Hetmantsev disappointed by lack of results from new ESB head Tsyvinskyi

Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, is disappointed by the lack of results from the new head of the Economic Security Bureau (ESB), Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi.

He said this in an interview with the Ukrainian News Agency.

"It's probably too early to talk about changing the head of the ESB, and I wouldn't want to go to this stage at all. But I certainly have some disappointment. A full 6 months of full-fledged work by the new Bureau team have already passed. I admit that certain processes require some time to resolve. No one is demanding that the ESB "wave a saber" and violate the law, "cutting off" the heads of shady people. But on the other hand, there are certain and obvious ongoing crimes that could already be stopped. For example, our committee informed the ESB about specific violations in the fuel market. The committee provided the Bureau with a list of illegal gas stations that simply need to be "cut down," because they don't have any documents," the MP said.

According to him, only 41 gas stations stopped working and, theoretically, can resume it. But they were not dismantled. And the total number there was about 350 gas stations with clear addresses.

In addition, Hetmantsev personally addressed the Bureau with a letter, to which he attached fiscal checks from the "MarketOpt" retail network, which is divided into 1,500 individual entrepreneurs.

"In this case, nothing needs to be done, just document and submit to the court. But, as I see it, absolutely nothing has changed. I am not asking to put someone in prison, I am not asking to put anyone in prison at all. I am only asking to stop the obvious crime. Because 1,500 individual entrepreneurs is an obvious crime, Article 212 of tax evasion. In addition, several more episodes were transferred in which guilt has already been proven and everything just needs to be formalized. The last straw was the awarding of the rank of colonel to Mr. Muntian, the head of the Odess ESB, who is generally a symbol of corruption of the old Tax Police, who was at the post at all authorities and who was even interrogated by us at the temporary investigative commission," Рetmantsev emphasized.

The MP noted that instead we see regular interviews, conferences, and various mind-blowing ideas to negotiate with business. For example, at one of the conferences the issue was discussed - how to amend the legislation so that the ESB could "decide" with the evader about partial payment of the accrued tax liability.

"In our case, some complete nonsense is being discussed. And this is at a time when the illegal tobacco market in our country has downgraded from 12.6% to more than 18% in 2025. The question arises - what are we all doing then? And at this time, ESB is reporting on achievements in de-shadowing the fuel market. If de-shadowing did take place, then it is solely due to the decisions that were made in the hall of the Verkhovna Rada in 2024, and before that - the Tax Service, which kept the BRSM at risk for 8 months or deprived half of the licenses of "Avantage 7" and took a very tough stance on the relevant companies that evaded taxes. But this definitely did not happen at the expense of ESB. Therefore, on the one hand, we do not see any results from ESB's activities, and on the other - an attempt to create a parallel reality of success that has no relation to reality," Hetmantsev concluded.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, representatives of big business, MPs, and specialized associations are disappointed with the results of the work of ESB Director Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi due to the lack of progress in de-shadowing the economy.

To request a correction, please send an email.