| Danylo Hetmantsev | |
| Native Name: | Данило Гетманцев |
| Native Name Lang: | uk |
| Office: | Member of the Verkhovna Rada |
| Term Start: | 29 August 2019 |
| Birth Name: | Danylo Oleksandrovych Hetmanstev |
| Birth Date: | 26 April 1978 |
| Birth Place: | Kyiv, Soviet Union |
| Party: | Servant of the People |
Danylo Oleksandrovych Hetmantsev (Ukrainian: Данило Олександрович Гетманцев; born 26 April 1978) is a Ukrainian pro-Russian[1] politician, lawyer and scientist. He was an assistant to Volodymyr Sivkovych, a member of Parliament of Ukraine from the pro-Russian Party of Regions, who is suspected of treason for creating a network of Russian agents in Ukraine.[2] Since 2019, he has been a Member of Parliament of Ukraine of the 9th convocation from the Servant of the People party. He is the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy. He is listed in the database of the Myrotvorets. He is a Doctor of Law, professor.
Danylo Hetmantsev's activities as the Head of the Verkhovna Rada's Finance Committee are often criticized by Ukrainian business. Ukrainian entrepreneurs accuse the MP of lobbying for destructive decisions not only for business, but also for the economy of Ukraine as a whole.
He is known for his Ukrainophobic views, in particular, for his statements in protection of the Russian language and Russian culture in Ukraine, comparing the protection of the Ukrainian language to fascism; opposed the closure of pro-Russian TV channels 112 Ukraine, ZIK and NewsOne, associated with pro-Russian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk; advocated the resumption of water supply to the temporarily occupied Crimea;[3] sympathized with the Lukashenko regime.
Danylo Hetmantsev was born in Kyiv, Ukraine.
In 1995, he graduated from the Ukrainian Humanities Lyceum of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (KNU). In 2000 he obtained diploma with honors at the Faculty of Law of KNU.
Hetmantsev, being a 19-year-old student, together with his acquaintances founded the MolodSportLoto company (MSL) as an alternative to the state monopoly in the gambling business.[4]
Hetmantsev worked as an assistant to, a Member of Parliament of Ukraine from the pro-Russian Party of Regions.[5]
In the parliamentary elections of 2019, he was included in the list of the party "Servant of the People" under No.20.[6]
In the summer of 2019, during the parliamentary elections, he called for the restoration of water supply from mainland Ukraine to Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.[7]
On December 19, 2019, Hetmantsev, the Chairman of the Parliament Committee on Finance, Banking, Tax and Customs Policy, initiated a draft bill No. 2634 (also known as “Google tax”), according to which Google, Facebook and YouTube had to pay 20% VAT to Ukrainian state budget. As a result, the cost of services to consumers increased by 20%.[8]
In 2020-2021 Hetmantsev initiated imposing the obligation to use cash register devices on all private entrepreneurs of the 1st and 2nd groups, which provoked mass protests among members of these groups. On January 1, 2022, the reform came into force. Hetmantsev explained the protests by the reluctance of "smugglers and converters" to lose the earnings they received from tax evasion.[9]
Hetmantsev violated a memorandum with the International Monetary Fund, which stipulates that Ukraine refuses to replace the income tax with a tax on withdrawn capital. Later on, he urged publicity not to jump to conclusions and announced changes to the reform.
Hetmantsev fiercely advocates restricting private entrepreneurs of the 3rd group from cooperating with legal entities for the sake of the so-called "fight against the shadow economy"; favoures the introduction of VAT on buying apartments in new buildings, explaining it this way: “when buying milk, Ukrainians also pay VAT and it does not shock them."[10] [11]
Hetmantsev believes that the legislation of Ukraine is imperfect, and due to this, citizens have managed to be accumulating funds without state control for 30 years.[12]
In 2019, he proposed banning private entrepreneurs from providing services, but instead allowing them to perform only trade and production activities. According to Hetmantsev, this measure can help combat tax evasion.[13]
As the founder of some gambling businesses, Hetmantsev supports the reduction of casino and gambling taxes.[14]
In May 2022, Hetmantsev stated that he considered it appropriate to resume tax audits of businesses not affected by the war, and raise taxes, as well as introduce many subsidies for different types of businesses.[15]
In 2014, Maurice LLC and Association of Builders of Ukraine LLC, the sole owner of which was Hetmantsev, re-registered from Ukrainian to Russian jurisdiction, where they pay taxes. Investigators of the Bihus.info project found that the Hetmantsev family had an undeclared business in temporarily occupied Crimea, which has been filling the Russian budget for all 9 years.[16] In 2014, the law firm Yurimex, co-founded by Hetmantsev, re-registered the Ripario hotel complex (formerly Pryberezhnyi PJSC in Soviet times) located in Crimea from Ukrainian to Russian jurisdiction, and this was done by Hetmantsev's partner Iryna Melnychenko, who flew from Crimea to Moscow.
The investigation, in particular, mentions Hetmantsev's relatives, such as his mother, Olena Hetmantseva. After joining Volodymyr Zelenskyy's team in 2019, Hetmantsev included his mother in his declaration. And along with her mother, her business, real estate, and cars. Now journalists have discovered that Olena Hetmantseva, in addition to the tourism business (she is the founder of one of the most famous tour operators in Ukraine, TPG), also has a company in Crimea, a small 160-square-meter room.[16]
Journalists also draw attention to the fact that TPG was listed in the MP's declaration. At the same time, the Cyprus-based TPG is registered with another Cyprus-based company, Dunkley marketing LTD, which in turn belongs to Hetmantsev's mother, who is not listed in the declaration.[16]
According to the investigation, in 2016, clone companies of the hotel business in Crimea with similar names appeared in the Russian register. Hetmantsev had a minority stake in two of these companies. This business recognized the jurisdiction of Russia and began paying taxes to Russia.[17]
In addition, one of the Russian clone companies that duplicated Ukrainian business in Crimea concerned a rental company owned by the MP's mother, Olena Hetmantseva. The investigation refers to the company New Property Plus, which appeared in Russian registers in 2016, registered at the same address and with the same activities as Hetmantseva's company. The clone company is still quietly operating in Crimea, paying taxes in the Russian Federation, and is now registered to Dmytro Makharynskyi, who was Hetmantsev's partner in the legal business.[18]
According to Hetmantsev, he does not know what happened to the company, but he assured that his mother definitely does not use that property in any way.[19] However, journalists have found a connection between this company and Hetmantsev's mother's Cyprus-based company, Dunkley Marketing LTD.[16]
In their investigation, Bihus.info journalists reported that in 2012, Hetmantsev personally represented the interests of two British companies that were clones of Dor-Stroy and Unikobud.[16] These companies received contracts from the State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine, headed by Yanukovych's associate Volodymyr Demishkan, for about UAH 1.5 billion. The co-founder of both companies was Demishkan's wife. Also in October 2010, Hetmantsev's company Jurimex received a contract for legal services for the entire Ukravtodor.[16]
After Euromaidan in 2014, Volodymyr Demishkan fled to Russia and obtained Russian citizenship. After that, Hetmantsev's almost 90-year-old great-aunt, Valentyna Lupandina, became the director of two British firms. According to Bihus.info journalists, in 2015 she withdrew the companies from Dor-Story. The main share of the company was transferred to the Ukrainian LLC Trading North, registered in the name of Hetmantsev's lawyer Jurimex. In a few years, Dor-Story won 150 million worth of tenders and did not pay taxes.[20]
In 2019, Danylo Hetmantsev failed to declare the Cypriot company Dunkley Marketing LTD, which has assets in France and belongs to his mother, although he declared all of his mother's other property.[21]
According to Bihus.info journalists, Hetmantsev's Cypriot company Dunkley Marketing LTD received more than 1 million euros from a Belizean offshore in 2012–2013. The source of these funds is unknown. At the same time, investigators found out that this company lent 1 million euros to the French company of Hetmantsev's mother.[16] [20]
Hetmantsev himself told investigators that this French company was probably related to tourism and room rental. According to the MP, he did not include this company in his declaration because his mother did not report it.[20]
Hetmantsev was the founder and lawyer of M.S.L., which was owned by the Cypriot company Evolot Limited. It was linked to the Russian financial and investment consortium Alfa Group. Hetmantsev stated that he "did not know this" and "within the company itself, they did not know who the owners were".[22]
In February 2023, the journalistic project Hroshi prepared an investigation, according to which Danylo Hetmantsev worked as an assistant consultant to former MP from the Pro-Russian Party of Regions Volodymyr Sivkovych, who is suspected of treason for creating a network of Russian agents in Ukraine.[23]
According to journalists, the Security Service of Ukraine uncovered a center for training Russian agents of influence, who, in turn, were sent by the enemy to the highest echelons of the Ukrainian government. According to the project, this network was led by Party of Regions members Volodymyr Sivkovych and Andriy Klyuyev.[24] In an investigation by Hroshi, former Security Service of Ukraine officers warn that Volodymyr Sivkovych may use his former working contacts in Ukraine to develop a network of agents, including Danylo Hetmantsev.[25]
The activities of Danylo Hetmantsev as the Head of the Verkhovna Rada's Finance Committee are often criticized by Ukrainian business.[26] [27] [28] Ukrainian entrepreneurs accuse the MP of lobbying for destructive decisions not only for business, but also for the economy of Ukraine as a whole.[29] After the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hetmantsev publicly advocated for the resumption of strict inspections and tax increases.[30]
In the spring of 2022, representatives of large, small, and medium-sized Ukrainian businesses appealed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to remove Hetmantsev from the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation, and Customs Policy. The signatories include Meest Group owner Rostyslav Kysil, Nova Poshta co-owner Viacheslav Klymov, MacPaw founder Oleksandr Kosovan, Ajax Systems founder Oleksandr Konotopskyi, and hundreds of other entrepreneurs of various levels. The signatories of the letter emphasized that 49% of businesses are out of business because of the war, and Hetmantsev's statements about tax increases are causing a large number of entrepreneurs to refuse to invest in Ukraine and move their projects to the European Union.[31]
Viacheslav Klymov, co-founder of Nova Poshta and president of the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs, compared Hetmantsev to Russian President Vladimir Putin.[32] In his opinion, there is only one way to develop the Ukrainian economy: total liberalization of the business environment. Andriy Dlihach, President of the Board business community, says that he is most concerned that Hetmantsev has become secretary of the National Recovery Council, a new body under the president, and will be one of the key authors of the new architecture of Ukraine's postwar economy.[27]
According to social activist and politician Serhiy Prytula, Hetmantsev is trying to kill the simplified taxation system.[33] Prytula also reminded that this is not a new idea, and Mykola Azarov and Nina Yuzhanina tried to do it before.[34]
According to Dmytro Oleksiyenko, Vice President of ICC Ukraine, Secretary of the Public Council under the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, Danylo Hetmantsev "minuses" President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's rating. In his opinion, it is Hetmantsev's fault that the election program of the president and the Servant of the People party has not yet been implemented.[35]
In September 2023, Danylo Hetmantsev was added to the Myrotvorets Center's database for actions aimed at destabilizing and destroying the Ukrainian economy, weakening Ukraine's defense capabilities, and inciting ethnic hatred.[36]
After Hetmantsev compared the protection of the Ukrainian language to fascism, social activist and volunteer Serhii Sternenko suggested that he "buy tickets to Moscow, get on and leave Ukraine and never come back".[37]
According to journalist and host of the ISLND TV channel Sergii Ivanov, Hetmantsev is acting in the interests of Russia, and he sees no significant difference between him and members of the banned pro-Russian party Opposition Platform — For Life.[38]
On February 23, 2022, the day before full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, he suggested "choosing mathematics over patriotism", called for active trade with Russia, and stated that the European and US sanctions against Russia at the time were ineffective.[39]
He spoke out against the derussification of Ukrainian streets named after writers of the Russian Empire as Mikhail Bulgakov, Alexander Pushkin and Leo Tolstoy.[40]
He believed that the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory honors Nazism, and therefore its funding should not be increased.[41]
He believes that Ukraine in 2021 has not reached the level of GDP of the Ukrainian SSR, although economists point out that Ukraine after 2016 has much higher GDP and key welfare of Ukrainians than in the Ukrainian SSR, even despite the war with Russia in 2014.[42]
Hetmantsev compared the protection of the Ukrainian language to fascism[43] and spoke in support of draft law No. 2362 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts on Teaching in the State Language in Higher Education Institutions" initiated by pro-Russian MP Maksym Buzhanskyi.[44]
Hetmantsev didn't vote for the Verkhovna Rada's recognition of the Revolution of Dignity as one of the key moments of Ukraine's state-building, calling for the Euromaidan not to be glorified. According to him, in order to "sew the country together", one cannot focus on events that "divide".[45]
Hetmantsev called the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine decision to impose sanctions on Viktor Medvedchuk's 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, and ZIK pro-Russian TV channels strange and demanded explanations. The MP noted that after such a decision, pro-Russian TV channels would become more popular.[46]
In March 2021, on The Freedom By Savik Shuster, Hetmantsev said that he still did not know the grounds for sanctions against Viktor Medvedchuk, denying the accusations that he had financed terrorism.[47]
In February 2021, after the Security Service of Ukraine announced that pro-Russian propagandist Anatoly Shariy was suspected of treason, Hetmantsev stated that he personally saw no grounds for serving the suspicion.[48] Hetmantsev's response to the correspondent of the pro-Russian online publication Vesti.ua regarding the serving of the suspicion to Shariy was rather ambiguous, he himself sees no grounds for criminal proceedings, but does not rule out that they exist.[48] Ukrainian auditor and public figure Dmytro Oleksiyenko noted that in November 2020, Hetmantsev recommended reading pro-Russian Telegram channels, including those of Anatoly Shariy, Andriy Portnov, and Yevhen Murayev.[49]
Hetmantsev abstained from voting in the Verkhovna Rada on September 15, 2020, on a resolution to not recognize the results of the 2020 Belarusian presidential election as legitimate.[50]
In September 2021, Hetmantsev expressed sympathy for the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, saying that 27 years in power of Alexander Lukashenko brought Belarus "almost twice as much welfare as the reforms of Petro Poroshenko, the fifth President of Ukraine".[51] Hetmantsev also noted that pensioners in Belarus "can live quite tolerably on their pensions, even the minimum ones".[52]
He opposed the allocation of additional funds for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[53] According to European Solidarity MP Volodymyr Viatrovych, Hetmantsev called for not supporting draft law No. 9342 on additional payments to the military, calling it "unbalanced" and "populist".[54]