Former Deputy Head of the State Labor Service Bardonov Sentenced to 9,5 Years for Bribery

The Darnytskyi District Court of Kyiv found former First Deputy Head of the State Service of Ukraine on Labor Issues Mykhailo Bardonov guilty of accepting a bribe.

As reported by the editorial office of 368.media, he was sentenced under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine to 9,5 years of imprisonment.

The case lasted nearly 10 years. Bardonov was detained on the night of 16 July 2016. At that time he held a category “A” position and was considered an official occupying an especially responsible post.

In March 2016, following an unscheduled inspection, the State Labor Service prohibited the activities of LLC “Joint Ukrainian-German Enterprise ‘Technical Inspection Company DIEKS’.” The company appealed this in court.

According to the prosecution’s version, which the court found proven, Bardonov met with the company’s director and demanded 200 thousand hryvnias to assist in obtaining the permitting documentation. The money was to be handed over in two parts.

On 23 June 2016 he received the first 100 thousand hryvnias in a Hyundai Tucson on Desiatynna Street in Kyiv. 15 July he informed the businessman that he had signed a letter of the State Labor Service’s “tacit consent,” and received the second installment through drivers. On the morning of 16 July the funds were found in his apartment. He was detained there.

Bardonov did not admit guilt. He asserted he did not take the money, that the meeting was initiated by the businessman, and that his confession on video during the search was coerced: there were small children and a pregnant wife in the apartment. The court rejected these explanations and deemed the recordings of covert investigative actions admissible.

The court imposed 9 years and 6 months of imprisonment with a three-year ban on holding positions in government bodies, local self-government, law enforcement agencies, and state and municipal enterprises related to administrative-managerial or organizational-economic functions.

Additionally:

– confiscation of property;

– deprivation of the third rank of civil servant.

The preventive measure — detention — was left in place until the verdict takes legal effect. The term of punishment is counted from 17 August 2026. Time served from 16 July to 21 December 2016 and from 2 December 2025 — counted as one day for two — will be credited toward the sentence.

The following property of Mykhailo Bardonov was confiscated to the state:

1/4 apartments at his place of registration (shared partial ownership);

Lexus RX 350 car;

Raymond Weil Geneve watch (Don Giovanni collection);

Longines Automatic Grande Vitesse watch;

Oris Automatic watch (titanium);

Armand Nicolet Tramelan Automatic watch;

Jacques Lemans watch (gold-colored);

a watch with the SBU emblem, inscribed “From the Head of the Operational Department of the Security Service of Ukraine”;

Hewlett Packard Pavilion dv7 laptop;

iPhone 6S;

iPad tablet;

two gold bars of 10 grams each (fineness 999,9);

two gold bars of 20 grams each (fineness 999,9);

1 515 banknotes of 100 US dollars;

5 banknotes of 50 US dollars;

13 banknotes of 20 US dollars;

14 banknotes of 10 US dollars;

18 banknotes of 500 hryvnias;

11 banknotes of 200 hryvnias.

The court ordered a PrivatBank Gold MasterCard to be destroyed.

Separately: 100 thousand hryvnias, seized as the bribe, were returned to the director of DIEKS, not confiscated. The arrest imposed back in 2016 was lifted in part where it was no longer needed to carry out the verdict.

One hundred thousand hryvnias of the bribe, seized during the search, the court ordered returned to the director of DIEKS. Bardonov was ordered to pay 14 thousand hryvnias in legal costs. The verdict may be appealed to the Kyiv Court of Appeals within 30 days.