
Vitalii Pashnev, the head of the Moscow Interdistrict MSEC, is a defendant in the case of forgery in office from August 2023 (part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). A court hearing is scheduled for 24 October in the Moscow District Court of Kharkiv. In 2023, Pashnev purchased a Renault Duster for UAH 887.6 thousand. He also receives a pension and has $30,000 and UAH 200,000 in cash.
Valeriia Bezsalova, a surgeon at the Moscow Interdistrict MSEC, who also receives a pension, purchased an 85-square-metre apartment in Kharkiv in 2023 for UAH 1,83,000 and a 2012 Nissan Note for UAH 131,300 under a sale and purchase agreement. In addition, Bezsalova's father, who receives a pension, purchased a 69.4 sq m apartment in Kharkiv in September 2022 for UAH 914,200.
Olena Misiak, a general practitioner and rehabilitation specialist at the Regional Centre of MSEC, and her husband also receive pensions. In 2023, Misiak bought an apartment in Kharkiv for UAH 1.13 million.
The head of the Lozova MSEC, Olha Morenko, owns 5 land plots in Kharkiv Oblast and has leased another 5 plots.
In 2023, the husband of Valentyna Pevna, the head of the inter-district Osnoviansk MSEC, who receives a pension, bought a Honda M-NV made in 2022 for UAH 49,000.
In 2023, Halyna Ponomariova, a general practitioner at the Regional MSEC, became the owner of two apartments in Kharkiv with a total area of more than 100 square metres (one of the apartments cost UAH 604.5 thousand).
The husband of Viktoriia Zakryvydoroha, head of the regional MSEC No. 2, who receives pensions together with his wife, bought a new Renault Duster in 2013.
In 2023, the head of the Kyiv Interdistrict MSEC, Viktoriia Pyliova, was sentenced to five years in prison with confiscation of all her property in the court of first instance for allegedly receiving UAH 7,000 in undue advantage from a person with a group III disability since childhood in 2021 for a conclusion on the time of onset of disability. On appeal, the verdict was cancelled and sent to the court of first instance for a new trial. In 2023, Pyliova and her husband received joint pensions totalling almost UAH 300,000.
Ruslan Kapustin, a neurologist at the Sloboda Interdistrict MSEC, was detained in early October 2024 on suspicion of organising a scheme to make money from men of military age. The SSU conducted 90 searches of 12 accomplices. According to SSU Head Vasyl Maliuk, a total of $650,000 was found in their possession.
Larysa Bunicheva, the head of MSEC No. 3, advised military veteran Dmytro Oliinyk to "cut off his leg" in order to receive the required disability group.
As a reminder, the court found Olena Zinovieva, the registrar of the Regional MSEC No. 4 "Regional Centre of Medical and Social Expertise", guilty of extorting $2,000 for assistance in establishing a man's disability (abuse of influence under Part 2 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and sentenced her to a fine of UAH 85,000, having approved an agreement with the prosecutor. This became known from the verdict of the Dzerzhynskyi District Court of Kharkiv on 11 September 2023.
As noted by MSEC No. 4, Zinovieva no longer works there, as she resigned last year. Vitalii Pashnev, the aforementioned head of the Moscow Interdistrict MSEC, is the accused in Zinovieva's case.
Corruption in the MSEC
On 5 October, the State Bureau of Investigation reported that the head of the MSEC in Khmelnytskyi region, Krupa, was found to have $6 million in cash during searches. Suspilne noted that it was Tetiana Krupa, who is a member of the "Servant of the People" party in the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council. Tetiana Krupa has been working as the chief doctor of the regional forensic medical examination commission since 2008.
It was also reported that the head of the Khmelnytskyi regional centre of the MSEC was detained and notified of suspicion of illegal enrichment.
Currently, the SBI is studying the lists found in the office of the head of the Khmelnytskyi MSEC Krupa. They contain names and fictitious diagnoses.
On Monday, 7 October, the Pechersk District Court imposed a pre-trial restraint in the form of detention on the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional MSEC, Tetiana Krupa.
On 10 October, Oleksandr Krupa, the son of Tetiana Krupa, resigned at his own request from the post of head of the Pension Fund in Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption has announced that it will conduct a second full check of the declaration of Tetiana Krupa, head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Centre for Medical and Social Expertise.
On 16 October, the editor-in-chief of Censor.NET, Yurii Butusov, published information that 49 prosecutors of the Khmelnytskyi region, headed by the regional prosecutor Oliinik, had received disability by "covering up" the corruption scheme of the servant of the people Krupa in the MSEC and the Pension Fund. In particular, the journalist provided a list of the names of all prosecutors and described the criminal scheme used.
Censor.NET featured a story about the head of the Cherkasy Regional Prosecutor's Office , Shevtsova, who, at the age of 42, receives a pension of 785,000.
A list of 30 heads of regional prosecutor's offices who receive the highest pensions has also been published.
On 22 October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted the NSDC's decision to prepare draft laws on the liquidation of the MSEC.
