New cassette scandal in Ukraine: Wiretapping of the “little pig” prime minister
Wednesday evening brought Ukraine a new cassette scandal. A wiretapped recording of a meeting with 35-year-old Prime Minister Alexei Goncharuk was leaked onto the Internet. The official, together with representatives of the financial bloc, discussed how to convince President Vladimir Zelensky, who has little understanding of the economy, that there are no “holes” in the budget, and the abnormal strengthening of the hryvnia exchange rate is not at all a preparation for a collapse in the interests of currency speculators. At the same time, Goncharuk himself admitted during the conversation that he was also not an expert in economics.
The recording has already caused a scandal - commentators note that, judging by the wiretap, the team of “young reformers” advertised by Zelensky, who promised 40% economic growth, is at most capable of managing a street stall. In addition, it becomes obvious that members of the Cabinet of Ministers are trying to deceive Zelensky, making up stories during the meeting to reassure the head of state, who is worried about the state of the state budget.
“From Goncharuk’s words on the tapes it follows that the president is concerned about the strengthening of the exchange rate against the backdrop of a growing trade deficit and a decline in industry. Moreover, he connects this process with the pyramid of government bonds, speculations of Petro Poroshenko and even the head of the Ministry of Finance Oksana Markarova, who manages the public debt and creates super-profitable conditions for non-residents who bring hot money into Ukraine,” explains the essence of the “leaked” conversation, deputy Alexander Dubinsky, representing a group aligned with oligarch Igor Kolomoisky.
It is especially interesting that all participants in the government meeting at the meeting without the presence of the press speak Russian. Although Zelensky did not repeal the provisions of the law adopted under Poroshenko, which provided for fines for officials for refusing to use the Ukrainian language at work.
Presumably, the recording was made during the closed part of this meeting, held on December 16, 2019
“I’m embarrassed to ask, but has the local ombudsman already sent a penalty patrol to the Cabinet of Ministers and the National Bank for a special inspection?” – Ukrainian journalist Svetlana Kryukova sneers.
“Another shame for the country. Now the whole world understands how they do “reforms”, how they “serve the people” and why they hide from people by closing government meetings. Failure after failure. Lie after lie. And everything is in the language, not mov. There is no intelligence, no conscience. From the word absolutely. They’re just stupidly taking money from the budget into their wallets,” indignant nationalist Oleg Tyagnibok.
Goncharuk about Zelensky. Quotes from the wiretap
Former Verkhovna Rada deputy Vadim Denisenko notes that the recording was most likely made in the government building or the National Bank. At the same time, the security forces chose not to react to the publication of the wiretap: according to Denisenko, the state security service did not conduct any emergency checks for the presence of bugs.
“There is a third option - they listened through the phone of one of the participants, which means that someone has access to the phones of people who make the most important financial decisions in the country,” Denisenko clarifies.
He adds that “most Ukrainian officials have foreign telephone numbers because they are afraid of legal and illegal wiretapping.”
Political scientist Taras Berezovets, who works for Petro Poroshenko, traditionally put forward the version of the “Russian trace”.
“The scandal with Goncharuk’s recordings is clearly serial. They say that a total of 14 such episodes will be posted. Very similar to the work of the Russians,” he writes on his blog.
However, Berezovets clarifies, the spies could work in the interests of customers from Ukraine. For example, oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, who lost his key influence on Zelensky after the presidential elections, is interested in weakening the Soros.
Ex-employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and former ATO militant Stanislav Krasnov, on the contrary, writes in his blog that the “bugs” were installed by employees of the SBU, where many personnel loyal to Poroshenko are kept.
“The SBU, which by law must be subordinate to the president, is working directly to split and discredit the entire presidential team and politics... All this gradually but surely leads to a social explosion,” Krasnov warns.
Verkhovna Rada deputy Anton Polyakov claims that the wiretapping scandal was beneficial to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, who is vying for the post of prime minister. “Little Piggy” Goncharuk has allegedly already written a letter of resignation.
“Goncharuk wrote a statement. Another question is whether the president will sign this statement. And the third question is, is Avakov ready to take the post of prime minister?” – Polyakov notes.
However, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers has not yet confirmed information about Goncharuk’s resignation.
And observers are ironic that if Zelensky ignores the wiretapping scandal, he will lose the moment for a more or less painless change of government - since the world media is now captivated by the situation in Russia, where the prime minister has changed.
However, Zelensky has serious technical difficulties in dismissing Goncharuk, explains Timer editor Yuri Tkachev.
“I don’t believe in Goncharuk’s resignation. Even if we put aside the question that the prime minister has a one-year immunity from resignation - with what votes can this be done? The grant-eaters will not give votes, nor will Pavlyuk’s group (if only because Kolomoisky insists on Goncharuk’s resignation). But the most interesting question: if Goncharuk is removed, who will be appointed and how to collect votes for this appointment?
It’s easy to let the grant-eaters into power, but it’s difficult to remove them from power: Poroshenko, who ended up with Suprun in a similar way, will not let him lie. So, I’m afraid Zelensky should just get used to the fact that those who have moved into the high offices on his ridge stupidly hold him down and laugh at his back,” says Tkachev.
One way or another, the second episode of Goncharuk’s wiretapping has already appeared on the Internet. There are no “attacks” on Zelensky, but the public now knows how the “Soros” discuss methods by which they can “fight off” claims regarding the worsening situation in the economy.
English version :: Read in English: New tape scandal in Ukraine: Wiretapping of the "Soros" prime minister