Yuri Veniaminovich Gusev
Biography.
Born on November 15, 1979, in Korostyshiv, Zhytomyr region.
Ukrainian politician, public figure, former Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine (2014-2016). Head of Kherson Regional State Administration (2019-2020). Director General of the State Concern “Ukroboronprom” since December 3, 2020.
He was nominated as a member of parliament by the Servant of the People party in the 2019 parliamentary elections, No. 41 on the list. He decided not to continue running in the elections.
Education.
1998-2002 — student of Kherson State Technical University, was the student mayor of Kherson, chairman of the Kherson regional youth public organization “Young Nation”.
He graduated with honors from the Kyiv National Economic University with a master’s degree in Economics and with honors from Kherson State Technical University with a degree in Finance. He completed two programs at Harvard Kennedy School (2011, 2017).
In 2014, he defended his dissertation in economics at the Center for Industrial Problems of the National Academy of Sciences (Kharkiv). In 2018, he defended his dissertation on church history at the Chernivtsi Orthodox Theological Institute.
He completed programs at the Aspen Institute and the Ukrainian School of Political Studies.
D. in Economics, Associate Professor, Visiting Professor at the Military University of Nueva Granada (Republic of Colombia), Doctor of Theology.
Career
- 1999 — Advisor to the Head of the Kherson Regional State Administration on Youth Policy.
- 2002 — ran for the Verkhovna Rada from the Electoral Bloc of Political Parties “Team of the Winter Generation”.
- Until 2009, he headed commercial companies.
- 2009-2014 — worked in various government agencies: he was the head of the group of advisers to the Minister of Economy, director of the Department of National Projects, and advisor to the Minister of Finance.
- 2014-2016 — worked at the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine: he was the Head of the Department of Economic Activity, Deputy Minister and Chairman of the Reform Council, one of the initiators of the “volunteer landing force”.
- 2016-2019 — private entrepreneur, consultant and advisor to international and Ukrainian financial institutions (IFC, EBRD, PrivatBank).
- 2016 — Advisor to the Minister of Infrastructure, 2018 — Advisor to the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources.
- 2019 — 2020 — Head of Kherson Regional State Administration.
- Since December 3, 2020, Director General of Ukroboronprom.
- Co-author of the monograph “Domestic Practice and World Experience of SEZs and TPRs”.
- Co-author of the book “How to make Ukraine successful”.
- Co-author of the “Book of Reforms”.
- Author of the studies “Analysis of Defense Sector Expenditures in Ukraine: 2006-2016“ and ‘On the issue of democratic civilian control over the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ’Becoming efficient and getting rid of excess or why do we need an e-revolution of state institutions?”
- He holds the copyright to a collection of poems — “Incomprehensibility. Collection of poems by a Ukrainian”.
Family.
Yuriy is married to Olga Guseva. She is the founder, chairman and ultimate beneficial owner of Ukrainian Fashion Group LLC (television broadcasting). Since March 2019, Olga has been the general producer of UA Fashion TV.
The couple has two children: son Mykhailo and daughter Maria.
He is involved in charity work. He is fond of chess and running (he has run 2 half marathons).
Awards.
- Personalized firearm (2015)
- DIU decoration — medal “For Contribution to the Military Intelligence of Ukraine” II degree (2015)
- Commemorative badge of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine “To the Defender of Ukraine” (2015)
- Medal of the Military Academy of the Kingdom of Spain “For Merit” (2015)
- Award of the Military University of Nueva Granada (Republic of Colombia) (2018)
- Industry award “The Best GR Specialist of 2018” according to the Ukrainian Association of Lobbying and GR (2018)
- Regional Leader of the Year — 2019” according to the National Program Person of the Year (Ukraine)
Kompromat.
Since 2017, Gusev has headed the Kyiv office of the Kherson Fellowship.
In this organization, he cooperated with the former governor of the region, Andriy Gordeyev, and the former chairman of the regional council, Vladyslav Manger. Both are involved in the case of the death of Kherson activist Kateryna Handziuk. Manger was suspected of organizing her murder, but later the PGO dropped the suspicion and notified him of suspicion of organizing the infliction of bodily harm to her.
In October 2018, Yuriy Gusev even signed memorandums of cooperation with the leaders of the region. And now activists accuse Mr. Gusev of collaborating with the suspects in the organization of the attack on activist Kateryna Handziuk.
Protesters protested near the Cabinet of Ministers against Gusev’s possible appointment as head of the Kherson Regional State Administration
Protesters came to the government building and said that former Deputy Defense Minister Yuriy Husyev should not be appointed to the post of head of the Kherson Regional State Administration because of corruption scandals.
Several dozen people stood with placards: “No to the reincarnation of the old government! Remove the corrupt Gusev from the Kherson region”, ”Gusev should be in prison! No to the appointment of Husiev as governor of Kherson region”, ‘Mr. Groysman, Kherson region will not forgive the appointment of corrupt official Husiev as governor’.
Petition against Husiev’s appointment
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy was addressed with a petition in which its initiator asks to prevent the appointment of former Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Yuriy Husyev as the head of the Kherson Regional State Administration.
The author asks Zelensky to take a personal part in a thorough study of the issue of Husiev’s appointment.
«This petition is caused by the concern of the region’s residents about the fact that a person with a huge number of corruption risks and a very high public profile is running for a strategic position for the region. According to media reports and publications of Ukrainian MPs, this person is involved in many corruption scandals, in particular in the area of public procurement for the army. The appointment of such a person will contradict everything that made you the President of Ukraine in the last election, promising new faces to the people of Ukraine and a real fight against corruption,» emphasizes the author Dmytro Isayenko.
Gusev’s failures
“Service of Happiness”
The Happiness Service became an integral attribute of any mockery of Yuri Gusev’s ridiculous ideas. The Happiness Service was created with great fanfare, and Yuri Gusev spent several months promoting it. But the time of popularity is over. Users from the Kherson segment of Facebook are sad. Recently, Gusev said that the happiness service was disbanded.
The head of the agricultural region is unable to distinguish ducks from geese.
Гhe head of the Kherson Regional State Administration, Yuriy Gusev, for some reason gave first-graders of the Pidstepnenska school in Oleshky district birds. But there are experts in the MOST editorial office not only at bad jokes, but also people who know poultry at the level of an experienced user. They recognized the «geese» as ordinary ducklings. After consulting with a teacher they knew, there was no doubt that the head of the agricultural sector was unable to distinguish ducks from geese! This is not the first time Husiev has been confused. In 2015, Husiev was running for the Kyiv City Council and placed lightboxes like this one:
They depicted a duck instead of a goose.
Relationship to Inna Bohoslovska and Valeriy Khoroshkovsky
In 2002, he ran for the Verkhovna Rada from the electoral bloc of political parties “Team of the Winter Generation” and then headed commercial companies. The first three “winter” members included Valeriy Khoroshkovsky, Inna Bohoslovska, and Mykola Veresen. He was also in close contact with Vadym Novynskyi and Oleksandr Dubinskyi.
“Businessman” from education and recording
According to the Information Resistance group, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs of Ukraine, Deputy Defense Minister Husyev is a co-founder of the Extra-Klass Limited Liability Company (EDRPOU code 36216244). The legal address of the company coincides with the address of the Deputy Minister’s residence. According to available information, his contribution to the authorized capital of the LLC is a modest 22 thousand hryvnias. Of course, the declaration filed by the official in March 2015 does not contain any information about the operating company. Such actions contradict the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Civil Service”.
The field of activity of Extra-Klass LLC is “replication of sound and video recordings, software”, as well as “activities of head offices” and “other types of education”. It is noteworthy that Gusev’s biography, which appeared on the official website of the Ministry of Defense, modestly states that in 2002-2009, the future Deputy Minister worked as a founder and manager of commercial enterprises. According to the registry, the authorized capital of Extra-Class LLC was finally formed in 2009. At that time, according to his biographical information, Gusev had already become the head of the group of advisers to the Minister of Economy and the director of the department for ensuring the work of the Minister. After that, Gusev continued to work in government agencies. Obviously, all this time, Extra-Class did not stop functioning either.
In 2009, Gusev became friends with a certain Stets Yuriy Yaroslavovych and his wife Yana Konotop-Terekhina. In the same year of 2009, they “figured it out for three” by registering the International Charitable Foundation “My Ukraine” (EDRPOU code 36470106), whose legal address, please note, coincides with the address of Extra Class LLC! But despite all this, Husyev still did not fall under lustration.
Fraud in the defense sector and embezzlement in the State Investment Project: what Husiev is known for from the Servant of the People list
Yurii Husiev, an assistant to the 6th convocation MP Yurii Stets (NU-NS Bloc), Deputy Minister of Defense (2014-2016), is trying to get into the Verkhovna Rada under the number 41 of Zelenskyi’s Servant of the People party. However, he is also associated with a string of corruption scandals.
The letters have collected interesting facts from Husiev’s career.
Husiev worked at the State Agency for Investment and National Projects (Derzhinvestproekt) under the leadership of Vladyslav Kaskiv (2011-2014).
In 2014-2016, he worked at the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine as Deputy Minister and Head of the Defense Ministry Reform Council.
On May 20, 2019, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau sent to court a case of embezzlement of UAH 259.2 million from the State Investment Project.
According to law enforcement officers, in 2012, UAH 500 million was allocated from the state budget for a number of national projects, including UAH 259.2 million for the Quality Water and Olympic Hope 2022 projects. These initiatives were never implemented, and the funds were embezzled. Detectives found out that the money was transferred under the guise of a loan to the accounts of companies controlled by former State Investment Project executives.
“However, these projects were not implemented, and all the funds (UAH 259.2 million) were embezzled during 2012-2014,” the report says.
It was during this period that Yuriy Husiev served as Director of the Department of National and Investment Projects of the State Investment Project.
Nine people are in the dock, mostly ex-officials of the State Investment Project and the State Investment Company, as well as the cousin of the former head of the State Investment Project. Another close relative, his brother, who is also believed by the investigation to be involved in the corruption scheme, is on the wanted list.
Corrupt public procurement for the army
Gusev was involved in another scandal in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, already during the presidency of Petro Poroshenko, where Gusev was appointed Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs in March 2015.
Gusev was accused of corruption in public procurement for the army and the failure of an experiment with food for military personnel.
MP and member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security Tetiana Chornovol wrote that the tender committee controlled by Yuriy Husyev in the first quarter of 2015 purchased A-80 gasoline for the army, in fact, from the state-owned Ukrgazvydobuvannya, but through a network of intermediaries, overpaying 80 million hryvnias.
.
«I personally ‘organized’ a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers so that the Ministry of Defense would buy gasoline directly from the state-owned enterprises (as it is now), but Husiev and Co. responded by starting dirty intrigues — accusing the committee and me personally of all corruption sins, while continuing to get caught in corruption themselves, discrediting decent people in the ‘volunteer landing force’, the ministry and the minister. In particular, a criminal case has now been opened regarding the purchase of apartments,» Chornovol wrote in 2015.
It is important to note that Husiev’s wealth did indeed increase several times between 2014 and 2016.
Husiev resigned in November 2015, citing “attacks against him and the Defense Ministry Reform Office” as reasons for his decision, but his letter was not signed by Petro Poroshenko, who was president of Ukraine.
Ties with criminals
The media have noted Gusev’s ties to criminal mastermind Mikhail Titov, nicknamed “Multik,” whose group had about 50 members by 2019. Since 2010, he has unofficially controlled the Mykolaiv region and several districts of Kherson and Odesa regions, and has managed to hold on to his position after the Maidan until now.
Soros’ New Leaders Project
He was actively involved in the New Leaders program, probably based on the knowledge he gained at Harvard University. He called the goal of the initiative “awakening of a new generation of leaders in certain regions, districts, cities, villages, etc.”. He believes that this is especially important in the context of the decentralization process. He planned to initiate and conduct 9 regional Schools of New Leaders. And to involve, among others, the following organizations in the development of the school concept: The Open University of Maidan and the Ukrainian Catholic University.
At the same time, the program’s selection committee includes Vitaliy Shabunin, whose Anti-Corruption Action Center receives funding from Soros’ Renaissance Foundation.
And, naturally, the program’s supervisory board includes the Soros Foundation, Transparency International Ukraine, and the aforementioned AntAC. That is, it is again foreigners who are looking for new leaders in Ukraine to realize their own interests.
This is done with the direct participation of the Ukrainian Catholic University, which is located in Lviv. It has branches in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Uncertain religious beliefs
In 2018. Husiev defended his dissertation on church history at the Chernivtsi Orthodox Theological Institute and became a doctor of theology.
In July 2018, he met with Patriarch Bartholomew during the period of Petro Poroshenko’s initiative to obtain the Tomos.
He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Leadership of the Ukrainian Catholic University.
He supported Poroshenko and criticized Zelenskyy
Before the 2019 presidential election, Gusev criticized Volodymyr Zelenskyy for populism, which, in his opinion, was reflected in the future president’s statements about his intention to fight the oligarchs. “It’s dishonest to promise de-oligarchization if you are associated with an oligarch whom everyone knows. In fact, it is the oligarch who provides you with a job and gives you a part of your earnings. (…) This populism is a threat in this election,” he said.
Gusev also stated that Petro Poroshenko is inconvenient for Putin, and the Kremlin sympathizes with Zelenskyy. He was a frequent guest on Poroshenko’s TV channel Pryamyi.
All this did not prevent him from joining the “green” team.
Arahamia’s man
Gusev was No. 41 on the list of the Servant of the People party, from where he was later expelled after the media coverage of the dirt. The politician then stated that he had decided not to run because of an information attack against him within three days of the announcement of the Servant of the People lists. His version was publicly confirmed by David Arakhamia.
It was his friendship with Arakhamia that helped Gusev gain a foothold in the new government: they had worked together in the Defense Ministry since 2014. As a result, the man tied up in a series of corruption scandals became the head of the Kherson Regional State Administration. While in office, he often appeared in T-shirts with images of geese.
Supports the opening of the land market
Given that he was on the list of the Servant of the People party, he was a supporter of its most unpopular initiatives, such as the opening of the land market. In November 2019, he decided to announce this to the world via social media with an inscription on his avatar.
Helped a relative with an appointment In September 2019, it became known that two female deputies from the Kherson City Council were appointed as assistants to the Servant of the People MP Pavlo Pavlish. This was allegedly done at the suggestion of Husiev. Officially, Oksana Diakova (pictured left) was hired under an employment contract, and Oksana Matusevych (pictured right) was hired on a voluntary basis.
Matusevych is related to Gusev — a cousin. In addition, in the past, she worked as a member of two convocations of the Verkhovna Rada and was a member of the Party of Regions faction in the parliament.
Lobbies for the gambling business
In September 2019, after the adoption of the law on gambling legalization, Husiev became an active supporter of the implementation of a pilot project on its legalization in Kherson region. For example, in Ternopil region, deputies banned gambling in the region in August.
“Last year, in October, I initiated the first Ukrainian gambling forum in Kherson. We invited representatives from Georgia, where the gambling business operates. It is the experience of this country that inspired us to believe that Kherson region can become a successful project of gambling business legalization, investment attraction, and job creation,” Husiev said.
He also stated that he discussed with MPs the issue of creating a regional gambling zone in Kharkiv region. This is despite the fact that the vast majority of Ukrainians do not support this initiative.
Against the memory of the Red Army
On October 30, 2020, Husiev published a post about the unveiling of a restored plaque in Kakhovka in honor of the Bolsheviks who defeated Baron Wrangel’s White Movement troops at the Kakhovka bridgehead. He stated that this violated the law on decommunization.
The Bolsheviks defeated the troops of Baron Wrangel’s White Movement at the Kakhovka bridgehead. He stated that this law violates the law on decommunization.
He noted that it was his initiative that the memorial was dismantled. He reported the incident to the SBU.
Director General of the State Concern “Ukroboronprom” Yuriy Veniaminovych Husiev earned 702.612 thousand in January
The salary for January 2021 of Yuriy Husiev, Director General of the State Concern “Ukroboronprom”, including allowances, is UAH 702,612.
Base salary — UAH 398 thousand, the rest — bonuses for achieving the goals set by the Supervisory Board.
German House
Representatives of the German organization Deutsch-Ukrainisches Forum appealed to MPs from the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security and Defense to look into the situation.
German manufacturers are ready to transfer licenses and technologies and help organize the production of German-designed modular frame buildings in Ukraine. The main “target audience” is the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to the German side, the Ukrainian military is in dire need of temporary buildings in the ATO zone to house its troops and headquarters (those who have been in the ATO zone understand that this is a holy truth). In turn, Germany is ready to purchase some of the products manufactured in Ukraine for its own needs (which is important given the refugee problem in this country).
It is important to note that the Deutsch-Ukrainisches Forum sees this project as a social rather than a commercial one. In particular, this organization promises to facilitate loans from Berlin for this project on the most attractive terms, and they see no difference between a Ukrainian structure participating in it — a state-owned enterprise or a commercial company. It is important that the project works in the interests of both Ukraine and Germany.
Having figured out who is responsible for what in the Ministry of Defense, the Deutsch-Ukrainisches Forum decided to contact Deputy Defense Minister Yuriy Husiev, who is responsible for both public procurement and housing for the military (although for some reason the Germans were not confused by the fact that, despite a sufficient military budget for 2015 and a 45,000-strong housing waiting list in the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense for some reason began purchasing apartments for the military only in September!)
According to representatives of the Deutsch-Ukrainisches Forum, Yuriy Husyev was happy with the offer and put the Germans in touch with “his people” in the Main KEU of the Ministry of Defense. And then the strangeness began.
According to the German side, Husiev’s “people” in the Main KEU for some reason perceived the project as purely commercial, and immediately named the company that would participate in it. After studying the “candidate,” it turned out that this company had neither the appropriate profile nor production capacity. Naturally, the surprised Germans suggested holding a tender and then deciding which structure would participate in the project. But Gusev’s people were adamant: they would work only with this company, and no other options were considered.
Realizing that the project itself was at risk of failure without ever starting, representatives of the German side turned to the MPs from the Verkhovna Rada Committee.
Discussion until you lose your pulse and lose weight: what ridiculous promises politicians make
Let’s start with a very personal promise: the head of the Kherson regional administration, Yuriy Gusev, promised to lose weight to inspire others: “Of course, I will follow all the advice of our nutritionist and set an example. I want other people to give up junk food, to lose weight, to be healthier, to live happily and long. First of all, in the Kherson region.” It is commendable that the official fulfilled this promise. A month later, Gusev came to the studio of the 1+1 TV channel and weighed himself — minus 8 kilograms.
In addition, Gusev unexpectedly promised to «return the state flags of Ukraine over the buildings in Simferopol and Sevastopol». That is, he actually promised to return the annexed Crimea. It is clear that the head of the regional state administration has no leverage to fulfill this obligation.
Declaration
According to his 2019 income declaration, the official owns a 55-square-meter apartment in Kyiv, half of a 504-square-meter land plot in Kherson, and 50% of a garden house in the same city.
Gusev also declares an unfinished apartment of 135 square meters in Kyiv. According to the document, the politician’s wife and children do not own any real estate. Yuriy Veniaminovych’s family travels around in several cars — a 2007 Toyota Camry (cost — UAH 126 thousand) and a 2017 INFINITI Q30 (cost — UAH 960 thousand). Olga Oleksandrivna owns corporate rights in the company «Ukrainian Fashion Group» worth UAH 600 thousand.
During the year, Husiev earned 1.2 million hryvnias. At the same time, his official salary at the RSA amounted to only 214 thousand hryvnias. The politician’s wife declares an income of 140 thousand hryvnias.
The official’s family keeps 2.4 thousand hryvnias and 6 dollars in bank accounts. In cash — 50 thousand dollars and 300 thousand hryvnias.
Conclusion.
Yuriy Husyev has made the people of Kherson very happy. Judging by his promises and actions, he is not competent, and he does not really care about people. Admittedly, his ideas are crazy, but original, but only as a PR ploy. The benefit here is only for Gusev himself, but not for the people… Alas…