Corruption schemes, smuggling and Hungarian connections: the expert spoke about the head of Transcarpathia, who may be appointed to the OP

The head of the Transcarpathian OVA, Viktor Mikita, has close ties with pro-Putin Hungary and is involved in a number of corruption schemes at customs, which is a serious obstacle to his appointment as deputy head of the Office of President Zelensky.

Political scientist Alexey Kurpas writes about this , analyzing the possible appointment of Victor Mikita.

“Is it normal for a person who is actually dependent on pro-Putin Hungary to work in an important position in the OP during the war? The answer is obvious - no,” notes Alexey Kurpas.

He adds that, according to media reports, many members of Mikita's family received Hungarian passports. These are, in particular, his current wife Victoria, daughter Anastasia, his wife’s brother Alexander Benedik and ex-wife Lyudmila. And Mikita himself has an order from the anti-Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Szijjártó.

“Then this Putin fan publicly praised the head of the Transcarpathian OVA for working with local Hungarians. Moreover, a business (warehouse premises) is actively developing in Hungary, which, according to media reports, is formally owned by front men, but in reality Mikita and the famous smuggler, who is subject to sanctions by the National Security and Defense Council, Valery Peresolyak,” says Kurpas.

The expert also reminded Mikita of a scandalous statement a week before the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Then, at the celebration of Unity Day, the head of Transcarpathia said that “the population of Russia is our brothers.”

“The question arises: is there a need for a person with such a negative trail at Bankova? It is unlikely that Russian citizens, smugglers and the Hungarian lobby from Mikita’s inner circle will help him make the right pro-Ukrainian decisions in his position as deputy head of the Office. And I would like to know if he still considers the Russians our brothers?..” notes Kurpas.

“No less interesting is the environment of the new potential employee of the Office of President Zelensky. According to investigative journalists, Mikita’s adviser is Pavel Igorevich Kotik, who has a Russian passport and a Russian individual tax number. This is information from Russian registers. Before the full-scale invasion, Mr. Kotik did not hide his close ties with the Russian Federation: he published photos on Red Square, and employees of the Russian Security group of companies congratulated him on his birthday on social networks, writes Kurpas.

He adds that, according to information from various sources, Viktor Mikita worked in various positions in the SBU for almost 20 years and was noted for his active “fight” against smuggling schemes at customs.

“Because of this, he received the nickname “Mikita – beads” among his colleagues. And we are not talking about jewelry, but about minibuses from which cash was collected daily. In addition, local media wrote that Mikita was also involved in smuggling cigarettes to the EU and importing gray Apple equipment into Ukraine,” the political scientist notes, adding that Mikita was previously called the watchdog throughout the Transcarpathian customs, local journalists write.

Let us remind you that on June 3, people’s deputy from the “Voice” party Yaroslav Zheleznyak announced in his Telegram that the head of the Transcarpathian OVA Viktor Mikita will become deputy head of the Office of the President.