Almost 1,4 billion hryvnias in state contracts: former Ministry of Justice official Pavlenko's business changes owners after NABE attention

The company founded by former Ministry of Justice employee Serhii Pavlenko received nearly half a billion hryvnias in state contracts. When its activities came under the scrutiny of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (BEB), the firm was renamed, "moved" to Zaporizhzhia, and transferred to a Tajik citizen who is listed as the owner of hundreds of Ukrainian companies.

This was reported by the publication "Telegraf"

But the tender business didn’t end there: even before that, Pavlenko created a company with almost the same name, which has already received contracts worth approximately 940 million UAH.

Key points:

How 200 thousand turn into half a billion

It all starts small: in September 2022 a limited liability company "TEP-Kapital." was registered by Ministry of Justice employee Serhii Pavlenko. In June 2025 he transferred the company to Vitalii Sheverun — a former senior investigator of the National Police in Kyiv region (until 2019). The company's first tender for 200 thousand UAH was received at the beginning of 2023 from the "Primary Medical and Sanitary Care Center No. 1" — without an electronic system or bidding.

This contract was used a few months later to confirm experience in an open tender, after which the company rapidly won orders worth 490,6 million UAH from Ukrposhta, and the Holosiivskyi and Sviatoshynskyi district administrations.

Through separate tenders the LLC appears in criminal proceedings: for example, in case 12025100070001447 investigators are probing the embezzlement of funds for repairing a basement into a basic shelter costing 1,9 million UAH, part of which the company did not perform despite receiving the money.

Who stands beside Pavlenko

The "TEP-Kapital." office was opened in Kyiv on Yaltynska Street, 5-B in a location of mass registration with 977 companies, and the warehouse was rented from sole proprietor Yuliia Sheverun Olegivna — the wife of Vitalii Sheverun.

The main figures in the investigation are Serhii Pavlenko, Vitalii Sheverun (owner of the firms "Building Set" and "Building Set Trade") and the nominal owner Karimi Asolat Ismatzoda. The total amount of tenders won by the companies of Pavlenko and Sheverun reaches 1,4 billion UAH.

The "TEP Kapital" office rented space from the already familiar company "Building Set."

What NABE found

The company's activities are being investigated by the capital's NABE department. During a search of one premises, law enforcement officers found 24 seals, including those of the companies "Building Set" and "Building Set Trade."

Tens of millions of hryvnias were transferred from LLC "TEP-Kapital." to the accounts of these affiliated entities: 129,1 million UAH to LLC "Building Set" (a firm with two employees considered a high-risk taxpayer by tax authorities) and 66,5 million UAH to LLC "Building Set Trade" (with one employee).

In total, about 195 million UAH was siphoned to the accounts of related firms. The case materials state that LLC "TEP-Kapital.", "Building Set" and "Building Set Trade" used common IP addresses to submit reports.

The firm is being "buried"

When problems with NABE and lawsuits with partners such as "Oxi Bank" and "Ukrposhta" arose, the company was essentially put to rest. In April 2026 "TEP-Kapital." was renamed "Promilex", the firm moved to Zaporizhzhia, and the new owner and director became Tajik citizen Karimi Asolat Ismatzoda, in whose name 236 firms have already been registered in Ukraine.

Using a similar scheme, "Building Set" was also re-registered to Ismatzoda in April 2026, and "Building Set Trade" in March 2026 was transferred to 27-year-old Andrii Sosonnyi, who is registered as the owner of more than 500 companies across the country.

But the business has already reincarnated

Even before Vitalii Sheverun finally transferred the old company to the Tajik, partners created a new entity without the period and hyphen in the name — LLC "TEP Kapital", registered in March 2025.

For a time the two firms operated in parallel; the new company also rented a warehouse from Yuliia Sheverun under an identical contract, and rented its office from "Building Set." In one and a half years the newly created firm won tenders worth 940 million UAH, using the same connections and offices to avoid liability for unfulfilled contracts.

Who continues to award hundreds of millions

The most funds the new company "Tep Kapital" received from the Education Department of the Solomianskyi District Council of Kyiv — 464,7 million UAH. In particular, 240 million UAH were allocated for the reconstruction of the gymnasium on General Tupikov Street, and 27 for a kindergarten.

The publication "Nashi Hroshi" established that the prices in the estimate were doubled: for example, aluminum composite panels were quoted at 3 thousand UAH per square meter while the market price at Epicenter was 1,3 thousand UAH. The contract was signed by the then-head of the Solomianskyi District education department, Viktor Uzhytskyi, who was dismissed in March 2026 following an audit of procurements.

However, it is quite likely that Pavlenko and Sheverun "reincarnated" their firms under new names but with the same offices and warehouses for the sole purpose of shedding excessive attention from law enforcement, as well as avoiding liability for unfulfilled contract terms. And old clients, such as Ukrposhta, are forced to sue a company that now officially belongs to a Tajik. And the citizen of Tajikistan, apparently, does not intend to enforce Ukrainian court decisions.

The main question now is not only what happened with the old "TEP-Kapital." Much more interesting is how, after the start of a criminal investigation, people from the same circle, using the same warehouses, addresses and counterparties, were able to create an almost identical company and obtain another nearly one billion hryvnias in state contracts.