Tax official and deputy from Rivne, Olena Khotenko, funds pro-Russian publications

Tax official and deputy from Rivne, Olena Khotenko, funds pro-Russian publications

The former head of the Sumy Tax Service and a member of the Rivne City Council from the "Servant of the People" party, Olena Khotenko, who was dismissed after the scandal involving her millionaire son, supports pro-Russian publications in Ukraine.

This is reported by the media.

She indirectly controls the site "Rivne Online," owned by LLC "Rivne Online 24/7." Khotenko holds the rights to the trademark, and the enterprise itself was registered through her tax service on one of her lovers – Vitaliy Pavlov.

Khotenko decided to spread information about a fabricated fake discreditation campaign, hinting at detectives and concocting information about ties with Medvedchuk and Russia, but as you will learn from the material – Khotenko’s projects are linked with representatives of the Russian Federation and separatists.

Recently, a press conference titled "Antidote to Fake News" was held at the "Rivne Online" press center. Khotenko was not present, but she invited the director of the CBO "Detector Media," Halyna Petrenko, and VoxCheck analyst Yelyzaveta Tkachenko (of course, not for free).

These ladies noted that "one of the main issues in combating enemy fakes is the large number of anonymous Telegram channels that deliberately spread unverified information to profit from a large number of subscribers." Of course, you can shift focus from your own persona, who was whereabouts unknown for half a year, not attending work, thanks to such "public activists" on grants.

Who talk about the "danger" of Telegram channels that expose real corruption schemes and the assets of officials like Khotenko.

"Detector Media," funded by USAID grants, has been receiving funds from Khotenko for several years.

In August 2020, there was a media scandal in Rivne due to Khotenko’s organization, through her controlled NGO "Institute of Tax Reforms," of the so-called "TOP-100 Best Media Figures, Bloggers, and Trendmakers of Rivne Region." However, there was no list of participants for such a ranking within the frame of the National Media Award Media etc., nor did the ranking itself exist.

This did not stop Khotenko, who at the time planned to become a deputy from "Servant of the People," from hosting an award ceremony. For everyone who signed up themselves or nominated their colleagues. And representatives of various media earning from covert advertising – "jeans" – were awarded by the head of the journalistic ethics commission "Detector Media," Andriy Kulykov. The vanity fair took place at the expensive Blues and Jazz restaurant in Rivne, where certificates and statuettes were handed out. The event’s announcement stated that it was "equidistant from politics and religion." After the event, social networks were filled with happy individuals who were proud to have made it into the TOP-100 media figures and bloggers.

Journalists who wrote about this at the time could not find the criteria for who and by what indicators "within the framework of the Media etc. award" would determine the worthy media figures. Instead, they found on the mediaetc.org website partners of the award, including, notably, doubtful sites Znaj.ua, Hyser, Politeka, and a TV channel associated with Viktor Medvedchuk – a godfather of the Russian Federation president.

It should be recalled that after the scandal erupted at the Sumy Tax Service, Khotenko claimed she would hold an exposé press conference, but then deleted the post. Additionally, she was falsely registered as working as a tax inspector in Sumy, while in reality vacationing at resorts. She also did not refute information about her lover and millionaire son with a Russian mother.