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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The High Anti-Corruption Court 17 August approved a plea agreement with former Naftogaz of Ukraine board member and former Ministry for Communities and Territories Development state secretary Vasyl Volodin in the case of former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov. Volodin fully admitted guilt and will reimburse over 485 thousand hryvnias in damages. In addition, he will transfer 2,5 million UAH to the accounts of the Return Alive charitable foundation to support the "Dronopad" project. The court also applied special confiscation to an apartment that Volodin received as illicit enrichment.
The decision was reported by "Slovo i dilo." The court document states that Volodin was found guilty of committing criminal offenses under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine related to abuse of power and receiving illicit enrichment.
"To approve the plea agreement concluded between the prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the defendant in the criminal proceedings," the court decision reads.
The court imposed on Volodin a final sentence of imprisonment for 8 years with a ban for 2,5 years on holding positions in bodies of state power and local self-government, as well as in state and municipal enterprises related to organizational and managerial functions. Additionally, he was fined 11900 UAH. At the same time, Volodin was released from serving the sentence and given probation for 2,5 years. He is required to periodically register with the probation authority, notify about changes of residence or work, and not travel abroad without permission.
How the case against Chernyshov’s inner circle developed
Volodin served as the state secretary of the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development when the ministry was led by Oleksiy Chernyshov. Later, when Chernyshov headed Naftogaz of Ukraine, Volodin followed him and became a member of the company's board. Earlier, the anti-corruption court detained Volodin with an alternative bail set at 20 million UAH — that amount was posted, and he was released from custody under procedural obligations.
According to the investigation, developer Serhiy Kopystyra devised a scheme to illegally acquire a land plot in Kyiv for constructing a residential complex by appealing to top officials of the ministry. They created conditions for transferring the land to a state-controlled enterprise, which concluded investment agreements with a preferred construction company on terms unfavorable to the state. The land and buildings on it were valued at almost five times less than market value, and the difference — exceeding 1 billion UAH — deprived the state of property. In return for facilitating the scheme, the developer provided top officials with discounts on apartments in already built complexes totaling 16,8 million UAH.
Earlier, Informator reported that NABU completed its investigation into Chernyshov's case and transferred the materials to the court. Among the key suspects, besides the former deputy prime minister himself, are Vasyl Volodin, developer Serhiy Kopystyra, as well as former officials of the ministry and Ukrgazvydobuvannya. We also wrote that the bail for Chernyshov himself, amounting to over 120 million hryvnias, was posted in parts — by the ex-deputy prime minister’s wife, a private firm, and a manager of the DIM group of companies associated with businessmen Oleksandr Nasikovskyi and Maksym Krippa.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Колишній член правління Нафтогазу України пішов на угоду зі слідством у справі ексвіцепрем'єра Чернишова". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Informator.
