The fact that the current "green" government of Ukraine is a gathering of incompetents, swindlers, and outright scoundrels became evident to the voter, who just two years ago craved the promised "new faces," almost immediately after the change of elites. However, the average Ukrainian sees only the tip of the iceberg – mainly the Cabinet of Ministers and the parliament, where among this crowd of entertainers and clowns, there are also normal people who at least slightly improve the dreadful picture.
Meanwhile, behind the facade of this entire parliamentary and ministerial crowd, far more interesting characters are hiding, often wielding significantly greater influence over the processes taking place in the country. In this case, we are talking about the blatant criminal Viktor Kurtyev, who in 2019 ran for parliament under the banner of "Servant of the People" (though he lost the election), and in 2020 aimed for the position of Minister of Energy, but that also fell through.
To start, we will briefly outline the biography of Viktor Kurtyev and explain why we call him a criminal. At the same time, we emphasize: we write the word "criminal" without quotation marks because Kurtev is exactly that.
Viktor Kurtyev was born in 1979 in the village of Krynychne, Bolhrad district, Odesa region. He graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and built his career in private structures related to energy, which later allowed him to present himself as an expert in these matters.
From 2001 to 2005, he worked at "Kyivenergo," then moved to "Ukrenergo," where he stayed until 2008. During the same period, through a Cypriot offshore company, he founded and headed the "Metropolia" group of companies, which operates in the energy sector. In 2018, Kurtev ventured into the media business, founding the outlets "Bessarabia.UA" and "Sobesednik Izmaila."
It is precisely "Metropolia" that became the subject of several criminal cases and numerous court decisions from deceived partners.
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Now let’s explain the term "criminal." The fact is that Viktor Kurtyev was convicted in 2015 under Part 4 of Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine for forging documents. Although he got away with just a fine, a person with a criminal conviction is indeed a criminal. Nevertheless, this did not prevent him from running for parliament and aspiring to a ministerial position. Most likely, this was facilitated by a contribution of one and a half million hryvnias that Kurtev made to the election fund of "Servant of the People." Moreover, this is entirely official information, and Viktor himself has repeatedly boasted about this fact.
As reported by "Dumskaya," Kurtev works for ex-MP Vasyl Khmelnytskyi, managing solar power plants that Khmelnytsky is building in the south of Odesa region. This is linked to some unpleasant issues – for instance, LLC "ITsKK-Solar," which is building a solar power plant near Stara Nekrasivka and is founded by Kurtyev’s "Metropolia," refuses to pay for the land, with its debt to the locality exceeding 850,000 hryvnias.
Additionally, before the elections, Kurtyev was actively involved in Vasylivka, Kiliya district, where he also promised to build a similar power plant. After losing the elections, he was no longer seen there.
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In addition to the legally binding conviction, Viktor Kurtyev has several accusations of tax evasion on a particularly large scale, which were brought against him between 2013 and 2020. He also featured (or still features) in criminal cases related to document forgery, fictitious contracts, and theft of budget funds.
In March 2019, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) registered criminal case No. 52019000000000233 concerning official forgery, abuse of office, and unauthorized actions related to Kurtev’s companies LLC "Belino-Solar," LLC "Adzhalyk-Energy," LLC "Stepanivka-Solar," LLC "Avgustivka-Solar," LLC "Solar-Plant-1," and LLC "Solar-Plant-2." Interestingly, recently this "outstanding energy expert" has been concerned about the wave of compromising material that has appeared in the media in connection with his political ambitions, and he is trying to clean it up. But either he didn’t allocate enough money for competent specialists, or he’s doing it himself, as information about him remains accessible online. Of course, some things have been scrubbed, but these are pitiful crumbs compared to what remains in the public domain.
We won’t list all his misdeeds; you can read about him on the "Antikor" portal, which has repeatedly dissected all of Kurtyev’s scams, or simply by searching for the name "Viktor Kurtyev" online.
We’ll allow ourselves just one small but very telling detail about his character. Back in 2018, Anton Sokolov posted on Facebook a post that characterizes the failed "Servant of the People" candidate in the best possible way.
Anyone interested can read Sokolov’s story themselves; the post has not been deleted and is still publicly accessible. We’ll allow ourselves to quote a few excerpts.
"Considering that there is a debtor, Viktor Kurtyev, who owes my friends 600,000 US dollars and is doing everything to avoid repaying the debt, I decided to make him famous. Perhaps this post will help someone protect themselves from this swindler," writes Sokolov. He also reminds readers of Kurtyev’s conviction and describes the typical schemes Kurtyev uses: "He constantly opens new legal entities, takes on debts, and fails to fulfill the obligations he has undertaken."
Read also: criminal and swindler Viktor Kurtyev Is busy cleaning up his criminal biography
Sokolov also reveals another sphere of Viktor Kurtyev’s activities, namely speculation on national issues in Odesa region. It turns out that Kurtev established cooperation with a local figure, Dmytro Zatulyviter, who is the leader of the so-called People’s Council of Bessarabia (doesn’t this remind you of something, by the way?). And this very "people’s council" is funded by Russia through its "Rossotrudnichestvo" foundation. For those who don’t understand what this is about – it’s a typical FSB scheme to destabilize the situation in Ukraine and "protect the Russian-speaking population." This has already happened in Donbas and is happening in Zakarpattia, where "Rossotrudnichestvo" fuels the so-called Rusyn movement.
And the events of 2014 in Odesa were nothing other than the culmination of all this "protection of Russian-speakers," who, by the way, were brought there from Transnistria and Russia.
But apparently, within the framework of the "People’s Council of Bessarabia," Kurtyev felt constrained, or he didn’t want to share FSB money with Zatulyviter, so Viktor Kurtev organized his own project – the Bessarabia Development Center – and began receiving money for it directly. By the way, there’s a spicy detail connected to the Bessarabia Development Center – its co-founder, Ivan Lefterov, who at the time was the head of the Kamyanka village council (Izmail district), ended up in pre-trial detention in August 2018 after SSU officers caught him taking a bribe of 9,500 US dollars.
It’s a pity that SSU officers weren’t interested in the briber’s activities at the Bessarabia Development Center and didn’t inquire about where the money for this "development" came from. Although, perhaps, this "blindness" was facilitated by Viktor Kurtyev, as a more senior and experienced comrade. Or, more likely, Vasyl Khmelnytskyi "covered" for him, understanding that the chain could unravel, and Kurtyev could end up charged with separatism – the previous government, though reluctantly, still did not favor people stirring up trouble on the borders with Russia.
However, all this pursuit of becoming a "Servant of the People" and a minister has led Viktor Kurtyev to another problem – now he is fending off interest from NABU, which recently seems to have suddenly started fulfilling its direct duties and demonstrating results. How this will end is still unknown, but it’s certain that Viktor Kurtev is in trouble. And who knows, the SSU might get involved too. There’s plenty of reason for it.