Khimprom drug cartel planned to bribe former minister Klymenko through his associates – Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Bureau

Oleksandr Abakumov, head of a National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) detective unit, has said that the leader of the Russian drug syndicate Khimprom discussed bribing the then interior minister Ihor Klymenko to prevent him from initiating a ban on the chemical formulas used in the syndicate's drugs.

Source: Abakumov during the UP. Chat programme on Ukrainska Pravda's YouTube channel

Details: Abakumov said the cartel's leader, known by the nickname The Mexican (Yehor Burkin), had been looking for a way to block an Interior Ministry decision to add the group's synthetic drugs to the list of banned substances.

However, criminal intermediaries dissuaded the drug trafficker from approaching the interior minister directly. Instead, they advised him to offer a share in the drug business to people who had influence over the minister.

Quote: "The head of Khimprom did indeed discuss the minister by name. He saw a way to resolve his problems through the minister, so that the latter would not take steps to ban the formulas used in their drugs. But the criminals who were supposed to pass on the proposal told him: 'Why sort things out directly with the minister? Let's offer a stake in the deal to people who have the ability to influence him.' In other words, there was no direct communication with Klymenko."

Details: Abakumov stressed that detectives are identifying the people who had claimed to have influence over the Interior Minister and who planned to take a share of the criminal business.

He added that the drug syndicate had had enormous shadow budgets and had offered US$2 million just to secure the dismissal of one official who had refused to strike a deal with the criminals.

Background:

• On 4 November, it emerged that searches had been conducted involving representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and the police as part of Operation Carthage.
• Detectives from NABU, under the procedural supervision of prosecutors from the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), served five members of a criminal organisation with notices of suspicion. The organisation had established a system of regularly paying bribes to senior law enforcement officials to ensure that scam call centres and other illegal businesses could operate without interference.
• The pre-trial investigation established that the organiser of the criminal group, Andrii Osipov, who had previously been convicted on multiple occasions, had recruited serving senior officials from the SSU, the Prosecutor General's Office and the National Police, as well as figures from the criminal underworld, to participate in the illegal activities.
• This enabled scam call centres targeting Ukrainian citizens and foreigners to operate without interference, alongside drug trafficking, the illegal manufacture of counterfeit cigarettes and the production of counterfeit foreign currency, among other activities.
• Investigators also established that members of the criminal organisation were involved in assaults, abductions and the infliction of bodily harm on individuals in the interests of the organisation.
• The suspects' alleged offences have been classified as follows: the organiser, Andrii Osipov: Article 255.1, Article 27.3, Article 369.3, Article 27.3, Article 127.3, Article 27.3, Article 199.3 and Article 209.3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine; Serhii Duka, First Deputy Head of one of the SSU departments: Article 255.3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine; Volodymyr Tsenov, Head of one of the National Police departments: Article 255.3 and Article 368.4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine; Oleksandr Demianchuk, Deputy Head of a department in the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv Oblast: Article 255.3, Article 27.5 in conjunction with Article 127.3, and Article 27.5 in conjunction with Article 199.3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine; and Vitalii Rybalko, a subordinate of the organiser: Article 255.2 and Article 127.3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

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