Corruption

Court arrests businessman Tyshchenko in Pashinsky case: video of hearing

The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) has imposed a measure of restraint on businessman Sergiy Tyshchenko in the form of detention with the possibility of bail in the amount of UAH 363.36 million. This was reported by the citing the press service of theSpecialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor‘s Office.

The SAPO does not name the defendant in the case, but the broadcast of the motion’s consideration suggests that it is Tyshchenko.

It is noted that Tyshchenko is suspected of co-organising, together with former MP Serhiy Pashynskyi, the seizure of seized oil products worth almost one billion hryvnias.

“The HACC investigating judge upheld the position of the SAPO prosecutor and imposed a preventive measure on the entrepreneur, one of the organisers of the criminal organisation that seized oil products worth UAH 967 million seized in the case of the owner of the so-called Eastern European Fuel and Energy Company (SEEK) group of companies,”

– the statement said.

During the meeting, the prosecutor read out many facts in the materials that testify to the participation of the defendants in the implementation of the scheme of seizure of the seized oil products.

The prosecutor requested that Tyshchenko be released on bail in excess of UAH 499 million. In return, the defence and Tyshchenko himself requested round-the-clock house arrest or no more than UAH 10-15 million in alternative bail.

The HACC partially granted the motion of the NABU detectives, agreed by the SAPO prosecutor, and imposed a preventive measure against Tyshchenko in the form of detention with an alternative bail of UAH 363.36 million.

The term of detention is until 11 April 2024.

If bail is granted, Tyshchenko will be required to

• report to the detective, prosecutor or court upon every summons and request;
• not to leave Kyiv and Kyiv region without the permission of the detective, prosecutor or court
• notify the detective, prosecutor or court of any change of residence;
• to refrain from communicating with other suspects, witnesses in criminal proceedings and other persons regarding the suspicion notified to him/her, except for defence counsels, detectives, prosecutors, investigating judge, court;
• to deposit his/her passport for travelling abroad and other documents giving the right to leave and enter Ukraine with the relevant state authorities;
• wear an electronic control device.

What is known about Pashynskyi’s case

on 12 February, the NABU, SAPO and the SBU announced the exposure of a criminal organisation that caused UAH 967 million in damage to the state in 2014-2018. It is a scheme to misappropriate and sell 97,000 tonnes of state-confiscated oil products that were supposed to be used for the needs of the army.

Reportedly, in 2014, the state confiscated almost 100,000 tonnes of oil products from Serhiy Kurchenko’s structures and transferred them to a specialised state-owned enterprise for sale. This enterprise in return sold the raw materials at reduced prices to a company controlled by one of the organisers of the scheme. The funds were withdrawn to private accounts, thus causing the state to suffer losses of UAH 967 million.

Six people have been notified of suspicion in the case, one of whom is “the former acting Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, head of one of the committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and co-organiser of the ML”.

It is known that this is a case involving former MP Serhiy Pashynskyi, who is called a co-organiser of the criminal organisation.

Pashinsky confirmed that on the morning of 12 February 2024, he was searched in a 10-year-old case.

According to Pashinsky, in 2015, he initiated the transfer of fuel from Kurchenko or, as he claims, Rosneft to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Because of this, allegedly at the behest of the Russians, criminal proceedings were opened against him. It was in connection with this proceeding that the former MP’s home was searched. Pashinsky emphasises that the case was brought up simultaneously with the Russian Investigative Committee.

He also stressed that he had not been served with a notice of suspicion.

Pashinsky’s story

Former Ukrainian MP Serhiy Pashynskyi has gained notoriety as an odious figure due to a number of high-profile scandals in which he was involved. For example, on 31 December 2016, he had a conflict with Viacheslav Khimikus, a resident of Kyiv region, during which Pashynskyi shot him in the leg with a firearm. In 2021, the then MP was acquitted and the case against him was closed. It was also reported that Khimikus was paid UAH 1.5 million in compensation, after which he withdrew his claims against the MP.

The most recent accusations against Pashynskyi relate to his allegedly profiting from the supply of weapons to the Ukrainian army before and at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. For example, in 2022, the revenues of Ukrainian Armor, a weapons company that supplies weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and is linked to Pashynskyi, skyrocketed more than a hundredfold, reaching UAH 13 billion ($350 million). The SBI and NABU opened criminal proceedings and conducted searches in the cases. At the beginning of his presidential term, Volodymyr Zelenskyy even called Pashynskyi “100% bandit”.

At the same time, as the New York Times claimed in its own investigation, Pashinsky secured critical weapons for the Ukrainian army at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, when there was no military assistance from the West.