Foreign travels of one fiscal officer, or what Khmelnytskyi taxman Martynyuk "negotiates" in Austria

Today, it is hardly surprising to anyone the luxury in which tax officials fleetingly exist. Millions of US dollars with the first deputy head of Kyiv’s tax office, Mykola Illyashenko, gold bars with the former head of Kharkiv’s tax office, Stanislav Denysyuk, sable coats, Swiss watches worth tens of thousands of dollars, and branded items with the acting head of Kyiv’s tax service, Oksana Datiy. This is the minimum that the employees of the anti-corruption agencies found with ’ordinary’ tax bosses.

All these riches are from diligent work, but not for a salary of 30,000 hryvnias, rather from kickbacks from pressures on businesses, blocking companies in favor of competitors, turning a blind eye to tax evasion, VAT returns, and many other daily ’concerns’. And the heroes of criminal chronicles are becoming more numerous. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, tax officials from the western and central regions of Ukraine not only saw an increase in ’work’ due to the relocation of businesses from the eastern and southern regions of the country and a corresponding increase in tax revenues by 40%, but they also found new - alternative ways to fill their pockets.

Such as, for example, trips abroad to resolve issues with business owners who fled. One of those schemers resolving issues on the go is Vadym Martynyuk, the chief inspector of the anti-corruption department of the Main Directorate of the State Tax Service of Ukraine in the Khmelnytskyi region.

Former tax policeman Martynyuk Vadym is supposed to be involved in detecting and countering corruption in the Khmelnytskyi regional tax office; however, he almost led the region’s corrupt officials.

Since February last year, despite the ban on leaving the country for those liable for military service, especially state employees, he crossed the border at least five times:

- July 2022. Austria (Vienna), Germany (Frankfurt), Spain (Palma de Mallorca),

– September 2022. Austria (Vienna), Spain (Barcelona).

– November 2022. Austria (Vienna), Germany (Frankfurt).

– January 2023. Austria (Vienna), Austria (Bad Hofgastein).

– June 2023. Austria (Vienna), Spain (Palma de Mallorca).

All visits to elite resorts, stays in luxury hotels of no lower than Hyatt Regency. Where did an ordinary tax employee get the money for luxurious vacations, or did the state compensate for his living? How did Martynyuk manage to leave the country so many times under strict restrictions on the exit of men of conscript age? More questions than answers. In fact, we asked these questions to the acting head of the Main Directorate of the State Tax Service of Ukraine in the Khmelnytskyi region, Iryna Zlenko. In response, silence.

And no wonder, as it turns out from reliable sources, all of Martynyuk’s trips were made with the consent and blessing of Iryna Zlenko (she also has enough corruption spots on her fur, but more on that in other publications - ed.).

Formally, Martynyuk traveled abroad for humanitarian aid or went on urgent international business trips, but in fact, he went to "resolve" matters with sanctioned persons who fled, helped Russian collaborators re-register businesses to proxies to evade Ukrainian sanctions, and so on. According to a source, Zlenko had a share of this ’business’ diverting enterprises from sanctions.

By the way, Martynyuk has worked out the scheme of leaving abroad down to detail. Soon, he might even receive a medal for supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He left the country under the guise of traveling for humanitarian aid.

Martynyuk leaves supposedly for humanitarian aid to Poland, as a driver, and then tours all over Europe on personal matters. Later, he takes a photo with his friend Jurgen Noske, who is essentially a Russian ’Yura’, who has long lived in Germany, for reporting and as if collecting humanitarian aid which dissolves somewhere along the way. Then, whether it wonderfully appears in his stores or elsewhere is unclear. And was there any aid at all?

It’s worth mentioning that the practice, which is difficult to call work, of the former tax cop Martynyuk yields substantial dividends. He is the owner of shops trading building materials «Budcentr», as well as stores trading household chemicals and European goods. It is notable that most employees in retail outlets are not officially registered. The logic here is ironclad: who would dare check him, given that he is a taxman.

Moreover, Martynyuk also owns a trading warehouse for lumber also in Khmelnytskyi with a romantic name, "Trading House of Wood." The warehouses are on plots of land registered to him since 2021. Naturally, on paper, the business belongs to a trusted friend, Oleksiy Shupera, with whom he has been going hand in hand since childhood. Incidentally, Martynyuk used Shupera in matters concerning entrepreneurs when pressure on competitors was needed to order. During his tenure as a tax policeman, Martynyuk wiretapped businessmen’s phones for subsequent blackmail. The mechanism was simple: he petitioned judges for eavesdropping authorization and included all necessary numbers that needed listening, adding phones of competitors, friends, and other persons of interest to him. It’s clear that banal blackmail and extortion followed.

It’s also worth mentioning that prior to being appointed to the anti-corruption department, Martynyuk transferred all his land plots to Shupera to prevent the commission from having unnecessary questions regarding wealth origins. Later, he re-transferred them to himself.

It would not be out of place to mention another character close to Martynyuk - a friend who can do everything, the owner of the semi-finished products chain "Galya Baluvana" in Khmelnytskyi, Roman Kordon. The friends have very warm relations and they often relax together. And it’s not just about Martynyuk solving Kordon’s business issues. It’s said they are more than just business partners and attend parades, but not the military kind. But that’s another story for readers to hear about later.

Meanwhile, we have what we deserve. Corruption continues to devour Ukraine, whose citizens believe less and less in justice with each new scandal involving a corrupt official and see no reason to pay taxes in the country.

Author: Artem Mikhnenko