MP Oleksiy Honcharenko publicly criticized the salary level of Ukrposhta Director General Ihor Smilyansky. Meanwhile, the company's head said that he had appealed to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine with a request to audit the “Honcharenko Centers”.
This was reported by Suspilne with reference to the broadcast of the project “Suspilne. Studio”.
On his Facebook page, Smilyanskyi stated that he had filed an appeal with the NABU in response to the accusations made by Oleksiy Honcharenko. Earlier, the MP reported on filing applications with the NABU, the SBU, and the Prosecutor General's Office against Smilyanskyi and the president of the Kyiv School of Economics, Tymofii Mylovanov, alleging the alleged creation of a “criminal group” to steal donations.
Smilyansky rejected these accusations. According to him, this is not about embezzlement, but about the collection and transfer of charitable aid. He noted that through the mechanisms of Ukrposhta, more than 110 million hryvnias were collected and transferred to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the construction of shelters in schools, and assistance to hospitals and animal shelters.
At the same time, the head of Ukrposhta said that he is asking the NABU to check the financing of the network of “Honcharenko Centers”. According to him, maintaining more than 40 centers can cost more than 3 million hryvnias per month, which, in his opinion, requires verification of compliance with official revenues and possible sources of funding.
Smilyansky also suggested that the funding of the centers may have signs of hidden political advertising. He emphasized that he is asking anti-corruption authorities to provide a legal assessment of these circumstances.
Live conversation between Smilyansky and Honcharenko
During the television broadcast, Oleksiy Honcharenko questioned the legality of the mechanism for collecting charitable funds by Ukrposhta. This refers to the practice when part of the cost of postage stamps or shipments was directed as a charitable contribution through the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) fund.
The deputy said he did not understand why a state-owned company transfers funds to a non-state fund, and not directly to the state.
“Their fund is not a state fund. It is not a state fund. As a state company, you give money to non-state organizations. In my opinion, this is wrong. State companies should give money to the state and engage in charity through the state,” Honcharenko emphasized.
Ihor Smilyanskyi responded by saying that Ukrposhta, as a joint-stock company with 100% state ownership, does not have the right to independently carry out charitable activities or purchase military equipment. That is why, according to him, the charitable component was channeled through the KSE fund, which undergoes an international audit and reports to donors.
Smilyansky emphasized that in total, more than 110 million hryvnias were collected through these mechanisms for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the construction of school bomb shelters, and assistance to hospitals and animal shelters.
“How was it built? Since Ukrposhta has no right to engage in charitable activities or buy drones for cash, as was often the case, especially at the beginning of the war, it was necessary. Therefore, when we sold charity stamps, for example, the official tariff went to Ukrposhta, and the charitable component — hryvnia or five or seven — went to the charitable fund, which, by the way, at the beginning of the war provided us with these services for free, unlike other funds that provided them for twenty percent of the costs,” explained Smilyansky.
A separate topic of discussion was Smilyansky's salary. When asked by Honcharenko, he said that he receives about 700 thousand hryvnias per month after taxes. Honcharenko criticized this level of remuneration, stating that in wartime conditions, heads of state-owned companies should not receive more than military personnel on the front lines.
In response, Smilyansky noted that the income of the deputy's family, according to the declaration, is also high, and emphasized that his remuneration is official and declared.