Mykhailo Plastun — a candidate of corruption sciences from Herashchenko and Avakov

Mykhailo Plastun — a candidate of corruption sciences from Herashchenko and Avakov

It happens: a police official who got rich through corruption defended a dissertation on this topic.

Sometimes characters who have acquired a decent fortune and a bad reputation through corruption schemes in law enforcement agencies "surface" in the most unexpected places. Like, for example, Mykhailo Plastun, a former officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs dealing with especially monetary matters, whose name once loudly resonated with raider seizures and the fabrication of criminal cases. Considering that the "star" of this retired fighter against economic crime had long set, we had long forgotten about his existence until we accidentally came across his full name in the electronic archive of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.

Mykhailo Plastun, while serving as deputy head of the organized crime fighting department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Sumy region during Yanukovych’s era, became the central figure of an epic scandal with the company "Sumyavtogaz," through which 74 million UAH of budget VAT refunds were "mastered" (naturally, neither the culprits nor the "stolen" money were found). And now, Mykhailo Plastun appears in scientific literature catalogs as the author of a dissertation titled "The Role of the Head of State Institute in the Formation and Implementation of State Anti-Corruption Policy: A General Theoretical Study."

Considering his significant personal experience in the field of corruption, Mykhailo Plastun could have enriched his scholarly work with numerous examples from vast practice. Perhaps he did—in which case, we are not certain, as we did not waste time reading the voluminous compilation of others’ thoughts, made by Plastun or (more likely) by a hired ghostwriter. However, two doctors of legal sciences — Oleksandr Yarmysh from the National Academy of Legal Sciences and Volodymyr Kuzmenko from (hey, no laughing!) Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts — considered Plastun’s work important and relevant. With their blessing, the modest graduate student from the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (IAPM) became a candidate of sciences and possibly now tirelessly writes his doctoral dissertation.

Mykhailo Plastun began his academic career after leaving his position as a senior officer in the Department of Economic Protection of the State National Police in Kyiv. According to his final electronic income declaration, Mykhailo Plastun left the service owning a 42 m² apartment in the capital, a 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL allegedly bought in 2016 for only $6,000 (which actually costs at least five times more), BOVET watches, and a collection of ten icons and three Bibles. Additionally, declared cash holdings amounted to $90,000, representing approximately a decade’s worth of salary for this former fighter against organized economic crime. However, most likely, Mykhailo Plastun did not disclose all of his "reserves," making a timely "exit" from state service before being scrutinized by the NAPC, NABU, journalists, and public activists.

Before disappearing from the criminal chronicles’ radar and focusing on his dissertation, Mykhailo Plastun, still in his role as a law enforcer, "distinguished himself" by acting as a "fixer" for the uncrowned "coal king." According to informed sources, the mature turncoat in law enforcement was allegedly "matched up" with Anton Herashchenko—a member of parliament from the "People’s Front" and a multilingual adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov.

Mykhailo Plastun became associated with the "Avakov-Yatsenyuk group" during his service in Sumy through the then-head of internal security at the State Fiscal Service in Sumy region, Vitaliy Kostyuk (popularly referred to as the kingpin of local smuggling), who is a long-standing friend of Volodymyr Yatsenyuk, brother of Arseniy Petrovych.

After Yanukovych’s gang fled in 2014, the coal king began "seizing" their unattended assets. And invaluable assistance in this "noble" task, according to multiple sources, was provided by the future candidate of legal sciences Mykhailo Plastun, then a senior officer fighting economic crime. One of their first "acquisitions" was an office on Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street, 26 in Kyiv, belonging to firms associated with former Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka. The nominal owners recorded as property holders backed off when Avakov’s "eagle" Plastun started fabricating criminal cases against them.

The "coal king" from Torez, with the economic crime fighter’s support, also "seized" the enterprise "Kyiv-Dniprovsky MPPZT," where all more or less significant positions were staffed with loyal people, including distant relatives. Immediately, the enterprise began the process of getting rid of "non-liquid" production assets (some sold entirely, others as scrap), aiming eventually to privatize the land lot and sell it for development.

According to several publications, later, with the support of economic crime specialist Plastun, they approached the Zaporizhzhia Aluminum Plant (ZALK), pillaged to ruins by the company "Rusal," owned by Putin oligarch Oleg Deripaska. As reported by "Economic Truth," "ZALK" was headed by Dmytro Lobykov, who was an aide to former police battalion "Shakhtarsk" commander Andriy Filonenko. Notably, the disbanded "Shakhtarsk" in 2014 for looting grew into the notorious police company "Tornado," which seriously tarnished the volunteer movement with robberies, rapes, and murders. Interestingly, the creation of "Shakhtarsk," and later "Tornado," was personally blessed by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, with advisor Anton Herashchenko acting as a patron. Incidentally, the commander of "Tornado"—criminal "authority" Ruslan Abalmas-Onishchenko.

But back to our hero. The changing wind, blowing from Tel Aviv, heralds a change in power, but likely will not sink but inflate the sails of Arsen Avakov and his carefree gang. Fortunately, Arsen Borysovych did his best to help forge victory for the "Ze!team" in the presidential elections, and his faithful assistant Anton Herashchenko has already begun threatening a tribunal for treason against military personnel who dare disobey the orders of the future eccentric commander-in-chief. The likely change in leadership promises a shuffle and rotation of personnel in law enforcement agencies and public supervisory boards overseeing them. Avakov, gaining political weight, is unlikely to miss the chance to strengthen his influence, promoting his trusted people from a spare deck into various positions. So soon, Mykhailo Plastun, who has achieved candidate status and almost cleaned up his corrupt past, might appear back in our sight (if not in state service, then in the arena of property redistribution following the change in power). The question remains, how many such "Plastuns" will the victors pull from their decks.

Author: Oleh Matvyeyev