Bail for Millions at 10–30%: How Businessman Vasyl Astion Created a Market for Buying Out Suspected Officials

Bail for Millions at 10–30%: How Businessman Vasyl Astion Created a Market for Buying Out Suspected Officials

In Ukraine, cash-exchange centers and even “white” companies offer a relatively new service: for a 10–30% commission they are willing to post bail for any person. The law does not require checking the origin of funds used for bail, so the only obstacle is the bank’s financial monitoring through which the transfer is made. But that obstacle can also be easily bypassed.

One of the most prominent participants in such schemes is businessman Vasyl Astion. His companies posted bail for former NBU head Kyrylo Shevchenko, MP Mykola Tyshchenko, and former Justice Minister Denys Halushchenko.

NABU detectives established that part of the bail for Halushchenko was transferred by the firm Vostoktranslogistika, controlled by Astion. Law enforcement believes the company provided this service for a fee. At the same time, Astion also guaranteed the “necessary” court decisions, effectively influencing judges.

According to NABU, part of the bail for Halushchenko was transferred by the firm Vostoktranslogistika, controlled by Astion.

The official owner of Vostoktranslogistika is Dnipro native Dmytro Peredrii. He also managed Dniproagro LLC, which is in bankruptcy proceedings. Officially Dniproagro belongs to the Astion brothers — Yevhen and Vasyl. For many years Peredrii has acted as a top manager of the Astions’ structures.

Vostoktranslogistika was repeatedly used to post bail. In 2022 the company transferred 35,1 million UAH as bail for a figure in the Ukrgasbank case, in which Kyrylo Shevchenko was also involved. The court materials do not specify exactly for whom the funds were posted. The firm also paid another 5 million UAH as part of the bail for MP Mykola Tyshchenko. The most recent known case is 35 million UAH bail for Herman Halushchenko.

Officially, Peredrii was the director or beneficiary of the following companies:

LLC Oktorg;

Private Enterprise Vladimir;

LLC DLS Group;

LLC Vostoktranslogistika;

LLC Pig Complex “Dniprovskyi”;

LLC Starokodatski Sady.

All these companies are connected to Vasyl Astion. At the same time, he officially owns dozens of other enterprises, including Amaltea, Verkhivtsevskyi SEZ, Kyivkombikorm Plant, and the closed-end mutual fund Genesis Capital.

The Astions control dozens of companies in Dnipropetrovsk region and other regions (grain cultivation, elevators, production of baby food, including Khorol Baby Food Plant, assets of the former Agromars / TM Havrylivski Kurchata). In media and court registers their companies are often mentioned in the context of aggressive asset takeovers and corporate conflicts. In many cases Astion acquired assets thanks to judges’ decisions. It is not surprising that he guaranteed the “right” court rulings.

Astion privatized the state enterprise Zhytomyr Distillery Plant, as well as the state concern Ukrbud in October 2025 for 805 million UAH through LLC Techno-Online.

Dozens of fictitious companies are registered at the same mass-registration addresses — for example, in an ordinary office in Dnipro or under nominee persons who appear as the owners of hundreds of companies. It is in Dnipro that the Astion brothers register their firms. Vasyl Astion was a deputy of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council from the Revival party. According to NABU, he long exerted influence over Sense Bank and used state bodies in schemes.

Currently in Ukraine the origin of funds for bail is effectively not checked. The only mandatory check is the bank’s financial monitoring. NABU and other law enforcement agencies can establish the source of funds only within the framework of other investigations. Bail funds are not checked by default. As early as June 2026 a bill No. 15388 was submitted to the Rada that provides for a mandatory check of the origin of bail funds. However, the document still has not even been considered in first reading.