Did the schemes of the "rear-wheel ataman" Yuriy Atamanyuk come in handy for Holoborodko’s team?

Did the schemes of the "rear-wheel ataman" Yuriy Atamanyuk come in handy for Holoborodko’s team?

The notorious tax official, former First Deputy Head of the Main Office of the Tax Police of the State Tax Service of Ukraine during the unforgettable master of tax schemes Oleksandr Klymenko’s era, lustrated Major General of the State Tax Service of Ukraine Yuriy Atamanyuk once again has every chance to engage in what he did during Yanukovych’s times – embezzlement of the budget.

The fact is that the "servants of Holoborodko," who promised "new faces," have brought with them to power a dreadful crowd incapable of even stealing without outside assistance. And where it is necessary to build at least a primitive scheme, all these clowns, toastmasters, and photographers are simply powerless due to a lack of intellectual abilities.

The old cadres, who after the Maidan were left out of work – they were so toxic that the post-Maidan authorities, which also urgently needed people who at least slightly understood state governance, did not allow them near to the flows – are coming to the rescue.

But the clowns, who by the will of the "wisest people" became the current authorities, do not neglect anything – they understand that their days are numbered, so the main task is to steal as much as possible in the shortest possible time. And it is here that Yuriy Atamaniuk, who during Yanukovych’s time was awarded by budget theft colleagues the honorary title of "rear-wheel drive ataman" for his mastery in building schemes, may come in handy.

Currently, Yuriy works as a "tax and economy expert" on pro-Russian channels "Nash," "Inter," ZIK, 112, and NewsOne. But he also appears on the broadcast of the "greens" mouthpiece – the channel "1+1." What exactly he will be doing in the service of Holoborodko (if he, of course, calls him – there’s still a brawl among "servants" for the flows) – is unknown. But if they call him, one might assume, based on what Atamaniuk did in Klymenko’s "Minszoh".

One of the schemes which he built at that time, Yuriy without hesitation told in an interview with "KyivVlada," talking about how money is stolen from the budget. According to Atamaniuk, the main instrument of tax evasion is the so-called scrolls, whose monthly turnovers reach 25 billion hryvnias.

"The platform that existed for tax evasion – the so-called scrolls, when documents were sold to real networks, they were given documents for tax credit, for expenses. And the turnover of these ’scrolls’ was 25 billion hryvnias per month, 5 billion hryvnias of VAT did not go to the budget. Here is where the plan was executed," – said Yuriy Atamanyuk.

According to him, the main thing in the scheme is the conversion center, which makes a "scroll" for the acting business by selling it all the necessary documents to avoid paying VAT and profit tax. The cost of documents, says Atamanyuk, ranges from 10 to 13%, and the scheme, he says, is as follows – importers bring goods, clear them through customs, after which the goods are sold for cash in the markets (for example, at the "Seventh Kilometer"). At the same time, according to the receipt documents remaining for import, the goods supposedly still exist. Then the documents are sold to a company that needs to pay VAT in Ukraine.

However, he blamed the current authorities for this theft, but the scheme was invented by him about 12 years ago. It turned out to be so effective that even the "servants" with their low intellectual capabilities could use it. The author’s resentment for the free use of his offspring and the desire to lead it again is understandable, but this already depends on Atamaniuk’s ability to find an approach to the right people in the President’s Office.

Read also: Why Yuriy Atamanyuk was called "rear-wheel drive ataman"

In the times of the fugitive to the neighboring country "Batya" and in the first years after this epic escape, when the new authorities tried to arrange the "analysis of flights," the name of Yuriy Atamanyuk quite often appeared in connection with scandals associated with excise taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and the underground production of various alcoholic products.

Together with former Minister Zakharchenko, he controlled alcohol factories and received a kickback literally from every bottle. Even the amount is named – the manufacturer paid 50 kopecks for each bottle of vodka. The amount seems laughable, but multiply it by hundreds of millions of produced bottles. But even this was not enough – the law enforcers under the aegis of Atamanyuk, Klymenko, and Zakharchenko forced manufacturers to also drive alcohol "to the left."

Atamaniuk’s activities were not limited to vodka and "scrolls" – in the criminal group organized by Andriy Holovach (First Deputy Head of the State Tax Service) known as "Kefirchik," he was the second person, and they were engaged in controlling the activities of the conversion centers network throughout the country. Collecting monthly tributes in amounts exceeding hundreds of thousands of US dollars. (Hence such Atamanyuk’s awareness in the scheme).

Another place where colossal money was "earned" was customs, where importers brought goods at a reduced value for a kickback. All schemes were worked out at the highest level, and Yuriy Atamanyuk was not the last participant in the effective work of such money laundering schemes from the state budget.

He was a business consultant for their curator Oleksandr Klymenko, honing his skills in implementing schemes for receiving kickbacks, money laundering offshore, and legalizing the stolen. According to the investigation materials (which was initiated in 2014 and stalled after a few years), acting with the support of Andriy Holovach, Atamanyuk created a network of conversion centers through which money was converted into cash. With each operation of such "cash-out," Holovach and Atamanyuk received 0.5%, but in terms of cash flows, this brought them hundreds of millions. Holovach even spent some time behind bars, but for some reason, there were no questions for Atamaniuk – until April 2015 he worked as Deputy Head of the Tax Police. After that, he was dismissed under the lustration law.

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Interestingly, even after the lustration (Atamanyuk fell under the Law "On Cleansing the Authorities," and he is prohibited from working in government bodies for 10 years), Yuriy managed to gain the trust of the former head of the Odesa region, Mikheil Saakashvili.

How? With advice and recommendations on building "bread" schemes at customs, of course. It is Atamanyuk who is the author and ideological inspirer of the so-called nut mafia, a key scheme at customs in 2015-2016.

The name is somewhat amusing – "nut mafia," but when you delve into the details, it becomes no laughing matter. At that moment, a kilogram of nuts cost less than a dollar in Ukraine. At the final export point – in the Middle East – from five to nine. Profit – up to 900%, where drugs can’t compete! But this turned out to be not enough for the scheme organizers, among whom Atamanyuk played a key role. They decided to evade paying duties.

Here’s what Semen Kryvonos, the First Deputy Head of the Odesa Customs, said on this matter: "Definitely, corruption is brewing around this business… They talked about tens of thousands of dollars there for each export operation that was conducted, starting with the preparation of documents, where you got this nut, the preparation of documents proving the origin of this nut. The same — phytosanitary certificate. Without this, simply passing through the state border is impossible, you will not be let through."

In 2015 alone, nearly four thousand tons of nuts worth 13.5 million dollars were exported from Odesa. More than 300 million hryvnias. And this is according to official data only.

And to evade paying duties, Atamanyuk decided to use ATO soldiers, more precisely, the benefits provided to them by the state. But the real soldiers had nothing to do with this "business" – who would let them near million-dollar flows, and where would they get the money and connections for all this?

These schemes could only become possible thanks to high-ranking officials who "protected" the dubious business and entrepreneurs who disguised themselves as warriors and through "friends" at the highest echelons arranged shipments with significantly understated prices. As a result, budgets failed to receive millions of hryvnias.

In 2016, more than 600 nut-carrying trucks were registered through one-day firms. Companies with loud names “Warriors of ATO”, “Foodka”, “Nicolas Dolzhany”, “Aktun” and “Fineprod” participated in the scheme.

According to the most modest data, the tax from one dispatched truck amounted to 30,000 hryvnias, but not a single penny was paid. As a result, the budget lost 18 million hryvnias. When the tax authorities tried to check these firms, after appointments for checks “entrepreneurs” instantly swapped one-day firms for another, continuing to operate.

This systemic tax evasion could not have been carried out without high patrons, whose strings lead to the former chief fiscal officer of the country, Klymenko. And the key "string" was Yuriy Atamanyuk.

However, the public outcry worked then – at Hroysman’s demand, the GPU under Lutsenko’s leadership eliminated the scheme, and its ideological inspirer, after a slight scare and several monetary sums, retrained as a television expert.

During unstable times, Yuriy decided to wait it out in the Taxpayers’ Association, which, it seems, serves as a quiet "storage" for disgraced corrupt officials.

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Here Atamanyuk works as Deputy Head of the Association of Grigol Katamadze, who is the closest associate of the current Georgian prisoner and former head of Odesa, Saakashvili, under whom all sorts of schemes flourished vigorously at Odesa customs.

There was a pitiful attempt to squeeze into the electoral list of "Batkivshchyna" in the 2019 elections, but it was unsuccessful, although Atamaniuk actively claimed that he was already five minutes before becoming a deputy.

And now – a new surge of activity. What caused it? It’s not exactly known. As we wrote at the outset, understanding their imminent collapse, the current authorities are doing their best to squeeze the maximum material assets from the remaining days. Whoever and however does this – they are not concerned. Therefore, a professional of gray schemes like Atamaniuk has every chance of occupying one of the key positions. Perhaps it will be customs. Perhaps – the fiscal service. Maybe something related to VAT or the liquor business – in all these areas Atamanyuk has vast experience. The near future will show.