Yanukovych’s accomplices continue to enrich themselves on medicines

Bakhteyeva, Bohatyryova and Fistali retained access to financial flows.

Medicines are one of the few products that people will always need. And the demand for them is especially high in wartime, particularly from the government. This is the golden age for various businessmen in the medical field. At one time, people from Donetsk were very visible in this field and were represented exclusively by women, who created "ministerial" and "deputy" clans. "The Commentary decided to find out how the companies created by the heads of these clans - former Yanukovych-era Health Minister Raisa Bohatyryova and former MP and head of the Parliamentary Committee on Healthcare Tetyana Bakhteyeva - live and work.

Undoubtedly, 2012-2014 was the most profitable period for the Donetsk "ministerial" clan in the pharmaceutical industry. This was due to the fact that its head, Raisa Bohatyryova, was the Minister of Health in Mykola Azarov’s government at that time. Bohatyryova’s mainstay, Liudmyla-Pharm LLC, earned over UAH 1.2 billion or about USD 150 million from government tenders during this period.

After the change of government, the situation for the "ministers" changed - Bohatyryova not only lost her ministerial portfolio, but was also put on the international wanted list on suspicion of embezzling UAH 340 million from the state budget.

After Volodymyr Zelenskyy won the presidential election, the former minister even returned to Ukraine and was immediately arrested and placed in a pre-trial detention centre, but was released after 24 hours. A few days after that, former Health Minister Uliana Suprun told the media that Bohatyryova was regaining her influence through her former adviser, Dmytro Podturkin. At the time, he was an assistant to the first deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health, Valeriy Dubil.

Coincidentally or not, in 2020, according to the YouControl analytical service, Liudmyla-Pharm won almost 5 times more public tenders than in 2019 - UAH 331 million against UAH 67 million. At the same time, the company’s own revenue remained at the same level - about UAH 200 million. That is, the increase in revenues of the "ministerial" clan more than doubled due to the victories in tenders, which showed the influence of Raisa Bohatyryova in the industry.

However, this was still less than in 2015 - UAH 411 million - and in 2021, the position of Liudmyla-Pharm in tenders fell, as they managed to win by UAH 185.6 million. However, in 2022-2023, these amounts increased to UAH 269 million and UAH 259 million, respectively. Already this year, Liudmyla-Pharm LLC celebrated a victory in public tenders worth UAH 63.5 million.

In total, since 2015 and up to now, according to YouControl, Liudmyla-Pharm has won government tenders worth a total of UAH 1.98 billion. Taking into account the change in the dollar exchange rate since 2014, this is at best half of the previous income.

The State Enterprise Medical Procurement and the Heart Institute have a hand in it

But it’s much more interesting to look at some of the small tenders won by Liudmyla-Pharm LLC, with amounts ranging from several million to several tens of millions of hryvnias. And it turns out that the company wins the largest tenders mainly from two customers - the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the State Enterprise Medical Procurement.

For example, on 23 October 2023, the Heart Institute procured medicines worth UAH 5 million 277 thousand from Liudmyla-Pharm LLC. This tender is interesting because the company had no competitors, and its offer was the only one.

On 23 March 2024, the Heart Institute held a tender for the procurement of medicines worth more than UAH 34 million, and Lyudmila-Pharm won. This time, the company became the winner only because its competitor’s offer was rejected and the decision to win was cancelled. It is worth noting that the competitor of Liudmyla-Pharm, STM-Pharm LLC, asked for 458 thousand hryvnias less for its goods, but the officials preferred to overpay.

They also favoured the company associated with Raisa Bohatyryova at the state enterprise Medical Procurement - UAH 9.4 million in a tender in October 2023 and almost UAH 21 million in a tender in March 2014. 25 October.

But the tender of 31 October of the same year is much more interesting. Liudmyla-Pharm LLC outbid its competitor Business Centre Pharmacy LLC, offering a price for the drug only 52 kopecks lower for a batch of Nilotinib for cancer patients. It was this difference that allowed Liudmyla-Pharm to win the tender worth UAH 20 million 286 thousand 416. Whether it was a coincidence or someone’s invisible help, the fact remains that 52 kopecks decided the fate of a contract worth tens of millions.

It is worth noting that while Liudmyla-Pharm wins the tender and receives money from the state budget, Raisa Bohatyryova herself has even avoided sanctions.

"Quick Kings" - 6 billion for the Fistal brothers

The "deputy clan" was once the name given to a group of companies tied to Tetyana Bakhteyeva, the chair of the Healthcare Committee from 2002 to 2014. During her lifetime, the politician has come a long way from an ordinary doctor to one of the most influential people in the pharmaceutical industry.

The former MP’s countrymen, brothers Volodymyr and Herman Fistal, children of the world-famous Donetsk surgeon Emil Fistal, took full advantage of this. Although the latter remained in Donetsk and took a pro-Russian stance, nothing prevents his sons from living in Ukraine and earning billions of hryvnias in public funds.

Avtospetsprom LLC is the name of the pearl of the Fistal brothers’ business empire, specialising in the sale of special medical vehicles, primarily ambulances. According to YouControl, the company’s ownership is almost equally divided between Herman Fistal and his nephew Artem Fistal, Volodymyr’s son.

And this company has a lot to share, as Avtospetsprom has earned UAH 6 billion 50 million from winning state tenders alone. Interestingly, the most profitable years for the company were 3 years: 2019 - UAH 931 million; 2020 - UAH 1 billion 179 million; 2021 - UAH 1 billion 673 million. And for the next 2022-2023. "Avtospetsprom received only UAH 573 million, while in 2015-2018 it was UAH 406 million.

It is easy to see that when Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to power, the brothers’ business, as they say, went up. Even Tetyana Bakhteyeva began to appear in the public space. However, it is probably no longer worth considering the Fistal brothers as members of the "Donetsk" clan in the pharmaceutical industry.

The reason for this is their impressive financial success in public tenders, which has kept the brothers at large.

The contract was not fulfilled, but the money was received: "Avtospetsprom’s "roof"

Back in 2021, Avtospetsprom LLC signed 18 contracts with the State Enterprise Medical Procurement of Ukraine for the supply of 815 ambulances. The company received UAH 1 billion 342 million under all contracts before the delivery of the vehicles, but as of August 2023, it had not delivered 77 vehicles. Another 15 ambulances were not delivered to the customer under the 2023 contracts.

The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine is investigating the criminal proceedings, although the latest publicly available documents on it date back to May 2023, and it is unknown at what stage the investigation is.

But given that Avtospetsprom continues to supply ambulances to the state, sometimes through the courts after the tender decision has been cancelled, the brothers are being protected by someone from the current government.

Bakhteyeva herself has no such influence. In fact, there have been no recent public mentions of her.

Against the background of Avtospetsprom’s billions of hryvnias, the other revenues of the Fistal firms in tenders - Medical Group Ukraine LLC (UAH 128.2 million) and Kras Research and Production Company LLC (UAH 88.6 million) - seem quite insignificant.