A video published on October 6th revealed the moment the head of the Ukrainian state Ukreximbank Yevhen Metsher and his bodyguard attacked investigative journalists.
The day before, RFE/RL (Ukrainian media funded by US Congress) representatives said that they were attacked in Metsher’s personal office.
According to them, unknown persons forcibly detained them and took away the cameras, after which they removed the video of the incident.
It happened while they were trying to interview a banker. Journalists say that after a question, force was used against them, cameras were confiscated and all videos were erased. But day after they were able to restore it.
According to media reports, Metsher has ties to a well-known representative of the “95th quarter” company – the entertainment empire of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky came to power on a wave of anti-oligarchic sentiments. But after that, he became known for appointing his friends and colleagues from the “95th quarter” to key positions, like other presidents.
As can be seen in the video, Metsher ordered the guards to “pick up the cameras” and “get the tapes out of them.”
The bank’s employees used physical force against Oleksandr Mazur, the operator of the RFE/RL’s “Schemes” investigative show, confiscated two cameras from him, confiscated the recording cards and deleted the recorded video.
The video is gaining popularity in the Ukrainian segment of Facebook and YouTube, raising a wave of criticism of President Zelensky’s hiring policy.
Ukreximbank, headed by Metsher, is controlled by the government of Ukraine. At the end of 2020, its assets were estimated at $ 1.8 billion.
Prior to the publication of this video, Ukreximbank stated that the information of interest to journalists was a “banking secret.” The bank claims that the journalists left the office “without hindrance”.
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