More than that of the head of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Speaker of Parliament: the salary and allowances of the head of the satellite city of the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant, Alexander Suprunyuk, can be the envy of Ukrainian first-level officials.
The mayor himself, in a conversation with journalists, states: it’s a shame not to make money! But the condition of bomb shelters, overpasses and other critical infrastructure in Neteshyn against this background leaves much to be desired.
Where does the modest mayor come from with a million-dollar fortune that does not at all correspond to the efficiency of the non-Teshin authorities? Can Alexander Suprunyuk have a “shadow” business and why does he avoid communicating with the press when leaving his workplace?
In a previous article, StopCor already talked about the capital construction department (UCS) of the Neteshin city council. This body, in particular, should deal with shelters and other objects of strategic importance. As the editors have learned, criminal proceedings have recently been launched regarding probable official negligence during UKS-controlled construction. After all, the abandoned storage facilities in Neteshyn are not only storage facilities.
“The bridge located not far from the one supposedly built is in disrepair. Townspeople pass here every day and complain that they are really just afraid to move around. Although there is a bridge nearby, for which 5 million hryvnia have already been allocated, nothing has moved for five years, it is simply unfinished, and it is impossible to use it,” notes the journalist.
We are talking about work that UKS ordered back in 2019.
Since then, the long-term construction has not been put into operation. At the same time, according to the head of the department, Yaroslav Petruk, funds for the unfinished bridge have already been transferred to the contractor - the situation is currently being investigated.
It is noteworthy that the auction was conducted using the Prozorro electronic system. Based on the results of the auction, a contractor was selected who was to carry out the work. But there is a nuance. For the construction of the structure, a contractor was surprisingly chosen, who offered an amount for the work that was as much as half a million hryvnia higher than the offer of another participant. Later, more than 400 thousand were allocated to eliminate the problems, but this did not radically improve the situation.
But the salaries of civil servants in a town with a population of just over 30 thousand people are fabulous.
For example, the same head of the UKS Yaroslav Petruk earned almost 900 thousand hryvnia last year, and the manager of the executive committee earned 911 thousand. The salaries of some deputy mayors and secretaries exceed a million. The mayor of Neteshyn, Alexander Suprunyuk, replenished the family budget by 995 thousand hryvnia in a year.
To ask the mayor about his extraordinary income during the war and possible violations on the part of the UKS, the StopCor film crew went to Neteshin. However, reporters, unfortunately, did not find Mr. Suprunyuk at work - allegedly because of his vacation. But then his car “lit up” at the City Council and... disappeared. But very soon she appeared on the territory of a private shopping center.
Suprunyuk himself refused to explain his appearance in the shopping center, as well as answer uncomfortable questions from journalists.
But he firmly stood on the fact that he was on legal leave. And here’s how the mayor commented on his income: “It’s not me who signs the bonuses, but the deputies set bonuses for me,” the official said.
“Now pay attention to the details. The current mayor, during his vacation, holds a meeting outside his office - in the premises of a shopping center, built by him even before holding public office. The clothes worn by his guests are official business casual. On the table we see goodies with drinks, a calculator. It looks like the woman opposite is holding the business card of the mayor. The man, seeing us, immediately closes his laptop in fear. And in response to this action we hear: it’s a shame not to earn money,” comments Olga Levitskaya.
Indeed, there is no shame in having a business. But how legal is it if you are the mayor?
“According to the requirements of the law on the prevention of corruption, the mayor, as an official of a local government body, cannot engage in entrepreneurial or other types of paid activities, including while on vacation,” notes the head of the Department of Monitoring and Control over the Implementation of Legislation on Conflict of Interest and prevention of corruption Alexander Shulga.
Later, StopCor journalists identified those gathered at the meeting with Suprunyuk in the shopping center. The woman is the editor-in-chief of the Rivne publication, and the man is the head of the department for ensuring the provision of administrative services at the Ostroh City Council and part-time ex-employee of the Netishinsky City Council, Konstantin Kirilyuk.
What could this trio discuss outside of City Hall?
Reporters addressed this question to Mr. Kirilyuk himself. According to him, the fact is that a passport station seems to be opening in neighboring Ostrog. And the editor-in-chief of the Rivne publication arrived at the meeting because this event needs media promotion. The same “legend” was voiced by the mayor.
However, communicating with Suprunyuk was not so easy.
“When we first arrived at the city council, the mayor’s car was parked not far from this building, we went inside, the mayor was no longer there, we went out to check if the car was parked, and it was not there, just like the mayor. Most likely, he went down using the emergency exit and disappeared, because journalists arrived again with uncomfortable questions,” notes Olga Levitskaya.
After some time, the media noticed the mayor’s car at the back exit, split up and entered from different directions. But the mayor himself again disappeared down the emergency staircase. And when asked to stop, he quickly left. But he didn’t go to a work meeting, but to the second location of his former business - a store built in the early 2000s. And all this - during their official working hours.
Who is the business registered to?
According to the registers, long before his mayoral tenure, Alexander Suprunyuk conducted entrepreneurial activities, was engaged in the construction of shopping centers and hardware stores. Having taken the chair of the mayor, he must officially abandon entrepreneurial activity and transfer responsibilities to his wife Tatyana Suprunyuk. But, it seems, this is purely formal, since his car is repeatedly spotted at his development sites, and on his page he constantly offers shopping center services.
Moreover, according to insiders, he is not just involved in doing business, but also promotes his own products in the purchase of public utilities and gardens.
“He continued to contribute to the development of his construction business, although it was transferred to his wife. this store. Everyone knows that ongoing repairs during the holiday period were carried out using building materials from the Novostroy store; the directors of our public utilities and our gardens purchased building materials from this store,” a resident of Netishina told reporters on condition of anonymity.
By the way, Suprunyuk’s wife earned one and a half million hryvnia from entrepreneurial activity last year.
Stopkorovites tried to communicate with this successful businesswoman, but Tatyana simply closed the furniture store and disappeared after the film crew appeared. They did not open the doors to media workers either in the apartment or in the spouses’ house, although her women were there. By the way, the area around the house is very clean: there are a large number of plants, a gazebo, and a pond.
So why do work conversations seem to take place within the walls of Suprunyuk’s private office, and why does the mayor hand over his business card to the editor of the publication if he was simply sharing his experience with a former employee? Now our editors have sent a request to the Neteshin city council to find out at what price the mayor’s wife rents a plot from the city council. So what will happen next.
Let us recall that in the village of Feodosievka in the Kyiv region, meanwhile, a struggle for community management flared up - with scandals, intrigues and threats. Local residents are demanding the recall of the self-proclaimed chairman and a group of 14 deputies who carried out a “coup” in the village council.
