The High Anti-Corruption Court has approved a plea agreement with former acting head of the Presidential Administration Serhiy Pashynskyi.
According to the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, between March and June 2014 the official abused his position to seize arrested oil products, causing the state losses of more than UAH 817m. He was also accused of participation in a criminal organisation.
The SAPO said the defendant fully admitted his guilt and agreed to provide incriminating testimony. Under the terms of the deal, he undertook to transfer UAH 600m to the state budget over 2.5 years, allocate UAH 400m to the Come Back Alive foundation for the purchase of weapons, and pay UAH 100m to the Sternenko Community foundation. In addition, the convicted man will pay more than UAH 860,000 in fines and will lose the right to hold public office for a year.
No confiscation of property was applied, as the relevant amendments to the law were adopted only after the crime was committed. If the defendant fails to meet these obligations, the SAPO will initiate the annulment of the verdict and the case will be heard under the standard procedure.
Earlier, in September 2025, the court approved a deal with another participant in the same scheme, who agreed to pay UAH 150m and received a suspended sentence.
What Is Known About the Pashynskyi Case
- On 12 February 2024 NABU detectives announced suspicion against six members of a criminal organisation who seized oil products worth a total of UAH 967m, which had been arrested in the case of the owner of the so-called group of companies “Eastern European Fuel and Energy Company” (VETEK), who was part of a criminal organisation led by a former President of Ukraine.
- The investigation named as organisers of the scheme the acting head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine (Serhiy Pashynskyi), a Member of Parliament of Ukraine, the head of one of the committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and a businessman.
- There were also four co-perpetrators: a former director of a state enterprise; a former deputy director of a state enterprise; a manager at a state enterprise; and the head of a private company.
- In 2014, a court decision imposed seizure on oil products imported into Ukraine in violation of the law.
- In February 2024, Pashynskyi was remanded in custody with the option of posting bail of UAH 272.5m. The funds were later posted by companies that are members of the National Association of Defence Industry.