"Shadow" schemes of the department of Mykhailo Nonyak

Ukraine continues to experience a wave of personnel changes: the head of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention has changed, the head of the Mykolaiv region Oleksiy Savchenko has been temporarily suspended from managing the region, and clouds are gathering over the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office Nazar Kholodnytskyi.

Amidst this background, a campaign that began on March 29 demanding the dismissal of the head of "Ukrtransbezpeka" Mykhailo Nonyak went less noticed, write Comments.

Who is Mykhailo Nonyak

The head of the State Service for Transport Safety of Ukraine, Mykhailo Nonyak, is a typical post-Maidan official who seemingly came out of nowhere.

Nonyak was born in 1982 in the village of Manyava, Ivano-Frankivsk region, and according to his official biography, at the age of 18, he joined the "Svoboda" party. At 20, he registered as a private entrepreneur and joined the Nadvirna City Council, where he served as a member of the budget committee. Nonyak later tried to run for the Verkhovna Rada, but his documents were not accepted by the election commission. By 2007, he graduated from the Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas. In 2010, he ended his relationship with "Svoboda" and linked his political future with Anatoliy Hrytsenko’s "Civic Position."

The real surge in Nonyak’s career happened after the events of the Euromaidan, where he participated as a commander of the 2nd Hundred of the Self-Defence Forces.

Already in April 2014, Mykhailo Nonyak became the fourth deputy minister for taxes and duties, with responsibility for fighting corruption in the agency. He was later transferred to the commission for the reorganization of the structure into the State Fiscal Service. Judging by subsequent events, personnel reshuffles in the agency, and the lack of mentions of the new official, it can be said that Nonyak did not succeed in his task, staying in the fiscal position for just under 2 years.

On January 27, 2016, Mykhailo Nonyak was appointed deputy head of the State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety, and from April 20, he became its head, the third in 1.5 years of the structure’s existence.

The State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety, as a central executive body of Ukraine, was created on September 10, 2014, by Cabinet Resolution No. 442 by merging the State Inspections for Safety on Sea, River, and Land Transport, with the subordination of the State Special Transport Service.

The task of the newly established agency, as implied by its name, was to ensure safety on all types of domestic transport in the country.

It is obvious that this task, in the government’s view, was not among the priorities, as the service received a leader only in May 2015, and fully began operations only in the spring of 2016.

Activists against "Parubiy’s Purse"

On March 28, a picket took place outside the Verkhovna Rada, where people with flags and placards, which they mounted on the roadside, as well as on cars, demanded the dismissal of the head of "Ukrtransbezpeka" Mykhailo Nonyak. The main slogan of the action was: "Parubiy, stop covering Nonyak."

Activists claim that if not for the support of Parliament Speaker Parubiy, Nonyak would have already been dismissed. "Perhaps the shadow incomes from ’Ukrtransbezpeka’, discovered during the inspections by the Ministry of Infrastructure, are going into the pockets of the parliament’s leadership and those who help Nonyak remain at the head of ’Ukrtransbezpeka’," they note.

On April 3, another rally for the dismissal of Mykhailo Nonyak took place outside the Verkhovna Rada, this time initiated by the so-called Euro-plate holders, drivers using European license plates.

Several dozen cars of activists from the "Auto Euro Power" organization demanded the protection of roads from destruction and the dismissal of the head of the State Transport Safety Service ("Ukrtransbezpeka") Mykhailo Nonyak.

Participants of the rally state that for three months they have been appealing to the leadership of "Ukrtransbezpeka", calling for enhanced control over overloaded freight transport and anti-corruption actions. Instead, the agency began dismantling already functioning weight complexes, which was captured in photos and videos, leading to road hazards and road mortality - about 30 thousand people a year. After the first rally demanding Nonyak’s removal, Parubiy defended him.

It must be said that the connection between the head of "Ukrtransbezpeka" and the speaker of the parliament has never been a secret. For example, in 2017, Mykhailo Nonyak’s name was listed on the website of the Verkhovna Rada among advisors to Andriy Parubiy on a voluntary basis.

The Minister against Nonyak

It should be noted that activists are not the first or the only ones demanding the dismissal of the head of "Ukrtransbezpeka".

Back in January 2018, the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Volodymyr Omelyan, criticized Nonyak’s agency, announcing that he would initiate the latter’s dismissal due to the agency’s abuses, essentially accusing him of corruption.

"As for Mykhailo Nonyak, head of the State Transport Safety, I am openly dissatisfied with his work. And I have said this both personally to him and publicly. I believe they had a resource of trust, which they have quite often abused. This happened with the introduction of weight-control complexes on highways to prevent overloading. It also occurred with the distribution of bilateral transport permits, there are issues with the sea - the so-called sealing and other things. Therefore, if this situation does not stop, appropriate personnel decisions will be made on my part," Omelyan stated.

In the best traditions of domestic bureaucracy, Nonyak, after this statement, went on sick leave.

Nonetheless, in March, Volodymyr Omelyan fulfilled his promise. On her Facebook page, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Mariya Tomko, wrote that Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan submitted a proposal to the government to dismiss Mykhailo Nonyak from the position of head of the State Transport Safety Service.

Later, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure for European Integration, Viktor Dovhan, explained that the basis for this was the results of an inspection of "Ukrtransbezpeka" activities for the second half of 2017, which revealed a number of violations and a significant problem with transport permits.

"Inspections showed that some permits are issued in unclear ways; there are reports of carriers from different regions catching inspectors in wrongful acts. These are all serious issues," Dovhan explained, adding that work is currently underway to create an electronic carrier’s office.

The Deputy Minister also added that materials of violations from the inspection results of "Ukrtransbezpeka" will be handed over to law enforcement agencies, and based on these, the Cabinet of Ministers will decide the appropriateness of dismissing the head of the service, Mykhailo Nonyak.

In the fight for tens of billions and ports

Prospering corruption in "Ukrtransbezpeka" is the main complaint of all those demanding Nonyak’s resignation, and it must be said that there might be enough grounds for such demands.

On August 26, 2017, in the Zakarpattia region, the chief specialist of the department of state control and oversight over transport safety of the "Ukrtransbezpeka" management was detained for receiving a 6,000 UAH illegal benefit.

In the summer of that same year, in the ATO zone, employees of the Security Service of Ukraine detained a state inspector of the "Ukrtransbezpeka" management in the Luhansk region for bribery. It was noted that the official systematically demanded money from a businessman for the unhindered passage of route taxis through the Luhansk region, as well as non-enforcement of penalties in case of violations. Security service operatives detained the bribe-taker while receiving a further illegal benefit of 10,000 UAH.

On June 2, 2017, media reported the detention of four employees of the "Ukrtransbezpeka" management in the Kharkiv region red-handed for demanding and receiving bribes at weight complexes.

Officials from the Odesa, Zaporizhzhya, and Vinnytsia regions were caught, leading to the removal of regional unit heads from their posts. In the Chernihiv region, the head of "Ukrtransbezpeka" in the region, Vasyl Petryshyn, was detained with his subordinate for bribery of 10,000 UAH.

The example of the head of the Odesa regional management, Mykola Chekal, revealed the secret of how Mykhailo Nonyak avoided scandals that rocked his agency. The official was dismissed allegedly based on his own resignation letter from July 27, but unexpectedly, Chekal was on a "sick leave." He became aware of the order three days later.

Afterward, the official filed a lawsuit in the district administrative court. In November, the court decided to reinstate him. "Ukrtransbezpeka" filed an appeal.

The panel of judges dismissed it, justifying it by stating that the original resignation letter somehow found its way to the central office of "Ukrtransbezpeka" on July 27, without registration in the office.

Chekal declared in court that he did not submit a resignation letter at that time. Instead, at the beginning of 2017, he had written a resignation letter for the leadership - "just in case," but did not submit it according to legal procedure. Furthermore, the ex-official stated that he had no desire to resign from his position.

In general, the Odesa regional management of "Ukrtransbezpeka" is traditionally considered the most corrupt within the agency, as acknowledged by Nonyak himself.

For instance, in October, the deputy head of the local management of "Ukrtransbezpeka" in the Odesa region, Vitaliy Myronenko, was detained for a bribe of 42,000 UAH for the free movement of a vehicle with violation of weight norms. Interestingly, as of April 4, he had not even been removed from office during the investigation, being out on bail of 475,000 UAH.

In September 2017, Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan spoke about a corruption scheme related to sealing locking devices on vessels. According to the minister, the corruption scheme was previously known as "ballast waters." An inspector, claiming non-existent legislative violations, demanded to "rectify" the shortcomings for a "payment" of 200-1000 dollars. Otherwise, the vessel was prohibited from setting sail, and a day of idleness cost the owner 10,000 - 50,000 US dollars. They attempted to "negotiate" with every ship.

However, Mykhailo Nonyak denied the existence of corruption schemes in Odesa ports.

Nevertheless, in July, a specialist of the Odesa management was detained for bribe-taking, who, according to the SBU, had organized a scheme to collect bribes from private forwarding companies and ship captains entering the sea ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhne. Chief specialist of the inspection department for safety on automobile and urban electric transport Serhiy Lychikaki was detained on July 27, 2017, while receiving a bribe of 1,500 US dollars from an intermediary.

In short, there are plenty of facts supporting the claims of activists and Minister Omelyan.

However, not only the desire to restore justice might guide the actions of the minister and activists.

In 2018, about 50 billion UAH is planned for road repair in the country, and Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman instructed to strengthen weight control on roads. Currently, according to various estimates, about 50% of transport exceeds weight regulations.

Additionally, on August 1, the central executive body of the maritime industry - the Maritime Administration - is expected to start functioning, which will likely clash with the interests of Nonyak’s agency staff.

Overall, the "battle for Nonyak" and his chair is still ahead.