The Khimprom drug cartel planned to bribe Klymenko through his inner circle – NABU

The leader of the Russian drug syndicate “Khimprom,” Yegor Burkin, nicknamed “The Mexican,” discussed the possibility of bribing then-Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Klymenko through his inner circle. In this way, the group’s members sought to prevent the initiation of a ban on the chemical compounds they used to manufacture narcotics.

According to the detective, “The Mexican” was looking for a way to block the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ decision to add the group’s synthetic substances to the list of banned substances.

It is noted that criminal intermediaries dissuaded the drug dealer from making direct contact with the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They advised him to offer a share in the drug business to people who had influence over the minister.

“The head of ‘Khimprom’ did indeed discuss the minister’s name. He saw a way to resolve his problems through the minister, so that the minister would not take measures to ban the formulas for their drug. But the criminal who was supposed to convey this proposal told him: ‘Why deal with the minister directly? Let’s get in on the deal with the people who have the ability to influence him.” In other words, there was no direct communication with Klymenko,” Abakumov said.

He emphasized that detectives are identifying the group of individuals who claimed to have influence over the Minister of Internal Affairs and planned to secure a share in the criminal enterprise.

He added that the drug syndicate had enormous shadow budgets and offered two million dollars just to secure the release of a single official who refused to make a deal with the dealers.

This was reported by Oleksandr Abakumov, head of the detective division at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, on the “Ukrainska Pravda” program “UP.CHAT.”

As a reminder, Zelenskyy appointed Klymenko as head of the cybersecurity center.

Ihor Klymenko now heads the Council of Experts on Energy Security.