Reformer of the week – Khatia Dekanoidze
Khatia Dekanoidze, a Georgian-born reformer, resigned as head of the National Police on Nov. 14.
Dekanoidze, a former head of Georgia’s Police Academy, has overseen Ukraine’s efforts to oust corrupt officers since she took over as head of the National Police in November 2015.
She said on Nov. 14 that the ministry had failed to root out corruption, and that she had had to deal with political interference and had not had enough authority to bring about radical change.
Ilya Kyva, a controversial aide to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, lashed out at Dekanoidze recently and has reportedly been tapped to be a deputy of Dekanoidze’s successor, Vadym Troyan. Kyva, an ex-head of the National Police’s drug enforcement unit, has in the past triggered controversy by posting a Bible quote calling for the execution of homosexuals. He has also been accused of insulting veterans of the war with Russia.
Avakov is accused of derailing Dekanoidze’s efforts to reform the police and faces several corruption investigations. He denies all accusations of corruption.
Pavlo Kashchuk, an ex-member of a police vetting commission, said on Nov. 14 that the old system of policing, which Dekanoidze had hoped to sweep away, is now returning.
“It has become clear that the hyped-up reform is just words and imitation – a smokescreen that the Interior Ministry’s leadership used to ‘buy off’ Western partners and (Ukrainian) society in order to restore and even strengthen the old corrupt system,” Kashchuk said. “Their task is to fill their pockets and terrorize society… In the regions we see a complete comeback of the old guard.”
Anti-reformer of the week – Vadym Troyan
Vadym Troyan, a deputy head of the National Police, was appointed acting head of Ukraine’s police on Nov. 14 and has been tapped to become its official chief.
Troyan, a staunch loyalist of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, has been accused of undermining former head of the National Police Khatia Dekanoidze’s independence, which is stipulated by Ukraine’s police law, and blocking her reform efforts. However, Interior Ministry spokesman Artem Shevchenko has dismissed the accusations made against Troyan as “nonsense.”
Troyan used to shout at police vetting commission members and urged them not to fire corrupt officers, Olga Khudetska, an ex-member of a police vetting commission, told the Kyiv Post.
Troyan, who is reportedly in charge of all surveillance at the National Police, has been accused of conducting surveillance over journalist Pavlo Sheremet, who was killed in a car bomb explosion in central Kyiv on July 20. The National Police denies the accusation that Troyan was involved in such surveillance.
Lawmaker Sergii Leshchenko and Ukrainska Pravda’s chief editor Sevgil Musayeva-Borovik said in July they had seen police officers conducting surveillance of them and Sheremet. Troyan took an unexpected vacation and was not seen in public for several weeks after Sheremet’s murder.
Troyan used to be a member of the far-right Patriot of Ukraine group and the affiliated Azov unit. Some members of the unit have admitted to being neo-Nazis.
