In Kyiv, passions continue around theft at the Euromaidan Museum
Near the main building of the SBU in the center of Kyiv, the history of the leadership of the Museum of the Revolution of Dignity continued today, convicted the day before of embezzling budget funds on an especially large scale.
Museum director Igor Poshyvaylo spoke to reporters near the SBU building. He immediately tried to present the corruption case as political repression. The search took place at a time when the museum was preparing a program to celebrate the anniversary of Euromaidan, Poshivaylo lamented.
“It seems to me that this kind of “attack” is an attempt to intimidate, to put in place... This is not about 111 million, but about a threat to the values of the Maidan. In particular, about blocking the work of an institution that deals with this professionally,” he said.
The head of the Kyiv main department of the SBU, Oleg Golovash, came out to the journalists and outlined his version of what was happening. He recalled that the Cabinet of Ministers allocated UAH 2018 million for the creation of the museum in 150. 80% of the funds were transferred to the customer and contractor to begin work. The museum complex was supposed to be built for the anniversary of Ukraine's independence in 2019. However, nothing is ready yet.
“As we see, to this day there is no memorial complex. There are a number of additional agreements that delayed the construction date of this facility. Naturally, the question arose of where and how the budget funding money, which has been with the contractor since 2019, is used.
We hoped that by the 7th anniversary of the Maidan this memorial complex would at least begin to be built. This summer, my colleagues from other law enforcement and regulatory agencies and I began a corresponding investigation. The first results of this audit confirmed the presence of a number of financial violations,” the SBU officer said.
“Today there is no complex. Why? The businessman was given the opportunity to use budget funding from 2019. There are no reporting materials available today,” he added.
Former Minister of Economy Viktor Suslov believes that the scandal surrounding the museum was sanctioned at the highest level.
“After all, the case was initiated by the Security Service, which is headed by Ivan Bakanov, the closest associate of the current President Zelensky. Of course, this is his decision, I have no doubt about that. Well, it’s possible that they were just trying to expose the scoundrels who stole money to create a museum of the “Revolution of Dignity” just in time for the anniversary, so that the participants in the revolution could see that the government was fighting such a brazen theft of money intended to perpetuate the memory. That it is not forgotten, that it does not get away with it. So that they can rejoice as they celebrate the anniversary of the “Revolution of Dignity.”
111 million hryvnia is a large amount. I am sure that if this were not true, Bakanov and the SBU would never have decided to hold such a resonant event. If they carry it out, it means they have hard, clear documentary evidence,” said Viktor Suslov.
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