Scandal in the Agricultural Sector: Dismissed Head of the Agrarian Fund Disagrees with the Decision and Questions Milovanov

The Cabinet removed the head of the only successful enterprise in agriculture.

Yesterday, Ukrainian Economy Minister Tymofiy Milovanov announced the dismissal of the head of the Agrarian Fund, Andrii Radchenko, in a brief statement:

Tymofiy Milovanov
Minister of Economy

The head of the Agrarian Fund, Radchenko, has been removed. A competition will be held. And the fund should be closed altogether. The agricultural sector knows the truth

Why is this a scandal?

As reported by The Page, the initiator of the dismissal may have been businessman Alex Lissitsa, who lobbied for the appointment of Taras Vysotskyi as Milovanov’s deputy after the agricultural sector came under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy following the liquidation of the Ministry of the Agro-Industrial Complex.

The “Agrarian Fund” — the only profitable enterprise in the industry (it paid UAH 4 billion in taxes over four years), while Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk may have been presented with a reference on the activities of the SSE “Agrarian Fund” — this is another enterprise, with an almost identical name, which is bankrupt.

No evidence of corruption on Radchenko’s part has been found, and in fact, along with Naftogaz, the Agrarian Fund is one example of successfully overcoming corruption.

What Radchenko Says

In a Facebook post, Radchenko asked Milovanov several questions.

List of Radchenko’s questions to Milovanov (speech paraphrased while preserving meaning)

1. Earlier you listed 285 enterprises transferred to the Ministry of Economy, including loss-making enterprises and bankrupt ones. How many heads of these enterprises have you dismissed or brought the issue before the Cabinet?
2. What criteria did you use to decide to dismiss the head of practically the only profitable enterprise?
   
3. What was the basis for your view that the Agrarian Fund should be closed rather than, for example, transferred under a concession?
   
4. If the decision to close has already been made, why aren’t steps being taken in this direction, and why are you announcing a competition for a new head? Or perhaps he already exists and is linked to shadow Minister of Agriculture Alex Lissitsa?
5. Do you have a decision regarding the employees of the Agrarian Fund and, accordingly, the tax revenue that will be lost in the future?
   
6. Do you realize that by removing the head of the Agrarian Fund you have paralyzed the enterprise’s work? After my dismissal, not a single deputy with signing authority remained in the company, since the previous government never approved them over four years of work.
   
7. Who will personally be responsible for the obligations of the Agrarian Fund and for claims from partners and counterparties over losses resulting from this decision? Are you ready to bear this responsibility?
   
8. Please clarify what you meant by the “truth that the agricultural sector knows” when you said this. Over the last four years, I have only read criticism of myself on the propagandistic Russia Today and in commissioned articles by lobbyists for Russian fertilizers.
   

Radchenko stressed that the enterprise has never let down a single partner or client and that it has an impeccable reputation for fulfilling obligations and for openness in its business.