Lviv gambit and other stories: "Schemes" of the medical mafia on the eve of the epidemic

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Thanks to corruption, they earned hundreds of millions. The coronavirus epidemic will make them even richer.

The health of the nation is the health of the economy; sick citizens are enormous losses for the country. That is why even some cannibalistic regimes, albeit grudgingly, allocate considerable sums for healthcare.

Medicine, therefore, is a lot of money, billions. If we talk about Ukraine, here we are talking about 72 billion UAH — this is exactly how much the previous Honcharuk government intended to spend on healthcare in the coming years (the Shmyhal Cabinet is unlikely to revise these figures). The lion’s share of this "dough" does not go to treating the sick, salaries for doctors and nurses. It goes into the shadows, being distributed into flows and streams, some of which end up in the pockets of corrupt officials in medicine, and the rest — to the offshore accounts of smart dealers who managed to corrupt the "servants of the people."

An epidemic means even more money. Because the country needs more medicines, more medical equipment. This is a golden hour for the mafia clans in medicine.

With borders closed, Italians and Spaniards dying by hundreds daily, ministers of Western countries self-isolating due to suspicions of a dangerous disease, the coronavirus drama is unfolding in Ukraine. Here, for some, it may end in a grave, but there is a small group of schemers who will reap multimillion-dollar profits from the ongoing (if they themselves survive). Scams with medical masks and hand sanitizers are just the first warnings.

The story to be outlined below is one that the author of these lines began developing even last year. When no one had heard of the coronavirus yet — doctors in the Chinese city of Wuhan were just beginning to suspect what kind of infection they were dealing with. But this story isn’t about the epidemic, but about those who profit from our health. And about how they do it.

Once in Lviv

Very interesting schemes and trends can be found by tracking tenders for the supply of medical drugs and equipment. Particularly telling are the so-called hemodialysis tenders — procurement of drugs and consumables for treating patients with renal failure. The amount of funds allocated from the state budget for the hemodialysis program has long exceeded a billion a year, and the proportion of kickbacks, by the most pessimistic estimates, can reach 40% of the tender volumes here. In this niche, especially large and bold "sharks" from the medical mafia are grazing, occasionally engaging in fierce battles for the most delicious pieces. And believe me, these respectable ladies and gentlemen predators (either personally or their partners) will profit from the coronavirus epidemic as well.

Just the other day, on March 12, a point was put in the battle for the tender amounting to almost 95 million UAH of the Lviv Regional Clinical Hospital for the supply of consumables for hemodialysis. With an expected cost of 98.116 million UAH, the victory was won by LLC «Link-Medital». The only competitor of this company was LLC «Index». The latter entered the tender with a proposal of 97.782 million UAH but did not bargain, so the winner was «Link-Medital», reducing the "want" to 94.824 million UAH — a contract for the supply of materials was signed with it on March 12.

Savings of 3.292 million UAH at first glance seem significant, but in fact, it’s just over 3% of the expected procurement cost. And the fact that the only competitor allowed to compete with the winner did not particularly bargain indicates that something is wrong with this tender. And we know what. Because exactly a year ago in Lviv, almost the same "stunt" was pulled at the hemodialysis tender.

Initially, the last tender had a third participant – the Kyiv-based LLC «Diavita». However, it is obvious that its intention was not to participate in the tender, but to disrupt it, since "Diavita" did not even provide 2 million UAH of tender security. Naturally, the firm was not allowed to tender, which gave it formal grounds to complain to the appropriate authorities. And not only.

On the eve of the trading, February 25, the general director of "Diavita" Serhiy Khrystenko accused the chief doctor of the Lviv Regional Clinical Hospital of extorting a "kickback," and his competitors from "Link-Medital" of unfair play. However, all the steam went into the whistle.

The war between "Diavita" and "Link-Medital" has been going on for more than a year. Although until about 2015, the beneficiaries of both companies were in the same grouping.

Reference

LLC «Diavita» previously belonged to the now-dismantled "Bakmed" group (besides the eponymous flagship company, it included several other firms). The owners of the firm are Serhiy and Dmytro Ledin (father and son).

LLC «Link-Medital» is registered to Oleksiy Baryshevskyi, the son of Mykola Baryshevskyi.

Baryshevskyi Sr. was a co-founder of the company "Bakmed," which was initially led by Serhiy Ledin, and then by his son Dmytro. «Bakmed» supplied Baxter’s company products before "Diavita." Subsequently, Baryshevskyi Jr. switched to trading in Fresenius products.

The director of "Link-Medital" is Hennadiy Nersesyan, who during Yanukovych’s time worked as a specialist in the Department for Monitoring State Target Programs and State Procurement of the Ministry of Health under the direction of the notorious Roman Bogachev.

Partly, the fight between Baryshevskyi and the Ledins is an echo of the confrontation between the multinational pharmaceutical giants — Baxter International Inc. and Fresenius Medical Care AG. Both are engaged in an unrelenting battle for markets, not shying away from extremely unclean methods. For example, a year ago, the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice stated that "Fresenius disbursed millions of dollars in bribes around the world to gain a competitive advantage in healthcare." As a result, the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered the company to pay a $147 million fine.

As for the American Baxter company — in its homeland, it does not seem to have been accused of bribery, but its official Ukrainian distributors have repeatedly been embroiled in corruption scandals. The same «Bakmed», where Baryshevskyi and the Ledins coexisted peacefully for a long time, began to sink in 2016-2017 under the weight of criminal cases of embezzlement and bribery. The namesake joint-stock company in Kyiv was liquidated, its successor being the Kharkiv-based LLC «Bakmed», with the sole beneficiary now listed as a Nigerian Maduako Grantson Chibike.

It is unlikely that the producing corporations are not aware of the "artistry" of their official distributors. But they, like any commercial enterprise, are primarily interested in profits, and ethical issues are secondary, questioned only under pressure from society and government agencies.

For example, Fresenius consumables for hemodialysis are incompatible with Baxter’s equipment and vice versa. This is not due to any production nuances. The manufacturers do this specifically to prevent the competitor’s product from entering the "consecrated place." What’s more, in Ukraine, both Fresenius and Baxter do not allow distributors to trade each other’s equipment and consumables (although distributors are independent entities with separate beneficiaries). This not entirely fair competitive "twist" in Ukrainian realities exacerbates corruption in medicine, allowing mafia clans to create the appearance of competitive trades at tenders and profit at the expense of patients to the maximum.

The example of the Lviv Regional Clinical Hospital is indicative. Somewhere around 2014-2015, Baryshevskyi’s "Link-Medital" approached officials with an apparently very generous offer: to completely replace all hemodialysis machines with brand new Fresenius equipment in the amount of 52 units for free. The cost of such a batch, based on market offers, can reach 20 million UAH (although the manufacturing company could have sold the machines at a rock-bottom price, and now you’ll understand why).

Let me repeat, "Link-Medital" did not take a cent from Lviv’s doctors for the machines. But only this and last year received from the people of Lviv (more precisely, from the state budget) over 180 million UAH for consumables for hemodialysis (lines, catheters, etc.) produced by Fresenius. Where in this sum is the producer’s vendor price, taxes, and other expenses, where is the state-approved ten percent markup, and where are the kickbacks and net profit — one can only guess. But, presumably, no one was left out of compensation. Except for Serhiy and Dmytro Ledin, naturally (taxpayers in such "schemes" are generally not taken into account).

The alliance of Baryshevskyi and the Ledins, as well as, in general, some status quo in the field of slicing state money in the medical field, lasted exactly until the "rygs" remained in power. After the Revolution of Dignity and the flight of Yanukovych and most of his retinue to Russia, the medical mafia became every man for himself. Whoever ran first and farther to negotiate had the "profit." Apparently, Oleksiy Baryshevskyi turned out to be a little nimbler and quicker than the Ledins.

As mentioned above, Baryshevskyi’s "Link-Medital" is headed by Hennadiy Nersesyan, a former subordinate of Roman Bogachev, ex-Deputy Minister of Healthcare during Yanukovych’s times under Raisa Bohatyryova. Once the best economic journalist in the country, Oleksandr Dubinskyi, who "evolved" into what is unclear, claimed last year that a certain Nataliya Lisnevska was cohabiting with the mentioned Bogachev. Of course, anyone familiar with Dubinskyi’s new reputation would not believe him, but. The fact remains: Lisnevska did indeed oversee tenders in the Ministry of Health during Musiya, and it was during this period that Baryshevskyi staked out Lviv to the detriment of the Ledins. More precisely, one group of pharmaceutical "schemers" bypassed another, since Baryshevskyi and the Ledins are far from independent players.

The confrontation between these two bands soon reached a grotesque intensity. It is necessary to understand that they "feed" not only in Lviv, but also in other regions, and almost everywhere they collided, "Link-Medital" and "Diavita," a scandal ensued. With their complaints against each other in 2017-18, the competing groupings disrupted several hemodialysis tenders, threatening the lives of patients with kidney failure. As a result, both “offices” caught the attention of a third – the SSU.

However, the SSU started digging under "Diavita" more diligently than under "Link-Medital" (which, frankly, is not quite fair). The then head of economic counter-intelligence of the SSU (the Main Department of Counterintelligence Protection of the State’s Economic Interests) Serhiy Semochko sent potential "clients" of the Ledins’ firm a "telegram," warning them against cooperation with "Diavita." Like, here we have a criminal proceeding No. 42016101070000154 dated 28.06.2016, which Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office No.7 is conducting regarding "possible violations" of the law by officials of the Ministry of Health and local health departments during the procurement of consumables for peritoneal dialysis.

Semochko noted that in these procurements, the customers supposedly set discriminatory requirements for suppliers. The point was that the subject of the procurement includes products that can only be offered by one manufacturer holding a patent for them. It was about Baxters’ peritoneal dialysis products, which at that time were only "bargained" by the Ledins’ "Diavita." Semochko quite transparently hinted that "to prevent corruption actions and abuses, it is necessary to ensure honest competition." In other words, admit other companies with alternative production to the tenders, not "Diavita." Ultimately, Baryshevskyi and his allies "prospered."

In return, the people at "Diavita" accused Serhiy Semochko of demanding a large bribe, engaging the currently humble railwayman Serhiy Leshchenko as a whistleblower. Simultaneously, a series of video reports from independent investigative journalists emerged, whom detractors currently contemptuously call "sorosets," on Semochko’s luxurious lifestyle, clearly not corresponding to the level of his salary. Beneficiaries on the other side powerfully responded, vigorously “publicizing” the criminal processes involving “Diavita,” despite "Link-Medital" itself being entangled in criminal cases (for instance, example). Recently, Baryshevskyi’s company has engaged the rather "woolly" journalist Vasya Apasov as a “torpedo” in the information space, who is also a member of the Public Council at the State Investigation Bureau (how he got there is a story in itself). Vasily began exposing not only the corruption of the Ledins but also the alleged involvement of the "sorosets" and Mr. Soros personally.

In general, a complete "toad the viper," trash, and frenzy. Under the cover of the noise provoked in the information space by individual schemers, other better-fed medical mafia cartels diligently master the budgets. This is evident if you follow the other medical tenders involving the participants of the Lviv story and their partners.

The Fistal Brothers come to the rescue

We will not particularly dwell on "Link-Medital." According to its "card" on the Dozorro service, its main "competitor" in tenders is LLC «Renart». This company, recorded on Kyiv resident Serhiy Sumin, according to its tender history, often organizes "meetings" with, besides "Link-Medital," the subsidiary enterprise (DPE) «Diaservice Plus». The ultimate beneficiary of which through the company "Palma Group" is the Swiss Francois Züscher. "Link-Medital," "Renart," and LLC "Diaservice Plus," in addition to fictitious competition on tenders, have two more common features. Firstly, they all are distributors of Fresenius products. Secondly, all three together are involved in some criminal cases (for instance, example).

And another detail. In the materials of criminal proceedings where the names of Ukrainian firms distributing Fresenius products appear, there is one notable LLC – "Gambramed," beneficiaries of which are Leonid and Serhiy Fayblat, protégés of the still influential "vatnik" friend of the oligarch Akhmetov – Tetyana Bakhteyeva, considered the "godmother" of medical "scum."

Tetyana Bakhteyeva and Rinat Akhmetov

And here we move on to the player who quietly helped Baryshevskyi’s "Link-Medital" to take the "prize" of 94.5 million UAH at the Lviv tender.

LLC "Index" had previously caught the author’s attention during the last year’s hemodialysis tender in Lviv. And it was already clear who was behind it back then.

According to data from the service Opendatabot, this company registered in Rivne with an authorized capital of 11.8 thousand UAH is owned by German citizen Eduard Klepfer (by the way, it managed to "shine" in criminal proceedings on the other side of the country – in Poltava). In his homeland, "Klepfer’s" complete namesake is the director of Good Look GmbH. According to the project "Nashi Hroshi", this German company is used as a "gasket" not only by "Index" LLC registered to Klepfer but also by "Bilimed" LLC (this is an important detail).

Now let’s see who and how "Index" competed with at other medical tenders. Through this link, it is visible that the firm registered to Klepfer most often "competes" with only two others – the aforementioned "Bilimed" and "Artonika" LLC. It is obvious that "Index" participates in tenders only to create the illusion of competition since it "merged" almost all tenders to these two firms.

LLC "Bilimed" is registered to Yaroslava Tarasyuk from Sofiivska Borshchahivka, near Kyiv. But as noted by "Nashi Hroshi" , the "Bilimed" warehouse facilities are located at the same address as the warehouses of "Topservice-Medtech" LLC. These non-residential premises are privately owned by "Dispomed Manufacturing Company" LLC, and the land beneath them belongs to the "Region-2002" firm. The beneficial owners of both companies are the brothers Volodymyr and Herman Fistal, sons of the medical luminary of the "DPR" Emil Fistal.

Now let’s look at "Artonika" LLC. According to registry data, its founder and until recently its director was one Svitlana Kucherenko. While tracking what else Svitlana Kucherenko founded and managed, the author immediately stumbled upon LLC "Avtospetsprom". The beneficial owners of which are once again Volodymyr Fistal and Herman Fistal.

Interestingly, despite the fact that in the registration data of "Avtospetsprom" the primary business activity is listed as the production of motor vehicles, it is also a frequent participant in medical tenders. At the Fistal brothers’ enterprise, grossly speaking, with the help of a hammer, chisel, and file, trucks are transformed into some semblance of "ambulance" carriages and sold with a huge mark-up to medical institutions. But that is another story.

Why do the Fistal brothers regularly send their dummy company "Index" to tenders in Lviv and create the illusion of competition for Oleksiy Baryshevskyi on dishonest tenders is quite explainable. According to data from the online edition «Oligarch», the Baryshevskyi and Fistal families are connected not only by a long acquaintance but also by a common "roof" from the Yanukovych era – Tetyana Bakhteyeva.

 

Volodymyr Fistal and Tetyana Bakhteyeva

Despite the fact that in the era of "blood trade" Fistal firms often became figurants in criminal cases over embezzlements in state procurement, the brothers themselves remained untouchable. After the rise to power of the "outstanding leaders of modernity," the weight of these big shots increased dramatically. Since they are connected through a couple of handshakes with no lesser figure in the "Servant of the People" faction – Mykhaylo Radutskyi, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health, Medical Care, and Medical Insurance (for more details, read in the article «Anthropocentrism with a corrupt grin. Who will get Honcharuk’s 72 billion»).

Very strange affairs. And criminal too

Dmytro and Serhiy Ledins, whose "Diavita" in confrontation with Baryshevskyi looks like a victim, are not themselves. Because both they and their allies (and they have such allies) in medical tenders, despite hardships, are doing quite well and also have serious connections.

But let’s start not with the Ledins’ friends, but their enemies, who from time to time spoil their raspberry together with Baryshevskyi. Because it’s interesting here too.

Let’s take a recent tender of the state enterprise "Ukrmedprojectbud" (curator of the long-suffering "Ohmatdyt" completion) for the purchase of an extracorporeal photopheresis apparatus, a blood cell separator, plasma extractor, and other equipment. At stake was almost 9.5 million UAH. "Diavita" also poked its head in these trades – it is not entirely clear why: to try their luck and earn some money, or to disrupt the tender and harm their adversaries. But the Ledins’ firm was not allowed, leaving only two participants: LLC "Digest Group" and LLC "Servismed".

Their competitive struggle was more like a game of giveaways. "Digest Group" entered the tender with a proposal exactly equivalent to the expected cost of 9.391.315 UAH, "Servismed" requested "only" 82 thousand UAH less. "Digest Group" lowered the price to 9.203 million UAH and was declared the winner. As you can see, in the end, the "principled" trade saved the budget only about 2% "with a tail" of the expected cost.

Although here a "fix" is obvious, i.e., "Digest Group" and "Servismed" must be somehow affiliated, no apparent connection between them is seen on the surface. So we will dig deeper.

A Google search yielded mere crumbs, but curious ones. In particular, in 2015, LLC "Digest Group" was identified by the project «Nashi Hroshi» as one of the "tender trolls" of the "Trade Commodity" group of the odious big shots Oleksandr Hranovskyi and Andriy Adamovskyi. At that time this firm achieved the partial cancellation of a large tender of "Ukrzaliznytsia" for the purchase of diesel fuel, in which victory was awarded to competitors of "Trade Commodity".

Until February last year, according to registry data, the ultimate beneficiary of "Digest Group" was Yevheniya Kozylina (who was also listed as a co-founder of another firm from the "Trade Commodity" pool), after which the LLC was rewritten to a certain Nataliya Kryvoruchko.

The beneficiary of LLC "Servismed" is listed as someone Dmytro Vlasenko. Until July 2018, the firm’s director was Ms. Yulia Kapas, now the firm is led by Nataliya Liferenko. Notably, Nataliya Liferenko until the summer of 2018 was listed as the founder of another pharmaceutical firm – LLC "Medivey". After that, she was replaced by Yulia Kapas.

If you study the tender history of "Digest Group" and "Servismed", their crossings are extremely rare. But it is very revealing with whom and in what tenders they do meet.

"Digest Group", according to its "card in Dozorro», most often teams up with LLC "Suchasna Likarnya" as its "sparring partner", which, according to registry data, belongs to Kyiv resident Svitlana Spiridonova. All 143 tenders in which "Digest Group" supposedly competed with this firm, it blandly "surrendered".

"Servismed" is not a frequent participant in tenders. But its tender history shows two interesting nuances. First, its main "feeder" is the Odesa National Medical University. Second, it most often crosses paths with LLC "Medgarant" at tenders.

In a previous article, I wrote that the owner of «Medgarant» is a certain Oleksandr Ostrovskyi. According to the project «Nashi Hroshi», in 2015 the director of this LLC was Oleksandr’s relative – Yana Ostrovska. This lady, at least earlier, was a business partner of Iryna Valitova, daughter of Tetyana Bakhteyeva and wife of Timur Valitov, business partner of Mykhaylo Radutskyi – now head of the parliamentary Committee on National Health.

All the legal entities mentioned here are together involved in the same criminal cases. For example, take criminal proceedings No.1201800000000765 over the embezzlement of budget funds by officials of the Odesa National University during state purchases in 2016-2018.

According to the case’s narrative, "during 2016-2018, a group of people, by prior agreement with officials of the Odesa National Medical University and other state institutions under the control of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, while conducting state purchases, using a number of controlled economic entities, committed illegal actions aimed at creating collective anti-competitive activity and inflating market prices, which, as a result, led to embezzlement of budget funds on a large scale."

According to one of the court rulings, companies such as "Servismed", "Medgarant", "Medivey", "Bilimed" and others participated in the fraud. Another court document on this criminal case also mentions LLC "Protek Solutions Ukraine", "Suchasna Likarnya", and "Alliance-2013".

We know that behind "Medgarant" stand Tetyana Bakhteyeva’s relatives and business partners of "Servant of the People" Radutskyi, and behind "Bilimed" and "Alliance-2013" are Herman and Volodymyr Fistal, who have joint ventures not only with Bakhteyeva herself and her family but also with Radutskyi’s environment and family (for example, they run a joint business with his cousin Oleksandr Dobrovskyi – see detailed information here).

It is unlikely that these noble dons could have invited less noble gentlemen from the side to slice the budget pie through the Odessa medical university. Therefore, it is obvious that all the firms listed in the criminal case belong to one group.

Pharmaceutical monsters and other amazing "beasts"

Let’s return to "Diavita" by Serhiy and Dmytro Ledins. Rather, let’s move on to their ally, with whom from time to time these brawling mafiosi play at tenders in giveaways.

In February, the Department of Health of Ivano-Frankivsk RSA held a tender for the purchase of a solution for peritoneal dialysis. Expected cost – 2 million UAH. With such a "wish" entered “Diavita” the tender. But then appeared LLC "Medical Center "M.T.K." with a cheaper offer of 1.708 million UAH. "Diavita" did not bargain, so the victory was given to "Medical Center "M.T.K.".

At first glance, it may seem that the competitor crushed the Ledins’ firm with dumping. Since reducing the expected cost by more than 14% at such tenders is very rare and may indicate fierce competition. But the author studied several other medical tenders where “Diavita” and “Medical Center "M.T.K." crossed paths and saw a familiar trend.

At the end of last year, in December, the Poltava Regional Clinical Hospital named after Sklifosovsky held a tender for the purchase of a solution for peritoneal dialysis. The price issue – almost 2.7 million UAH. "Diavita" and "Medical Center "M.T.K." came to the auction. Moreover, the proposal of the Ledins’ "office" was only 150 UAH (one hundred and fifty hryvnias) cheaper than the price offered by the "competitor". But that one did not trade at all. As a result, 2.692 million UAH received "Diavita".

A similar story happened in November 2019 at the tender for the purchase of the same solution by the Department of Health of the Kyiv RSA. The same two firms entered the auction, did not trade. The offer of "Medical Center "M.T.K." was "only" 981 UAH lower than that of "Diavita", as a result, it received almost a million (949977 UAH 60 kop.).

"Medical Center "M.T.K.", with which the Ledins began to concoct their tender deeds, is a solid firm with an authorized capital of more than 1.5 million UAH. Its main beneficiary, according to registration data, is well-known in pharmaceutical circles magnate Mykola Humenyuk, Doctor of Medical Sciences, an employee of the Institute of Phthisiology and Pulmonology named after Yanovsky.

 

Mykola Humenyuk

Every year the state budget buys hundreds of millions of hryvnias worth of medicines from "Medical Center "M.T.K.". Its total turnover through the Prozorro system is rapidly approaching a billion.

This "office" periodically becomes the figurant of extremely unpleasant stories. For example, by a strange coincidence, the medicines it offers when purchased on account of the state budget often cost one and a half to two times more than they do in pharmacies.

Mykola Humenyuk is the main beneficiary of a larger pharmaceutical monster – LLC "Yuria-Pharm". Unlike most firms mentioned in this article, "Yuria-Pharm" is not just "buy-sell", it is a pharmaceutical company with its own production, scientific part, clinical trials. By now "Yuria-Pharm" has crumpled at least 60% of the hospital solutions market. And not only. This company is a major supplier (primarily for municipal and state medical institutions) in the fields of pulmonology, tuberculosis, oncology, invasive solutions, syringes, and systems for the transfusion of infusion solutions and blood. Moreover, it is hard to find a pharmacy in Ukraine that does not have products from LLC "Yuria-Pharm" in its assortment.

"Medical Center "M.T.K." often enters medical tenders as an official distributor of products made by "Yuria-Pharm". Moreover, the cost of the same drug in the same dosage at different tenders can differ significantly (for example). Most likely, the price at such auctions depends only on the medical institution’s budget and the conscience of corrupt officials, rather than on the market cost.

"Medical Center "M.T.K." and "Yuria-Pharm" grew on the base of the Institute of Phthisiology and Pulmonology, where Humenyuk received his doctoral degree. Therefore, many observers tend to believe that the director of this institution academician Yuriy Feshchenko is very much "involved", although he always categorically denies all allegations. But according to likileaks.com.ua, it is Yuriy Feshchenko who lobbies the registration of pharmaceutical novelties from "Yuria-Pharm" and promotes their entry into the market.

 

Yuriy Feshchenko 

«Yuria-Pharm» didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the coronavirus epidemic. When panic reached our region, a press conference was held on March 11 at the «UNIAN» news agency under the aegis of the Institute of Phthisiology and Pulmonology, where Yuri Feschenko was also announced to speak. Following the conference, a press release was published, which essentially boiled down to the following: there’s no need to panic about this infection because the domestic manufacturer (i.e., «Yuria-Pharm») has developed an effective drug for the prevention of nCov-2019 – «Decasan»; do regular inhalations with it – and you will be healthy. Subsequently, a massive advertising campaign for this «miracle remedy» was launched on the «1+1» TV channel, which, like «UNIAN», belongs to the same oligarch.

Soon there was a serious scandal: the pharmaceutical company was accused of lying and pushing «magic remedy» onto the market. In reality, no known drugs for the coronavirus exist, the advertised «Decasan» had not even been properly tested for the treatment and prevention of nCov-2019, or at all (Feschenko pushed it to the market using personal connections), and the active ingredient of the drug, the antiseptic decamethoxin, via inhalation might harm your lungs even more than the dreadful coronavirus.

Was anyone punished for this scam? Have you heard anything about the police or the SSU raiding the headquarters of «Yuria-Pharm»? Was academician Feschenko summoned for questioning by the NABU regarding his frauds and excessive enrichment? Naturally, no.

 

Petro Bahriy

The Feschenko-Humenyuk group is part of the «Association of Ukrainian Drug Manufacturers», the president of which is Petro Bahriy. This influential lobbying group reached its peak when the Ministry of Health was headed by Yanukovych’s appointee Raisa Bohatyryova. Nevertheless, even before the rise to power of Viktor the Bloodthirsty, Bahriy’s group was doing quite well. Particularly, through the firms of this adept manipulator, Yuliya Tymoshenko’s government «utilized» $19 million on the drug «Tamiflu» during the «swine flu» outbreak in 2009. Moreover, the drug was bought at 251 UAH per package or 22 euros at the then current rate, while the official price on the manufacturer’s website was 5-6 euros.

With the post-revolutionary government, Bahriy’s group initially fared well. In 2014, just the president of the Association’s structures, without considering the profits of other participants in the «concession», «raised» almost half a billion hryvnias.

One of the main «tricks» of Petro Bahriy, Mykola Humenyuk, and others who joined them is mastering the finances of strategic programs. Such as those for combating the spread of tuberculosis, cancer, hepatitis. Starting in 2016, with Uliana Suprun’s entry into the Ministry of Health, purchases under such programs began to be conducted through international organizations – UNDP, UNICEF, Crown Agents. Just so you understand what a fat pie was taken away from the manipulators: in 2016 alone, 3 billion UAH slipped away from under the noses of Bahriy, Humenyuk, and other mafiosi. Naturally, these citizens were very displeased.

But with the «end of Poroshenko’s corruption era», that is, with the rise to power of the «ze!team», there were quick warning bells indicating that corruption worse than that of Yanukovych’s times was returning to the medical field.

For example, already in September last year, after the formation of committees in the prematurely elected parliament, a request was made to the Committee on National Health Issues to appeal to the Accounting Chamber for an audit of the Ministry of Health activities during Uliana Suprun’s time. There’s nothing wrong with such a request or with conducting an audit, the problem is its author. And that’s Petro Bahriy. That is, a lobbyist involved in multi-million «schemes» in state procurement for medical needs, appealed to the Verkhovna Rada, asking for compromising evidence on a person who obstructed many of his «schemes».

And then more...

In January of this year, an expert council of 20 people, many of whom, shall we say, are very complex, was formed under the Committee for National Health, Medical Care, and Medical Insurance. Let’s focus on the most «mysterious».

Olena Aleksyeyeva – director of the «Association of Ukrainian Drug Manufacturers». No need to guess – this is a person from the group of Petro Bahriy, Mykola Humenyuk, and those who joined them. Dmytro Taranchuk – director of legal support at baroness Filya Zhebrovska’s «Farmak» company, which also belongs to the Association.

Oleksiy Solovyov. Headed the State Service for Medicines under Raisa Bohatyryova in 2013, meaning he is somehow involved in many «schemes». Another «expert» — the vice-rector of the Shupik National Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, Oleksandr Tolstanov, worked as a deputy under Raisa Bohatyryova.

And also, according to the observations of MP Olha Stefanyshyna, a known lobbyist Dmytro Pidturkin began frequenting meetings of the Committee on National Health Issues. He is a former staff advisor to another of Raisa Bohatyryova’s deputies – briefly mentioned above, Roman Bohachov, and also his business partner (read more about Pidturkin and Co’s «artistry» in the Ministry of Health here). And now he is certainly not visiting the Rada out of idle curiosity.

But this is not the last «betrayal». Starting this year, procurement under the strategic programs will move from international organizations to the state enterprise «Medical Procurement of Ukraine». Tenders will be conducted exclusively through the Prozorro system. But here’s the hitch: practically all the «dummy» tenders described in this article were also conducted through Prozorro.

This year, the state has allocated 10 billion UAH for drug procurement. Due to the epidemic, this figure is likely to be adjusted upwards. By the most optimistic estimates, a billion will go into the «shadow» (but it could be more). The number of patients who could be saved by the portion taken by the medical mafia is a purely rhetorical question.

P.S. In the material presented, not all clans of the medical mafia and their bosses are mentioned. The author also omitted some corruption «schemes» in the procurement sphere to shorten the prolonged narrative. But stay tuned.

Viktor Likarchuk, observer for the [loud cases] project, specially for «ORD»