Recently, Ukrainian Prosecutor Konstantin Kulik has become one of the most scandalous representatives of the Prosecutor's Office. His name is associated with the case involving Hunter Biden, the investigation of fraud in the purchase of the so-called "Boyko towers", a number of criminal proceedings against fugitive oligarchs Serhiy Kurchenko and Dmitriy Firtash and other loud stories.
In his exclusive interview with Apostrophe, Kulik voiced his opinions on the former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch’s removal, George Kent’s testimony in Congress and the so-called "case" involving Joe Biden's son. Kulik also described his current relations with the former Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko.
- Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia George Kent said you were involved in the recall of the US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Could you please comment on your role in her removal? Does Kent’s information correspond to reality?
- I think it is time to explain what is going on. On the one hand, everything is rather simple, yet on the other hand, it’s not clear how we should deal with this situation. I’ll start with your question about Ambassador Kent and his testimony in Congress. Frankly speaking, I haven’t seen any statements saying it was I who influenced Yovanovitch’s resignation. I have little idea how I could have affected her removal. Therefore, I can't comment on that. I haven’t personally met Yovanovitch either.
- At the same time, they say that you met with Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. What was the subject of your conversations with him?
- Again, it is difficult to comment on – despite the fact that many international media resources have written about it. I've been talking to these journalists since spring. For some reason, however, not a single interview I gave came out. Apparently, they didn't like what I was saying.
Regarding the meeting with Giuliani: I have not met him. They probably meant Giuliani's meeting with [Nazar] Kholodnytsky, which is a well-known fact. I think they just confused the names. Nevertheless, since many media have started to resemble the yellow press and had even written that I am already fired, they could also assert a certain meeting with Giuliani without fact-checking.
- So you're not familiar with Giuliani?
- No.
- Have you ever seen each other?
- No, I haven't seen him.
- Have you met with the detained Lev Parnas and Ihor Fruman, who helped Giuliani get dirt on Biden and the additional documents regarding Ukraine’s alleged interference in the US elections?
- I think that Yuriy Vitalyevich [Lutsenko] had this kind of communication.
- So you're saying you didn't participate in these meetings?
- My name was not mentioned at all in the beginning. As far as I understand, the Democrats needed an excuse, a scandal to be ahead of the situation and make it impossible to organize an investigation of certain events in Ukraine. That is why they started the scandal.
As a result, they attacked the top officials like Yuriy Lutsenko and those who held important positions in our country and the US. Then, in the fall, they realized that notified [Mykola] Zlochevsky in March and the notification had all facts written out.
What Trump impeachment? What calls to Zelensky if it all had already been registered in March? Why did you have to force someone to do something if it had already been done? Zlochevsky is still on the wanted list. We’re talking here about seriously distorted information by the world's leading media.
- George Kent – the one who connects you with Marie Yovanovitch’s removal – also said in his statement that some corrupt Ukrainian officials prevented the Embassy from conducting anti-corruption policy in Ukraine.
- This is not me. How do I and corrupt officials relate?
- In your opinion, who are the “corrupt officials” Kent meant, then?
- I don't know, it's better to ask Kent himself. It is a very interesting question – what kind of corrupt officials could have obstructed Kent if he was the one directly involved in what we faced. He was directly supervising the NABU, and we even had a crossover in one case.
Our witness in this case gave us information confirming that he [Kent] participated in the investigation conducted by the NABU. The case concerned the legalization of coal. Do you know how coal that’s transported from the occupied territories or Russia is legalized?
- How? Is it imported through another territory?
- No, it is coked, losing its properties in the process. After that, it’s not clear which pool the coal is taken from. It is sold to factories in Ukraine and Europe. This is a very serious topic. Kent should have told about this situation, as I know for a fact that in this story there was an opportunity to liquidate a group of highly corrupt officials in Ukraine. The complainant spent two and a half million dollars to do this. There were secret investigative actions that we saw. As a result, we were given a command to dismiss the case. Conclusively, a bunch of corrupt officials remained free. We don’t know what happened to the case, and the scheme of coal legalization is still going on and on. Therefore, the statements of someone that some corrupt officials prevented him from fighting corruption here – I would say it’s the opposite, he was the one to prevent us from fighting corruption.
- Do you understand how serious this statement is?
- Yes, but I have proof. I reported this situation to Lutsenko. He is aware of the situation.
- Was there any reaction on his part?
- Yes, a case was initiated.
- A separate chapter in your biography is a file or a case against Hunter Biden, which has covered all the world's media. Could you please tell us if there was a seven-page English-language dossier on the politician's son, and to what extent were you involved in its development?
- Again, this is not the interview I gave. It was just the position of The New York Times, which contained a bunch of false information. I even talked to my lawyers about it. It is possible to sue and win cases against them regarding the distribution of false information.
- What evidence do you have?
- There was an interview in which they gave unverified and false information. What other evidence do you need? They have to prove that I did or did not do something.
- Are you seriously going to sue them?
- We already have lawsuit drafts. Why did I instruct lawyers to do this at all? Because it directly affects the course of the investigation I am conducting. If it didn’t affect it, I wouldn’t have this kind of reaction. In this case, these are all elements of pressure on the investigation, as the facts of international corruption and international crime are being investigated. It can only be investigated by setting up an international investigation team. Every effort is now being made to discredit the group and prevent it from being established.
I will tell you even more: Lutsenko had been trying to create this group for the past two years. When it became clear that it would not be possible to do it through the Embassy, he began to look for other ways and mechanisms. Later, we ended up having the situation we have now. Initially, however, the goal was honorable– creating an international investigation group.
- If we don't take into account the publications in the media, what do you have on Biden's son? What dossiers does he appear in?
-In 2014, the task was set to organize an investigation of Viktor Yanukovych’s activities. Three groups were created: a group on the Maidancrimes, a group on personality crimes and crimes against the economy, which I worked on together with other prosecutors and investigators. There was another category – treason.
I can be held accountable for what I collected in the course of the economic block investigation. That's four thousand volumes. Currently, six people are working on it, as the reorganization had simply destroyed everything. In any case, we were able to establish that in 2010, when Yanukovych came to power, he had already come as head of a criminal group. He then began to create, using official powers, a new criminal organization. He destroyed some other criminal gangs, absorbed or compromised with some others.
What is so special about these groups?
They committed the crime of prior collusion. One group (or, to be more precise, Serhiy Kurchenko's group) committed gas thefts. When the crime was discovered, it turned out that Kurchenko had received not two billion from this crime but only a third. When they looked into it, it was figured out that Dmitry Firtash’s group participated in the scheme as well. They were notified of suspicion, too. The crime was basically solved.
That's also how they conspired to launder money from Ukraine. For example, in the Baltic States, there was a scheme used to withdraw money from Ukraine, placing it into correspondent accounts of the Baltic banks. As a result, the accounts of the Latvian banks mixed money from different groups. According to the beneficiaries of the situation (Yanukovych’s environment), the money was spent for some specific purposes.
At the time, they thought that this scheme was sufficient to conceal the legalization. Today we are unveiling it.
How is this situation related to Burisma? With Burisma, it is about the legalization of money that was received in the second link of this chain, that is, when the money had already left the correspondent accounts of Latvian banks. This is in addition to the money that the NABU associates with licenses.
- Is there the Burisma case in general?
- No, there is a case against Zlochevsky, where this company is mentioned.
- Are there any charges against Hunter Biden? What is he suspected of?
- The situation’s as follows: the money that entered Burisma was of illegal origin. These two companies were managed and used by a man from the entourage of Taras Kozak (MP, Viktor Medvedchuk’s associate - ed. by Apostrophe). So, the money that came to Burisma was illegally obtained and then, according to our data, was transferred to the accounts of four people, including Hunter Biden.
We are obliged to check the money laundering version. This’s the procedure in any case. For example, the same mechanism, the same methodology was used in the case of [Yuriy] Bakulin (who headed "Naftogaz of Ukraine" from March 2010 to March 2014, - ed. "Apostrophe").
- With regard to the case involving, among other things, Burisma, what sum are we talking about?
- Again, this is an episode that’s linked to the suspicion issued to Mykola Zlochevsky. Zlochevsky is charged with participation in two crimes committed in criminal organizations. Firstly, it’s complicity in the theft of 800 million UAH together with Kurchenko at Real Bank (the money of the National Bank's stabilization loan, where he used his Kherson oil transshipment as an outpost). At the same time, Kurchenko bought this Kherson oil transshipment, which made it an element of legalization. Secondly, he’s charged with money legalization with the help of Burisma.
- What relations do you currently have with Yuriy Lutsenko?
- We have no relations.
