Top NBU official threatens soldier with a gun: police open criminal proceedings
27 September 2024 14:04
ВІДЕО
Belarusian volunteer Andrei Tratsevsky reported a conflict with Pavel Poliarush, head of the NBU’s Department for Work with Problem Assets. The soldier said that the official almost ran him down and threatened him with a weapon, but the banker denied the allegations. The videos began to circulate on Telegram after the soldier posted them on his channel, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The incident took place on the road near one of the capital’s residential complexes. Polarush, he said, jumped in front of a soldier, blocked traffic and started fighting.
“A drunk man jumped in front of the car on the road, blocked the traffic, started fighting, said he would shoot me in the legs with his ‘award’ (a weapon of honour – ed.),” the soldier said.
However, the banker responded that this was “absolutely not true”.
One of the videos shows Polarush with a broken eyebrow and broken glasses. A volunteer commented on this as follows: “We saw that you were hitting the steering wheel.”
In the video, Polarush himself denies everything the soldier said and claims that his glasses were broken and demands compensation to buy new ones.
According to Tratsevsky, the National Bank employee refused to take a breathalyser test and called an ambulance.
The police were also at the scene of the incident. One of the videos posted by the military shows law enforcement officers inspecting weapons from the official’s car.
According to the soldier, Polarush allegedly said that he would “buy everyone”. He also allegedly said in front of law enforcement officers that “all Belarusian volunteers will either go back to Belarus or kneel in Pokrovsk”, Tratsevsky said.
Pavel Poliarush has not yet commented on the incident. The official pages of the National Bank also have no statement on the scandal.
The press service of the Kyiv police told UNN that the police had registered a criminal proceeding under the article “threat of murder” over a conflict on the road in the capital, during which Pavel Poliarush, the drunk head of the NBU’s Department for Work with Problem Assets, threatened Belarusian volunteer Andrei Tratsevsky (Bezsmertny) with death.
“Two criminal proceedings have been registered, part 1 of Article 129 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – a threat to kill, and part 1 of Article 125 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – causing light bodily harm, based on a road conflict where the driver of a Lexus (Pavel Poliarush – ed.) was driving drunk. He blocked the passage of another participant, the driver of an Audi (Andriy Tratsevsky – ed.), and they had a conflict,” the Kyiv police said.
According to the agency, Polarush could have been driving a car that allegedly belongs to his common-law wife, the daughter of Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Iryna Mudra, Kateryna Shatrova.
The police confirmed that the official refused to take a blood alcohol test. Law enforcement officers also seized the weapon.
“Patrol police inspectors also drew up a report 130 against the driver of the Lexus (Pavlo Polarush – ed.) – driving while intoxicated,” the Kyiv police press service added.
What is known about Polarush
Pavlo Polarush was born in 1981 in Vinnytsia region. After graduating from high school, in 1998, he entered the Kyiv State Academy of Water Transport named after P. Konashevych-Sagaidachny, Faculty of Transport Economics. In 2003, he graduated with a degree in Organisational Management and a Master’s degree.
Pavlo Poliarush has been working in the Ukrainian banking sector for almost 15 years, in particular in the areas of corporate client relations, risk management, and non-performing loans. He has experience in various banks.
In 2021, Pavlo Polarush moved to ministerial work, first working at the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine as an advisor on international cooperation, and then at the Ministry of Defence.
In 2021, at the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, he was responsible for the international sector.
At the Ministry of Defence, Pavlo Polarush worked as an adviser to the Deputy Minister of Defence on logistics and cooperation with domestic and foreign suppliers.
At the beginning of 2023, Pavlo Polarush returned to the National Bank of Ukraine to head the Department for Work with Distressed Assets.
