Serhiy Lyamets: Shevchenko's trial turned into a "bankers' case"

The Soviet practice is not forgotten. Just recently, the case of former NBU Head Kyrylo Shevchenko was reclassified from financial abuse to "creation of a criminal group." About fifteen people who had previously been treated as witnesses suddenly became defendants under an article that had previously been applied to "thieves-in-law."

The psychological attack worked. At once two of them gave up. The NABU reported on its Telegram channel that former Deputy Head of Ukrgasbank and Ukreximbank, Oleksandr Ihnatenko, and a small businessman testified. The latter is not important, but Ihnatenko is an extremely interesting case.

The court's decision is currently secret. But there was an extremely interesting incident. The court's decision remained open for several hours after it was issued, and then it was removed from the public domain. According to my information, Ihnatenko was offered a deal with the investigation. If he donates 40-50 million to the Armed Forces, he will be released under Article 367, "official negligence," which has already expired.

Usually, such accidents are not random. During these few hours, many people learnt of Ihnatenko's verdict. Of course, this violated the presumption of innocence and harmed other participants in the process, and also put psychological pressure on all of them. I think that was the goal. It was a signal to the other witnesses to start telling what the investigation needed. In the end, their fate is not important, because the main goal is to prosecute former NBU Head Shevchenko.

Usually, those witnesses who have much more information than the current case are the ones who give up. That is why they are often willing to provide more evidence than they actually did - simply put, to slander somebody. Ihnatenko is exactly such a person. It is significant that he is the only banker in Shevchenko's case who has initiated signing the evidence.

WHY BANKER IHNATENKO'S REPUTATION IS CONSIDERED BAD

Ihnatenko has a rather spotty reputation in financial circles. At one time, it was said that he was employed by shady businessman Mykhailo Beilin, with the assistance of the then head of the Presidential Administration, Borys Lozhkin. He and Beilin were considered friends; according to rumors, Ihnatenko even lived in his friend's apartment. From Ukrgasbank, he moved to Ukreximbank, where he became Deputy Chairman for Corporate Business. Whether his business was successful is evidenced by the fact that he used his banker's salary to buy a Bentley Continental GT from former MP Ihor Kotvitskyi.

In August 2023, Ihnatenko was dismissed from Ukreximbank at his own request. That was announced in the shortest form possible without any details. The release coincided with the reclassification of the case as a "criminal group".

While the former head of Ukreximbank, Yevhen Metzher, was not pushed out of the bank after the scandal and was even employed by Ukrfinzhytlo because his wife is a friend of President Zelenskyy's wife, no one asked for Ihnatenko. I do not know if it's because of the reputation.

Now Ihnatenko is a "sweet" client for any prosecutor. He has so many episodes behind him that he is probably ready to do a lot to prevent investigators from digging deeper.

IHNATENKO, METZHER AND HALANTERNYK’S LOAN

Rumor has it that he gave up because of his Bentley, his friendship with Beilin, and... a loan to the "respected" Odesa resident Volodymyr Halanternyk. If you remember, the former head of Ukreximbank, Yevhen Metzher, ordered journalists to be beaten and their cameras taken away precisely because of the issue of a loan secured by the Kyiv Sky Mall. In fact, this is Ihnatenko's loan. He was in charge of the corporate lending sector.

It was Ihnatenko who drafted the illegal and openly toxic deal, which cost the state-owned Ukreximnbank reputation and personnel losses. Perhaps even material losses, because the conflict with the Estonian investor who was deprived of Sky Mall in Poroshenko's time has not yet been resolved. That is, this is a rather messy case. Bankers all over the world work with a variety of clients, but cooperation with criminals is considered a particularly dirty "specialization" even among them.

Officially, the bank provided the money to a person who was doing business in the DPR. However, the person was considered Halanternyk's "subordinate", and the money was actually used by an Odesa resident to buy Sky Mall from Andrii Adamovskyi. The loan was kept secret, but there was a scandal with the beating of journalists. Metzher was fired, and they tried to "forget" about the loan. However, that failed.

The NABU has recently completed the investigation into the Halanternyk-Trukhanov case. The "respected" resident is charged with money laundering in Odesa. According to the news, traces of this money have been found not only in London, but also in Kyiv through the purchase of Sky Mall. The NABU has testimony from Halanternyk's trusted people about how much money was deposited and where it was used to resolve cases. Among the recipients is probably Ukreximbank, which provided that very loan. Not only Ihnatenko, but also the entire top management and, of course, the bank's supervisory board are under suspicion.

THE END OF THE INVESTIGATION JUSTIFIES THE MEANS

I think that Ihnatenko gave up because of the witnesses' testimony in Halanternyk’s case. He may have even "snitched" in the Odesa case, because usually if a witness has already started to "snitch," they are using him or her to the fullest. Or perhaps he agreed to testify against Shevchenko to avoid problems elsewhere.

What does Ihnatenko get in exchange for his testimony? Just freedom. Of course, after that, he will not have any financial career, because bankers do not respect snitches.

So the point is clear. The investigators found Ihnatenko, who was openly dishonest, and put pressure on him. Thus, they assumed abuse of power, reclassified the case to intimidate witnesses, and made the verdict public. It is dirty, perhaps, although they will sell this case as a great anti-corruption victory. As the saying goes, the end justifies the means on the part of the investigation.

But what is the purpose of the investigation if it resorts to dirty means?

The naked eye can see that the goal is to prosecute the former NBU head. Some people desperately need this. Why and who needs it? Witnesses talk about the head of the Presidential Office, Andrii Yermak, who has private accounts with the former head of the NBU. But that is not all.

Political cases in the history of Ukraine happen quite often. Usually, they exist solely to "knock down" an inconvenient person from a high position. A striking example is Reznikov’s case.

SHEVCHENKO'S CASE IS SPECIAL

The current government has never demonstrated such persistence in any political matter. For the first time under Zelenskyy, the goal is not just to release him (it has already been realized), but to get a high-profile verdict. This is the biggest political issue of our time.

Remember how it all started. The criminal case against Ukrgasbank's managers was opened even before Kyrylo Shevchenko was appointed head of the NBU. Did Zelensky know about it? 200% yes. But they did appoint him. I think they wanted to keep him under control, or "suspend" him through this case.

A striking example of "suspending" is the current first deputy head of the NBU, Kateryna Rozhkova, against whom a number of criminal cases have been opened. However, they have not been moved for years, and Ms. Kateryna is extremely kind. According to some reports, there are also cases against her boss, Andriy Pyshnyi, but judging by the silence around him, he is also behaving properly.

As for Shevchenko, exactly one year ago he was dismissed from the post of the head of the National Bank. He fully satisfied the authorities while he was "printing" money for the "Great Construction" and military needs of the budget. But something went wrong. To free Shevchenko, the red button was pushed, and the NABU was activated. The rest was simple and fast. Andriy Pyshnyi, Yermak's relative, was appointed in his place.

Usually, in Ukraine, after an official is fired, they are not charged with a crime. For a while, the case of Shevchenko was like that, too. As soon as the political component was removed, the investigation into the former head's case reached a dead end. The case began to fall apart in court.

But one day, everything changed. Shevchenko's case was again actively promoted politically. It's hard to say why. But it seems that "from above" there was a demand not only to get a sentence and even imprisonment, but also to do it as publicly as possible.

The rest you know. The case was reclassified from financial abuse to "criminal grouping". They pressured Ihnatenko, and he began to give the necessary testimony. It is not known what exactly he testified. It is possible that he even signed something that did not exist.

One thing is obvious. This is not a coincidence at all. We will soon find out what exactly the investigation squeezed out of Ihnatenko.

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