Vitaliy Maletskyi, the mayor of Kremenchuk (Poltava oblast), insulted Kremenchutska Hazeta chief editor Oleh Bulashev in response to his question about the cancellation of the permit for the construction of a new refinery in the city.
The incident occurred during an executive committee meeting on 11 September. In addition to insulting the journalist, the mayor asked if the latter was working for the Russians, report Kremenchutska Hazeta and the TV channel Kremenchuk.
“Instead of answering, the mayor criticized the journalist and activists who opposed the new refinery. No answer was given to the question about the environmental impact and the city’s further actions regarding the industrial complex,” the newspaper writes.
The newspaper added that instead of a specific answer, Vitaliy Maletskyi “only said that he was not surprised by the courts’ ruling, hinting at their ‘possible corruptedness’, and stressed the need to develop the city’s industry.”
According to the news outlet, instead of answering, the mayor resorted to value judgments addressed to the journalist:
“You know, Oleh, you are on Zhevago’s payroll (Ukrainian businessman and politician, Ferrexpo CEO, beneficiary of the Finance and Credit bank, a defendant in several proceedings of the State Bureau of Investigation. – Ed.), and the guy who filed this is also on Zhevago’s payroll. We need to develop the city’s industry, to develop the territory of the Northern Industrial Complex. The refinery is not working, the only oil refinery in Ukraine has been destroyed, and now you are preventing a new one from being built (Maletskyi did not specify who was preventing the new refinery from being built. – Ed.),” the mayor said.
“Whose side are you on? Maybe you took money from the Russians and now work to paralyze the establishment of new enterprises?” he continued.
Kremenchuk mayor later also resorted to inappropriate comparisons and jokes while answering Oleh Bulashev’s question about city budget funds for material assistance:
“Oleh, I don’t understand the question, what is this vinaigrette? You like salads? The question should be divided into two parts (the journalist’s questions concerned expenses for material assistance and salaries from the city budget. – Author’s note)”.
In 2023, Oleh Bulashev reported that an unknown man had threatened to “drown him in concrete.” He also claimed that the anonymous website Kremenchuk Today was pressuring him by publishing offensive and defamatory content about his journalist work.
It was reported on 18 January 2024 that Kremenchuk police were investigating the local anonymous news resource Kremenchuk Today. In the summer of 2023 Kremenchuk Today accused Bulashev of working for the enemy. Bulashev called the allegations “lies and nonsense”. IMI also reported that the confrontation between Kremenchuk Today and Kremenchukska Hazeta has been going on for a long time; there have been appeals to the Independent Media Council and the Mediacheck. The independent media examination showed violations of the Ukrainian Journalist’s Code of Ethics by both websites.