You're reading: Kyiv Oblast governor vanishes following his subordinate’s arrest

Maksym Melnychuk, who was on Sept. 9 dismissed as head of Kyiv Oblast State Administration, went missing, his wife told the press.

Melnychuk’s
wife Halyna Melnychuk told the Channel 112 that he hasn’t heard from her
husband since 4.30 p.m. of Sept. 9. On the early morning of Sept. 10 she
reported him missing to the police.

The
disappearance of Melnychuk followed the arrest of his subordinate, deputy
governor Ihor Liubko earlier on Sept. 9. Police detained Liubko as he was
receiving a Hr 200,000 bribe.

Yuriy
Pudenko, head of the administration’s Health Department, served as an
intermediary passing the bribe from another employee of the administration. The
bribe was meant as a payment for a positive review of the employee’s work.

Interior
Minister Arsen Avakov told Ukrainian News that the police were going to
investigate the role of Melnychuk in his deputy’s bribery, and might declare
ex-governor wanted on suspicion of bribery also.

The
police searched Melnychuk’s house and office.

Melnychuk,
43, was appointed head of Kyiv Oblast State Administration in February 2016.
Before that, he served as a vice president of National Academy of Agricultural
Sciences of Ukraine for two years. In 2010-2011, Melnychuk was an advisor to
the Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Prysiazhniuk
.

According to police, Liubko solicited the Hr 200,000 bribe
from one of his subordinates who he believed received a payback for giving Hr
15 million in state compensations to local farmers.

Liubko
allegedly threatened to fire the employee but then, once she got a new job in a
different state agency, demanded a bribe for writing her a good recommendation.

According
to Avakov, Melnychuk ran away when police caught his
intermediary
receiving the bribe.

A
decree dismissing Melnychuk from a governor’s post was published on President
Petro Poroshenko’s website on Sept. 9.