NABU tapes in the “Forrest Gump” case: what is known about Vasyl Astion’s role and 19,98% of “Ukrainian Capital”

NABU tapes in the “Forrest Gump” case: what is known about Vasyl Astion’s role and 19,98% of “Ukrainian Capital”

New NABU recordings in the “Forrest Gump” case have drawn attention to businessman Vasyl Astion, whom the investigation names as one of the participants in a scheme to legalize 150 million UAH to post bail for former minister Herman Halushchenko. At the same time, questions have arisen about nearly 20% of the shares of Bank “Ukrainian Capital” that Astion and his brother previously owned.

This is reported by the media.

As part of the “Forrest Gump” operation, NABU and the SAP published audio recordings in which one of the figures is referred to as “Vasya.” According to Ukrainska Pravda, this refers to businessman Vasyl Astion. The SAP stated that he was responsible for the legal support of decisions so that courts would make them in the interests of the group’s participants.

At the same time, questions have arisen in the public sphere about Astion’s ties to the banking sector. According to official NBU data as of 31 January 2020, Vasyl Astion and his brother Yevhen owned, through the mutual fund ZNVKIF “Genesis Capital,” 9,99% of the shares each in JSC “Bank ‘Ukrainian Capital’.” Together this amounted to 19,98% of the bank.

Particular attention is drawn to the fact that the packages were registered separately — 9,99% for each brother. At the same time, a significant participation threshold in the bank begins at 10%, which formally allowed each of them to remain below the relevant threshold.

Meanwhile, the current ownership structure of the bank has not been publicly updated since 31 January 2020. On the NBU’s supervision page, the Astions are no longer listed among current significant shareholders. However, according to the provided data, there is no official archival file of the bank’s ownership structure available publicly.

This raises the question of where exactly the 19,98% of shares previously owned by the Astion brothers went. The authors of the piece also note that in the NACP declarations of the Astions for the years 2020–2023, the sale of these packages is reportedly not recorded.

The activity of LLC “FC ‘Fingroup Faktor’,” which was 100% owned by the Astions, is mentioned separately. At the end of 2023 the NBU revoked all of the company’s licenses due to a “refusal to allow an inspection.” Subsequently, Vasyl Astion was notified of suspicion of tax evasion on 61,4 million UAH.

According to the data cited in the article, Judge Saidullaev of the Zhovtnevy District Court of Dnipro reduced Astion’s bail from 61,4 million to 1 million UAH. In February 2024 the AMCU allowed the Astions, through “Fingroup,” to purchase “DK Kaskad” and “Inter Way Capital” from Vitaly Khomutynnik. In March 2025 the case against Astion was closed due to expiration of the statute of limitations.

Against this backdrop, the authors raise questions about the possible use of “Ukrainian Capital” in transactions related to figures in the “Forrest Gump” case. In particular, they ask whether funds from companies that, according to the investigation, could have been used to legalize 150 million UAH of bail for Herman Halushchenko passed through the bank.

The question is also raised whether the NBU conducted an inspection of the bank after concerns arose about another financial company linked to the Astions.

At the same time, Vasyl Astion 12 June told Ekonomichna Pravda: “I do not know Halushchenko, his lawyers, and no one approached me with an offer to help post bail.”

Now, after the publication of the NABU recordings in which, according to the article’s authors, his voice appears, and the mentions of his role in SAP materials, these statements have taken on new significance.

The key question that remains open is who currently owns 19,98% of “Ukrainian Capital,” when and to whom these packages were transferred, and whether their disposal was approved by the National Bank of Ukraine.