At a protest near the US Embassy in Kyiv, the public organization AvtoEuroSyla called for sanctions against the head of the Verkhovna Rada's tax committee, Danylo Hetmantsev. Activists called him a "secret agent" who purposefully undermines the situation in Ukraine to the detriment of US interests.
This was reported by “Ukrainian news”.
Protesters accused Hetmantsev of subversive activities inside Ukraine and having ties with pro-Russian and pro-Iranian forces. “He uses his position to undermine the political, economic and social situation in Ukraine in favour of Russia, a geopolitical enemy of Ukraine and the United States. He is also a companion and lobbyist for Lebanese citizen Rodrigo Merhej, who in turn protects Iran which is under the US sanctions,"- state the activists.
Rodrigo Merhezh is the business partner of Hetmantsev's mother Olena Hetmantseva in the TPG Group of companies. According to AvtoEuroSyla, the company, under the guise of tourist activities, repairs Iranian planes and smuggles aircraft parts to Iran. It uses the services of Anda Air, Bravo Airways, UmAir, Bykovyna, Dream Wind, Jonika, Ruta Air, Ukrainian Wings and YanAir aircraft in order to do this. They are buying aircraft parts for themselves and then supply them to Iran avoiding the sanctions. Some of these airlines are already "blacklisted".
"Hetmantsev's declaration shows that his mother gave more than half a million dollars to Rodrigo Merhezha. This man's airline was caught in 2017 while transporting an anti-tank complex and spare aircraft parts. Even though the sanctions wew=re imposed against Merhezha, Hetmantsev's family provided him with money " - said Oleksandr Chernyavsky, the leader of AvtoEuroSyla.
In addition, AutoEuroSyla is convinced that Hetmantsev is deliberately provoking a protest movement in Ukraine. He is an ideologue of the total fiscalization of small and medium-sized businesses, because of which SaveFOP activists are now protesting. In addition, the chairman of the tax committee was accused of blocking the bill №3704 on preferential customs clearance of cars with European registration. Hetmantsev's initiatives have already brought thousands of Ukrainians to the streets.
"We suspect that this may be a global plan to destabilize the situation in Ukraine for the revenge of pro-Russian forces," Chernyavsky said.
Participants of "AvtoEvroSyla" sent an appeal to the US embassy with a request to include Danylo Hetmantsev in the list of US sanctions and to create along with Ukraine a joint investigation group to investigate the activities of the Deputy. The materials will also be sent to the Israeli embassy in Ukraine (as Hetmantsev leads the Ukraine-Israel interparliamentary group) and to the SBU.