Deputy head of the faction "Petro Poroshenko Bloc" Sergei Berezenko appears in criminal cases of bribing voters. This was stated by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov.
“Yes, it does. He is called the organizer of schemes. He is a people's deputy, and it is impossible to carry out investigative actions against him. But in fact - yes, it appears in the proceedings. Tymoshenko brought a huge stack of documents. Berezenko also appears there, ”Avakov said in an interview with the Ukrainian publication Mirror of the Week.
The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs noted that “most likely, it will come down to examinations and searches.” According to him, bribing is carried out at the expense of the state budget of Ukraine. According to Avakov, a total of 1.5 billion hryvnia (more than $ 55 million) is allocated for these purposes. The planned coverage of voters - from 700 thousand to 6 million.
“Only the“ grid ”of agitators - 200 thousand people. They are remunerated for their work according to the following scheme: 500 hryvnia - now, 500 - later, and 1 thousand hryvnia - a bonus if the candidate wins, ”Avakov said.
- Sergey Berezenko
- © sergiy.berezenko
Earlier, the presidential candidate of Ukraine and the leader of the Batkivshchyna party, Yulia Tymoshenko, accused the current head of state, Petro Poroshenko, in bribing voters. According to her, with the assistance of Berezenko, a network is being formed in Ukraine, where voters receive a thousand hryvnias per vote. Tymoshenko demanded Avakov to launch an investigation.
According to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the cases in which the deputy head of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc appears are open not only on the basis of Tymoshenko’s appeals. Avakov said that they called the police to one of the offices of Berezenko in Chernigov, because there were media representatives who began to shoot, “like they give out something to grandmothers”.
In addition, Avakov told about another office of Berezenko, from which journalists called. As the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said, media workers began to assure that money was illegally distributed in the office.
“Both the police came there and there ... The police came in, interviewed citizens, recorded, documented, opened production,” Avakov said.
The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs claims that after the start of the proceedings on the bribery of voters, his department was confronted by the presidential administration. The minister believes that they are personally trying to discredit him. In particular, he talked about provocations against him on his Facebook page.
“A few hours ago, operational sources told me that certain structures are preparing a series of provocations against me, as Minister of the Interior, and the Interior Ministry. This is done in order to discredit and level the work of the police to ensure fair elections in Ukraine, ”Avakov wrote on February 22.
According to him, we are talking about the direction to his bank account "an impressive amount of money in foreign currency" from "incomprehensible sources."
“Allegedly for“ the payment of the services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to cover up the fraud and bribe voters in favor of a certain candidate. To complete the “effect”, money can be of Russian origin, ”writes Avakov.
The head of the Ukrainian Analytical Center, economist Oleksandr Okhrimenko believes that all candidates are involved in bribing, including Poroshenko and Tymoshenko.
“This is not a secret. Of course, it is beneficial for Avakov to remain in power. Now he is just bargaining - with Poroshenko, Tymoshenko, with Zelensky. It shows that he is trying to fight (with bribery. - RT ), and thus bargains for a place, ”said Okhrimenko.
According to the expert, Avakov is playing a certain game with the candidates in the hope that the elected president will give him the opportunity to take a post in the government.
“We see Avakov’s game with a potential president with the expectation that he will not be forgotten in the future. He asks for the post of prime minister - someone promises him, someone does not. I think closer to the election of such demarches will be even more, ”concluded Okhrimenko.
Open confrontation
Political confrontation between President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs is often the subject of discussion in the media.
Examples of aggravation of relations between the two politicians in the past were protests outside the Verkhovna Rada building, organized in October 2017 by the ex-governor of the Odessa region, Mikhail Saakashvili. Then, according to Saakashvili himself, Avakov refused to carry out Poroshenko’s order to disperse the demonstrators. In addition, Avakov’s son was detained in 2017 in the case of buying backpacks for the Ukrainian security agency at an inflated price.
Avakov repeatedly commented on his relations with Poroshenko, in October 2017, calling them friendly, in April 2018, the head of the Interior Ministry said that he and Poroshenko often dispute, they have a working relationship.
The conflict between Arsen Avakov and Petro Poroshenko escalated in the fall of 2018, RT said in the administration of the Ukrainian president.
“Avakov is the second person in the state and does not want to help Poroshenko win the election. The administration has a plan according to which Avakov will be dismissed after the presidential elections, the “Popular Front” will come out of the coalition and re-elections to the parliament can be appointed earlier, ”the source told RT.
Now the situation can reach open confrontation in case of a serious investigation. The director of the Institute for Peacekeeping Initiatives and Conflictology Denis Denisov spoke about this in a conversation with RT.
According to him, a number of candidates ’election headquarters are really trying to organize various kinds of fraudulent schemes to attract new voters, new votes for their candidates.
“Regarding the current president of Ukraine, this is not an exception, but, on the contrary, the rule. Here it is important that a month ago Avakov said that he would be above the presidential battle. It is now a mystery to everyone whether he will bring the matter to the end: these are just threats, at the expense of which he wants to receive certain bonuses or is he really ready to go into open confrontation with the president and, thus, it is possible to seriously influence the result of the elections? ” - says Denisov.
Subsequently Avakov can take the side of one of the current candidates, the expert agrees.
“Only when there are first results, we can immediately say that there really are serious examples of Avakov taking the side of one of the candidates,” concluded Denisov.
At the same time, there is a possibility that Ukraine’s western partners do not recognize the election results, a source in the Self-Help Party told RT.
“Every day, ordinary Ukrainians read a huge amount of“ revelations ”about all possible candidates. The stakes are very high, so the standoff between the national police and the radicals who cooperate with the authorities will increase. Poroshenko is not yet ready to initiate Avakov’s dismissal, because he does not understand who will win the parliamentary elections, ”he said.
The RT source in the Batkivshchyna party warned of a possible escalation of the conflict, which "could escalate into war and open clashes."
“Poroshenko has an army and the SBU, Avakov has the police and special forces. I hope they will not be able to bring the situation to the extreme point ”, - told RT.