Oleh Kiper, head of Odessa RMA: "Now it is impossible to store 20-50 thousand tons of grain in warehouse to load it when ship arrives. Everything works right off bat, on move, under fire, under air raid alerts."
How do the ports of Greater Odesa operate under constant shelling? Is it possible to develop sea transportation in wartime? Why do shadow grain export schemes still exist despite the government’s declared fight against them? How is the mobilization process going against the backdrop of Russia’s new offensive and what threats are currently facing the Odesa region?
These and other questions were answered by the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Oleh Kiper, in a big interview with Censor.NET.
"NOW IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO STORE 20-50 TONNES OF GRAIN IN A WAREHOUSE TO LOAD IT WHEN THE SHIP ARRIVES. EVERYTHING WORKS RIGHT OFF BAT, ON THE MOVE, UNDER FIRE, UNDER AIR RAID ALETS"
- The enemy is constantly attacking Odesa with "shaheds" and rockets, trying to destroy the port infrastructure. Despite this, the grain corridor is working. At the same time, the dynamics show an increase in volume. Can we say that Ukraine has regained its place as one of the main exporters of agricultural products and remains a guarantor of global food security?
- This is the second grain corridor. The first one, when the agreement was concluded by the UN and Turkey, lasted almost a year. At that time, all ships entering and leaving the Bosphorus were inspected, and without the consent of any party to the agreement, the ship could not go further. And in July 2023, this corridor ceased to operate as Russia withdrew from the agreement.
At the end of the summer, the President set a task to find a way out of this situation. Everyone involved was working, talking to businesses to get at least one of the shipowners to agree to put out to sea. In September, we found such a company. It was the first vessel to put out to sea - a large container ship that had been idle since 23 February 2023 in the port of Odesa. The foreign shipowner agreed, and our military secured the passage.
We watched this process from the shore. For us, it was something not only joyful but also exciting. We were worried until the ship left the war zone.
We are now working around the clock, the military is also escorting us around the clock, and there are days when there are 40-50 ships in the convoy. Today, we are making the most of both out of what we can to ensure that our businesses can operate. And not only in Odesa. Thanks to the instructions of the President and our military, the logistics capacity of the sea route has increased and many businesses have started working.
- When the checkpoints on the Polish border were blocked, did you try to maximize the transport of agricultural products by sea? It's obvious that we need to look for an alternative so that businesses don't lose money because of such actions.
- Let's be objective. Ukraine also shares borders with Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. When we analyzed the overall statistics on grain exports, we saw that Volyn, Lviv, Zakarpattia and Chernivtsi regions accounted for 20%. It was transported across the western border by companies that found it more profitable to do so.
Traditionally, before the full-scale war, Odesa took on the maximum load because grain was brought here from the central part of the country, the east and the north. That's why it was so difficult when shipping stopped.
At the same time, when the ports of Greater Odesa opened in September and the grain corridor started operating, the situation changed. How can you compare a truck with 20-30 tonnes of grain to a ship that takes on tens or hundreds of thousands of tonnes?
- Did you work with the relevant ministry to solve these logistical problems?
- We were constantly working with the Ministry of Infrastructure, as we understood that the hits at the ports could have led to a critical situation with cargo loading.
I did not deal with the international agenda. Representatives of the Ministry traveled abroad and talked to foreign colleagues. But we understood that no matter what alternatives we looked for, we could add about 5-10% to the land transportation, and the largest volume would still have to go by sea. The western borders may not be able to cope with the amount of grain that our breadbasket can produce.
- Containerised shipping of goods by sea is now gradually resuming. In the current environment, how realistic is it to increase their number in order to bring back foreign economic activity that would bring revenue to the state?
- I think it will increase. Everything will depend on the needs. It's the same as with the grain situation. The problem is not just ours. The shipowner agrees or disagrees to enter the war zone. Insurance companies also behave differently. We had a case when a missile flew into Pivdennyi port, exploded over a ship, killing one person and injuring others. Every loss of life is a great tragedy for us. Everyone was also very worried that the companies would refuse to insure the cargo in the future. But in 10 days, the ship was repaired and left the port loaded.
Today, as the volume has increased, more insurance companies have entered the market. It has become easier to work.
Of course, port infrastructure plays an important role in these processes. Unfortunately, much of the port infrastructure in the ports of the Odesa region is destroyed.
I am grateful to the businesses that operate in the region under such conditions and pay taxes. It is impossible to store 20-50 thousand tonnes of grain in a warehouse to load it when the ship arrives. Everything works right off the bat, on the move, under fire, under air raid alerts. The ship takes three to five days to load, not a day. But they do it by paying for the demurrage.
- Do you often visit the scenes where there are hits?
- I always visit if it concerns people's lives. I guess my experience of working in the prosecutor's office, when I got used to the fact that an investigator has to visit to the scene of an incident, also comes into play.
Of course, the relevant rescue and utility services and organizations are working there on site to help, from clearing the rubble to making tea.
Sometimes rescue operations take many hours. As was the case in Dobrovolskyi, where twelve people died, five of them children. The rescue operation lasted 22 hours. I was there ten times during that day, and we hoped that someone was still alive under the rubble. It was so emotionally difficult.
- For me, one of my own tragedies was when the commander of the Tsunami, Oleksandr Hostishchev, was killed during another shelling.
- That day we had a long meeting with the security forces. Before it was over, there was a "hit" and the chief of police of the Odesa region received a call from Oleksandr. It was closer for him to get there and he said: "I'm here, I'm going to look into it and tell you about the situation". Realizing that Oleksandr was on the spot and was already working with all the services, we decided to stay and finish the meeting. Ten minutes later, there was a second hit. It turns out that Oleksandr, by allowing us to work for a few more minutes, saved our lives.
- Did you go after the second one?
- Yes, of course, it was a cluster munition attack - 20 people died. Among them were Oleksandr Hostishchev and former deputy mayor of Odesa Serhii Tetiukhin.
- When you were appointed head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, many people wrote that since you had worked mainly in the prosecutor's office, you had no knowledge of the economy. But unexpectedly, one of your first orders, which provoked wide discussions and heavy criticism, concerned the economy, in particular grain exports. It is called the Kiper-Moskalev order because the second signature was put there by the then-commander of the Odesa Operational and Strategic Group of Troops. This document was criticized by representatives of official businesses. They claimed that this order forced them to violate tax and customs legislation and blocked their activities. Why did you initiate it? Did you see something that prompted you to fight shadow schemes and black grain, or were there any other motives?
- I cannot say that I saw anyone committing a crime. It was about certain loopholes in the legislation that allowed shadow schemes to operate. I noticed them while still working as a lawyer and prosecutor. It was possible to export grain using not always truthful documents, and there was no need to check its origin. That's why there was a so-called form two, a cash purchase and sale.
- Did they "counterfeit" the documents because they bought grain from farmers for cash?
- No, not all farmers sell grain for cash. A lot of companies and farmers have worked and are working transparently. Unfortunately, there are also those who sold for cash to intermediaries, who in turn resold it further, not always with the appropriate package of documents.
Later, these companies were closed down, resulting in the non-return of currency to the state and other losses from these dubious transactions. What did this affect? The hryvnia exchange rate. Due to the non-return of foreign currency earnings to Ukraine needs to be covered by something. Of course, the Ministry of Finance takes funds from the budget and covers it. And it turns out that the black market is working, and the state provides it with work.
In other words, having such "loopholes" in the legislation and good lawyers, companies can take advantage of them.
What was done? Having studied the whole situation, we started to gather businesses, talk and explain: "We have a difficult situation in our country. It's taxes".
- What kind of business was discussed at the meetings?
- Domestic large companies, international companies, representatives of associations. At the meetings, we discussed everything about streamlining the grain market so that the state does not lose money. Everyone listened, made suggestions and comments. In general, everyone said that we fully support the initiative. All companies signed a memorandum.
When the order came into effect, there was criticism, because people did not believe that the signing would be without any benefits for some, but rather that there would be one set of rules for all.
Criticism began that we were allegedly violating the Tax and Customs Codes. Therefore, we need to say why Mr Moskalov was involved. During the war, the law allows for restrictions on constitutional rights. We did not restrict anything, we changed the procedure. So let's say it like it is. Previously, the package of documents for closing the customs declaration was submitted after the vessel with the cargo left Ukraine's borders, but today, in accordance with the order, it is impossible to close the customs declaration and vessel sailing without verifying the origin of the goods and filing a tax invoice.
This makes it possible to trace the origin of the goods and, accordingly, to understand whether the cargo was purchased from a working company or a fictitious company.
- There are competent authorities that would have to fight smuggling and shadow schemes without you. Did they not know that there are companies in the region that evade taxes, that there are "black" exports? Did they not work or did they have any agreements with each other, with business, with smugglers?
- As a career prosecutor, I can tell you clearly: these bodies document crimes. However, due to loopholes in the legislation, most crimes are documented after the fact. When they have closed the declaration and submitted the tax invoice, you see that the origin of the goods is not confirmed and the investigating authorities are forced to "catch up".
Therefore, we analyzed that catching up with the "pound", which is not even the owner for the most part, sending it to court with an indictment, and showing a tick in the statistics that we have sent criminal proceedings to court is good, but not effective. Nothing hurts as much as when your grain is arrested on your ship and you lose out on million-dollar contracts due to the lack of supporting documents. And, as they say, nothing teaches people more than lost profits. That's why the procedure was changed, not to catch up, but to be proactive.
- So you didn't talk to the security forces at all, you didn't hope that they would do anything, did you?
- They wouldn't have done anything, listen to me. The process of documentation in the Criminal Procedure Code is spelled out in such a way that a law enforcement officer has to do a lot of procedural actions to verify the origin of the grain and so on. During this time, the cargo mostly left the territory of Ukraine. Of course, this was used by companies with signs of fictitiousness.
Why did official companies face inconveniences? Because they had to issue tax invoices earlier, in accordance with the new procedure, and they had not violated anything. That's why they had questions: "Why are you slowing us down too?"
- The All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council claimed that the implementation of the order contradicts the provisions of the Tax Code, and that it is punishable. In other words, you put the business in such a situation that they are forced to violate the Tax Code. And the tax service or the BES may come to them. Did you realize when you signed this order that you were taking on a lot of responsibility even under martial law? Why didn't you take a simpler route and ask the members of the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada to change the legislation?
- When big companies started calling me and coming to see me, I explained that the issue was not for them. And if more official grain appears on the market, they will be able to buy more of it and make more money. "Just change the way you work. Don't wait for a tax invoice from the grower, ask for it now. If you all work officially, this is not a problem for you."
- You asked for business. And I'm talking about People`s Deputies and changing legislation to remove loopholes.
- A few months passed after the order was issued, and there was a surge of criticism. And at that time, the president came to visit us. I explained to him what the problem was and what we were doing. Even though before that, the Verkhovna Rada had set up a PIC (provisional investigatory commission), which interviewed several customs officers over the course of a year.
The President has taken up this issue, and today I can state that on 9 May, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law on the Settlement of Certain Economic Issues of Foreign Economic Activity, which is based on Order No. 19. I am happy that they will leave me alone with this order. I believe that the legislator has confirmed our intention with Moskalov.
- And what are the practical results of this order coming into force? What has changed?
- From the beginning of the order, there were 15 billion hryvnias of foreign exchange earnings that were returned, and now we have already reached the figure of 60 billion hryvnias per month. These are the figures of the National Bank.
And if you receive a refund of foreign currency earnings, make a profit, you need to pay taxes, show the origin of your expenses: fuel, seeds, fertilisers, salaries, as example. Do you realize how many taxes go round and round in circles that we will never count?
I was pleased to hear that at one of the meetings, they told me that they had talked to a farmer from another region, and he said: "Listen, there's a crazy head of the RMA in Odesa, and we can't sell grain for cash."
- Is it now unprofitable for intermediaries to work in this market, to "counterfeit" documents?
- We do not give them this opportunity. We ask for confirmation documents. And if the document is "counterfeit", the tax authorities check it before the cargo is shipped, and if they find signs of fictitiousness, i.e. the absence of land and labour, they simply block it and prevent the grain from being loaded onto the ship.
The regulation that we signed, in addition to the order, stipulates that a preliminary customs declaration is submitted on what is planned to be exported. Customs sends the information to the tax authorities. The tax office examines the company to see if it is able to produce the volume of products for which the declaration is submitted, and the company receives a refusal to export the products or a permit.
"WHEN THE WAR IS OVER, I WILL BE INTERROGATED FOR A LONG TIME. BOTH AS A PROSECUTOR AND AS THE HEAD OF THE MILITARY ADMINISTRATION"
- Recently, hromadske published an investigation stating that, after examining the Ukrainian customs database, they found 40 companies with signs of fictitiousness that started trading grain for export after August 2023. That is, after the publication of Order No. 19. And in the last quarter of 2023, they exported approximately 800,000 tonnes of various agricultural products through the ports of the Odesa region with a total value of about UAH 6 billion. According to journalists, these companies are not part of well-known agricultural holdings, do not have their own land, and have never exported before. At the same time, several companies allegedly belong to your "sphere of influence". What are these 40 companies? Do you know about their existence? Can you comment on them?
- What is there to comment on? The figure of 40 companies was announced, but only a few were named in the story. I'm a lawyer, and there are already a number of Supreme Court decisions on the abstract nature of all these opinions.
- The story clearly states that the country has lost billions. And you are fighting to ensure that it does not. If I were fighting shadow business, I would have reacted to this. I would at least ask the competent authorities what kind of companies they are.
- We are in the process, the story was released last week. I asked them to monitor these companies. As for the ones mentioned in the story, I have already confirmed that they are all official companies.
I think that there may be lawsuits from companies accused of smuggling this grain out of Ukraine. I don't believe that the journalist "gobbles up" 120,000 declarations that were allegedly used to export the grain. He would have been doing this for several years. And the story would have been published in three years. So it's a word-play.
I understand what 120,000 declarations are. I once initiated proceedings in a case with 5,000 volumes. When I was told that it had to be studied objectively, I asked: "Give me three years". I was told: "You have three days". I said that I wouldn't have time to do anything then. So, when you realize what 120,000 declarations are, you realize how unprepared they were for the story. They could have said 20-30, and I would have started to worry, thinking that maybe someone had violated the order.
The story says about 40 companies, but I don't understand which companies were studied.
- Perhaps we should ask journalists for data?
- I am now thinking about possibly filing a lawsuit myself and requesting this information as part of the trial. If you are falsely accused of something, you have to react. There's a lot of abstract stuff in there, but there's also some specifics.
- Do you mean that you are thinking of filing a lawsuit against the hromadske?
- I have received such advice but I have not yet made a final decision.
- Listen, the story says that you control 85% of exports in a "manual mode". This is a serious accusation. You are in such a position, and the country is at war. I have another question. With whom else do you share and coordinate your actions?
- Am I "in control" because I signed the order?
- But this is not an accusation against an army general, only against you.
- He is a very decent person. Now he is going through a very difficult time. We get in touch over the phone sometimes. He also sees the positive side of what we have done.
I am very grateful to him for supporting my proposal at the time. He was not afraid. Not everyone has that kind of character.
By the way, in this story, the expert says that he has not heard of any corruption facts in the context of this story.
The journalist also stated that he had sent a request to the regional military administration, and we checked: no requests were received in my name or to the departments. The story also did not include a screenshot, as journalists usually do.
- I understand that you do not want to be called a "grain baron"...
- Let them call it what they want if it gives plus points to Ukrainian business and the state, and today it does.
In the 11 months I have been working in Odesa, everyone understands that the management of the Odesa Regional Military Administration is not afraid to make decisions and take responsibility for them.
- Odesa Customs often changes managers, but it coincidentally happened that one of them was appointed last year and there were rumors that he was your protege. Is it true?
- I have known Hrynchyshyn for 20 years. I was an investigator at the Kotovsk Interdistrict Prosecutor's Office when we met. He worked at the customs office.
When I was appointed as Head of the Regional Military Administration, we worked a lot with the previous head of the customs office on Order No. 19. I lived for it, I was passionate about it, I wanted to add the positive signs not only to the regional budget but also to the budget of Ukraine.
However, in the process of preparing the order, the management changed.
I know many customs officers in Odesa region because from 2007-2010 I worked in the supervision department of Odesa Customs. For me, customs officers, border guards, the Security Service of Ukraine - everything is familiar.
- But this coincidence seems strange to say the least. First the order, then your friend the customs officer.
- Why didn't the head of the regional department of the BES my acquaintance? He was the head of the investigation at the Kyiv tax police, and I was the Kyiv prosecutor at the time. Or the head of the tax police? I played with him in Chornomorsk as a kid. Why isn't Khvan mine? And why isn't Dorovskyi mine? Last May, on my birthday, I went to Odesa, went to a cafe to have breakfast, and the head of the regional SSU office was sitting there. Viktor said: "There are rumors that you are coming to us as the head of the military administration." And I said to him, "I've also heard that you will also be the head of the military administration." That's how we had breakfast.
Does it mean that if we know people through work, they are all mine?
You see, I worked in the law enforcement system for many years, changed several areas, so I know a lot of people.
- And how did the head of the regional SSU office manage to stay in office after Bakanov, who had appointed him, was dismissed?
- How did I manage to stay in the office after Kostin came in? He called me, we talked. I asked him: "'Andrii Yevhenovych, do you want me to write a letter of resignation? Will you transfer me somewhere or fire me?" And he said: "When the war started, where was everyone?" I answered: "I don't know, I heard that they were in the ‘Western Cauldron’. He continues: "And where were you?" I explained that I was at work in Kyiv. He said: "What are your questions then?" and went back to work.
In general, in the early days, our usual work was not needed. We went to get assault rifles. After a few days, the work increased, especially in early March, when the law came into force that allowed prosecutors to act as investigating judges.
When investigating judges were unable to start a court hearing for various reasons, prosecutors performed these functions with their consent. We will see how all the work we did in the early days of the war will affect us in the future, but we did it all for the sake of the state.
- But you understood that the time would come when they would start to "catch up"?
- When the war is over, I will be interrogated for a long time. Both as a prosecutor and as the head of the military administration. Believe me, I am ready for this. Let's win!
But I can tell you for sure: we did not commit any illegalities, everything was done within the law. Where my seal and signature played an important role, I was not afraid to put them anywhere.
"WHEN INVESTIGATING WAR CRIMES, WE FOUND OUT THAT THE RUSSIANS SENT PEOPLE WHO USED TO LIVE IN UKRAINE AS COMMANDERS OF THE UNITS"
- In the first months of the Russian offensive, law enforcement officers faced a serious challenge - documenting and investigating war crimes. They had already been doing this since 2014, but it was not so widespread then. As a prosecutor in Kyiv, you were one of the first to do this, as Kyiv region was the first de-occupied territory. After the liberation, we learned about what the Russians were doing in Bucha, Hostomel, Borodianka and other settlements, how they were dealing with civilians. Did you also visit the crime scenes at that time?
- After 30 March, when the Kyiv region was liberated, the president was the first to go there. And in early April, the entire law enforcement block was sent to record war crimes. The Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office was tasked with investigating war crimes in Hostomel and Moshchun, while the Prosecutor General's Office and the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor's Office were responsible for other settlements.
We then created a group of about 100 people. They were explosive experts, investigators, prosecutors. This group was headed by Dmytro Prokudin. Investigators and prosecutors spent two months recording war crimes.
Ivan Vyhovskyi, who was then the head of the Kyiv police, and I first went to Hostomel. It was impossible to look at it without tears. It was like a story about going back a hundred years. There was no electricity, people were queuing to get food...
Here we see someone running around with a machine gun in the village council, someone standing behind the food, all people with glazed eyes. It feels as if you have entered another world.
We also visited the airfield and the glass manufacturing plant. I'm not a sentimental person, but for me, it was something terrible. I did not expect to see such things in the third millennium. But I still remember everything.
But when I went to Moshchun a few days later, it was a shock. Out of all the house and grounds there, only five had survived.
We still found tanks there, corpses... One of them was the corpse of a paratrooper from the Pskov Division. This division was considered to be the elite of the Russian army, but our guys did their best, and after the battles for Moshchun, it ceased to exist.
Interestingly, his tunic had the name Shevchenko on it. Later, when war crimes were investigated, it was discovered that the Russians had sent people who had once lived in Ukraine as unit commanders. It was also a psychological factor. They went into houses and said: "Look, I'm from Ukraine. I live in Russia, everything is cool with me".
- Why did they kill civilians?
- Until 8 March, they tried to go door-to-door and talk to the local population. And when they saw that this psychological game was not working, that none of our people were going to take the side of the enemy, everything changed. At the same time, new units arrived, including Buryats, who then abused our countrymen, looted, even taking away toilets from houses.
- Was it difficult to ID them?
- If you could clearly see the faces, the National Police and the SSU operatives identified many of them. The first case that went to court was that the Russian military had organized a so-called safari at the turn to Hostomel. They were shooting people who were passing by from an armoured personnel carrier, machine guns and assault rifles.
We identified those involved and sent the proceedings to the court with their names for conviction in absentia.
- March 2022 was a difficult month for all of us. But everyone supported each other and joined forces.
- I can tell you this: I have never worked as fast as I did in March 2022 in my life. A 30-second phone call solved many issues.
But then there was also a lot of fear. I remember even going to sleep for a few hours, but I kept the gun in my hands. Now I think back and ask myself: why?
Despite everything, we worked almost around the clock on adrenaline.
- When I think back to that time, for some reason, all my memories are black and white or grey, there are no vivid ones. I don't know how to explain it.
- I think we cannot accept this. As I told you, I could not accept what I saw in Hostomel and Moshchun. People were killed in the basement... The fences of houses were demolished, because in almost every yard the Russians were hiding equipment, using houses and people as cover...
- Thanks to our soldiers, they did not enter Kyiv then. But now they also need help. That is why it is very important to mobilize now so that those who went to war in the early days can finally rest. Unfortunately, some representatives of the TCR have done everything to spread horror stories about them. Are you discussing now what the further mobilization process will be like after the law comes into force? Will they also force you to join or will they try to motivate you somehow?
- Mobilisation is the responsibility of the TCR. What is the task of military administrations? It is to inform and educate people so that they understand why they are being mobilized. As for motivation, I openly say at meetings: if we don't help our army, someone else will come and no one will ask you. They will put you in an enemy uniform and you will not open your mouth. They will have you over a barrel and send you off to be slaughtered.
Today we are explaining to people that no one is going to send you to zero line tomorrow. There are recruitment centres. Go and learn. Maybe someone is good at electronics, and today is a war of technology. Brains are needed in everything.
- I watched your interview with Radio Liberty. And when you were talking to the journalist, she asked about the former head of the Odesa regional military commissariat, Borysov, because he was just being chosen pre-trial restrictions. I was surprised by your answer to the question: "Are you following this process?". You said that you were not following it, there are law enforcement officers for that. But the story with him is so talked about that all military commissars and heads of the TCR were dismissed, and massive inspections and searches began. Aren't you at all interested in how a scheme for granting deferment for persons liable for military service could exist during the war?
- When I arrived in Odesa, Borysov had already been detained.
As for today's work, I'll even show you a group where I look through the names to understand how many people have passed the MMC, how many have been mobilized, how many have not. But again, today we are helping to notify them, helping to provide them with jobs. In other words, we go hand in hand. The military enlistment officer is not my subordinate. He has a command - the General Staff and the Land Forces Command.
- Did you ask the head of the Administration of the Security Service of Ukraine what he thought about the situation with Borysov and how he reacted to it? Because there was information in the media that Borysov's son worked in the department, so perhaps he was treated so loyally.
- When I was traveling to Odesa, I knew that he was working there as a police investigator. Besides, I didn't want to interfere with the SBI investigation. So when the journalist asked me, I said that I was following the case by reading the news.
- There is a lot of talk about a new Russian offensive. Their current priority is Kharkiv. But if they move on to Odesa, as they have previously named it as one of their targets, do you think they will be able to hold the region?
- Firstly, I don't understand how they can do this now, in relation to the Odesa region. And secondly, it's everything we've been talking about. Mobilization, assistance to soldiers and businesses are important now.
We did, are doing and will continue to do everything to protect the region. But I really want us not to "scratch at each other" today, to accept that it is war and return to the friendliness, respect, help, and attitude towards each other that we had in the first months of the full-scale invasion.
- You have been "appointed" to the post of Prosecutor General three times by the media. Now they are again writing that you are allegedly being lobbied for this position by Yermak because you are his protege. Have you talked to him about this?
- Why Yermak? When I was appointed to Odesa, the President called me to his office and offered me the position.
- Perhaps because you were his advisor.
- Let me tell you how I became an adviser. Even before the president's inauguration, his aides asked me if I could give any advice on the prosecutor's office. "Here's a phone number, call the person and talk to him, maybe you can be useful," they told me. That's how we met.
And when he became the head of the Presidential Office in 2020, he invited me to be his advisor.
- Why didn't you go to work for the prosecutor's office immediately after your repromotion?
- Riaboshapka did not repromote anyone. Venediktova set a task for the staff to offer positions to everyone who had a court decision on repromotion. People like me, who won in court, started filing complaints with law enforcement agencies about the non-enforcement of decisions. This is a criminal offense.
I was dismissed from the Prosecutor General's Office and repromoted there. And I was non-staff.
Later, I was contacted by the then-first deputy prosecutor of Kyiv, Hovda, and offered to take the position of deputy prosecutor of the capital. I agreed. And later I became the head of the prosecutor's office.
- Is there still an offer to become Prosecutor General?
- No. This joy only brings me losses. There are journalistic investigations, they snoop on the family. I don't understand why they do this.
- If the president makes such a decision, will you refuse?
- What lieutenant doesn't dream of being a general? Perhaps, to make the way from a district prosecutor's office investigator to the prosecutor of Kyiv is a great career achievement. And now there are so many unresolved issues in Odesa.
- Now you don't want to leave this region, do you?
- When I was appointed, the locals did not keep me after for two months, looking for various shortcomings, until I proved that the military administration has a head and the administration itself is a body where decisions are made, where people are helped, and the army.
The region is home to 2.5 million people. You can't be good for everyone. But we are still trying to address some issues on a point-by-point basis, under conditions of the war, even with limited funding. For example, for 30 years, the irrigation system in Izmail district, where there are salt marshes and heavy soil, has not been working because all these metal pipes were dismantled during the collapse of the Soviet Union. We found international donors, allocated some funds from the regional budget and covered six thousand hectares of land. This is nothing. But for 30 years, nothing had been done there. And this is the warmest place in our region, where you can have two harvests a year. Today Kherson "has relocated" to us, and we are starting to grow watermelons. Today, "Chumak" "has relocated", and we are starting to grow tomatoes. I realize that I have allocated ten million from the budget today for purposes other than the army. But tomorrow, after selling these watermelons and tomatoes, we will receive taxes and allocate much more for the army.
Tetiana Bodnia, Censor.NET
