The first deputy general director of the State Railway Administration (Ukrzaliznytsia), Maksym Blank, has commented on his Facebook page on the raid that law-enforcement officers launched on the offices and homes of senior Ukrzaliznytsia officials on October 16.
As reported, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in conjunction with the Prosecutor-General’s Office, seized more than UAH 7 million and USD 1 million in cash during 19 searches at Ukrzaliznytsia and properties belonging to people involved with the enterprise on October 16. The SBU’s head Valentyn Nalyvaichenko announced the raid in a television interview. According to Nalyvaichenko, a money-laundering syndicate operated in Ukrzaliznytsia for years and that the danger posed by this syndicate was that "criminals in power" inducted every train station, every enterprise supplying the railroad, and insurance companies into a single system for money laundering and embezzlement of public funds.
"The searches have been completed, the SBU has given a press conference on the matter, and, of course, I have no right to add anything on the subject because an investigation is underway. I can only leave a personal comment on the matter. It is very unpleasant when your office or apartment is being searched. However, it is insignificant if it allows a government official - his personal resentment - to be controlled. If these are the chips that should fly when the wood of self-indulging and corrupt clique of sycophants is being chopped, then let them fly. Ultimately, this is exactly what we fought for: for there to be no ‘untouchables.’ Even if we ourselves are these ‘untouchables,’" wrote Blank.
A month earlier, on September 12, Blank wrote on Facebook that he considered the suspension of Ukrzaliznytsia’s General Director Borys Ostapiuk a standard European practice. "There is nothing dramatic in the suspension of the head of an agency that is being audited, considering the public resonance generated by the audit. That is normal European practice,” Blank wrote.
He also said at the time that every public official should be prepared for every aspect of his activities could be the subject of an investigation at any time.
