The Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office on Dec. 18 authorized a notice of suspicion for Oleh Tatarov, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration, according to a Kyiv Post source close to the investigation, who wasn’t authorized to speak to the press. Several Ukrainian media outlets reported the same, citing their sources.
The signing of the notice came as the culmination of the weeks-long conflict between Tatarov and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) that is investigating him on bribery charges.
The NABU suspects Tatarov of bribing a police expert to fake an expert evaluation, which allegedly helped an embezzlement scheme run by a development company associated with Tatarov.
In response, Tatarov denied the accusations and publicly denounced NABU and its chief, Artem Sytnyk, contradicting the official position of the administration that supported the agency. He claimed that NABU is controlled by foreign entities, backing a fake narrative popular with pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine.
Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has been accused of blocking the investigation of Tatarov after she suddenly reassigned the case to a new group of prosecutors.
It was Maksym Hryshchuk, acting head of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, who signed the notice of suspicion to Tatarov. According to the Kyiv Post source, the notice of suspicion has not yet been delivered to deputy chief of staff.
The Kyiv Post reached out to the Prosecutor General’s Office for comment. The presidential administration earlier ignored the Kyiv Post’s questions about Tatarov.
Accusations against Tatarov
Tatarov is under investigation in a case linked to Maksym Mykytas, a former lawmaker and ex-president of state-owned construction firm Ukrbud. Mykytas has been charged with alleged embezzlement conducted through an Ukrbud housing development contract for Ukraine’s National Guard.
Investigators suspect that Tatarov, who used to serve as a lawyer for UkrBud, bribed forensic expert Kostyantyn Dubonos on behalf of Mykytas to get false evaluation results that helped the company.
Tatarov’s appointment to the administration was controversial from the beginning.
Tatarov was appointed to the Zelensky administration in early August, despite the fact that he used to serve in the country’s Interior Ministry during the times of President Viktor Yanukovych. During the EuroMaidan Revolution of 2013-2014, Tatarov accused the protesters of attacking the riot police.
Following the revolution’s victory, he was among those fired from government service as part of a lustration campaign against officials involved in the crackdown on protesters.
He can work in the presidential office despite the lustration law because the law doesn’t apply to deputy heads of the administration.
