Mykola Zlochevskyi after a record bribe: billions instead of prison

Mykola Zlochevskyi — a former ecology minister under Viktor Yanukovych — became one of the most striking examples of how the scale of a criminal case can differ from its final outcome. In 2020 year law enforcement announced an attempt to deliver $6 million to close the case, and in 2023 the High Anti-Corruption Court approved a deal with Zlochevskyi: a 68 thousand UAH fine and hundreds of millions of hryvnias for the needs of the Armed Forces instead of actual imprisonment. Meanwhile, the business registered to his daughters in 2025 year reported 21,6 billion UAH in revenue.

$6 million that were supposed to close the criminal case In June 2020, NABU and SAP exposed an attempt to bribe the leadership of the anti-corruption agencies. According to NABU, it involved $5 million to close the criminal proceedings against the former high-ranking official. Another $1 million, according to the investigation, was to remain with one of the scheme’s participants as remuneration. The total sum — $6 million — was at the time called by NABU the largest bribe in Ukraine’s history. The case involved then Deputy Head of the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Kyiv Mykola Ilyashenko, former State Fiscal Service official Olena Mazurova, and Burisma’s legal director Andriy Kicha. According to the investigation, they acted in Zlochevskyi’s interests. In other words, this was not an abstract conversation or journalists’ speculation. The money was seized during a law enforcement special operation. In April 2022 all $6 million, by VAKS decision, were transferred to support the country’s defense. NABU then valued them at more than 170 million UAH. Zlochevskyi himself was outside the country at that time. In 2020 he was declared internationally wanted, and the court in absentia ordered pretrial detention. Only in July 2023 did he appear before the court remotely and ask to approve a plea agreement. In 1 August VAKS approved that agreement. From the prospect of prison — to a fine of 68 thousand Here the story takes its sharpest turn. The original case concerned arranging the transfer of a huge sum to influence the heads of NABU and SAP. However, in the final sentence Zlochevskyi was convicted under Part 1 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code — abuse of influence. The punishment was a fine of 68 thousand UAH. Thus, the person around whom a 2020-year case about $6 million unfolded did not receive actual imprisonment. That became the main focus of criticism from journalists and anti-corruption experts. Ukrainska Pravda, analyzing the obtained text of the verdict, noted that none of the four defendants ended up in prison and no one lost property due to confiscation. The outlet also criticized the decision to restrict access to the full text of the verdict. It is important not to confuse different payments. 68 thousand UAH is the court fine. Separately, the agreement provided for a significant contribution to defense: SAP reported 500 million UAH for the “Drone Army” project and more than 160 million UAH in military equipment aid; Forbes, citing case materials, gives a total sum of 660 million UAH. This contribution has obvious practical significance for defense. But legally it does not turn the 68-thousand fine into imprisonment and does not mean confiscation of the business. While the judicial story ended — the business kept growing The sharpest contrast is visible when you place the verdict figures next to the financial indicators of the family-linked business. According to Opendatabot data cited by OBOZ.UA, in 2025 the combined revenue of Ukrainian companies registered to Zlochevskyi’s daughters Anna and Karina amounted to 21,6 billion UAH. Just Esko-Pivnich earned 13,8 billion UAH in revenue and 2,2 billion UAH in net profit. Over four years its net income, according to the provided data, grew 44 times — from 50,8 million UAH in 2021. This is no longer a story of a former official left without assets after criminal prosecution. On the contrary: the corporate structure continued to generate billion-hryvnia turnover. The list of companies with revenues over 100 million UAH includes Esko-Pivnich, Infoks, Skyfall, Tekhnokomservice, First Ukrainian Gas and Oil Company, Systemoilengineering, Nadragaz, Rodolit, GeoUnit, and Pari. The main activities are gas and oil production, drilling, fuel, and energy. The Esko-Pivnich case is particularly illustrative. According to current Opendatabot data, its turnover in 2025 was 13,87 billion UAH, net profit — 2,25 billion UAH, and year-end assets — nearly 23,86 billion UAH. In the registry structure, the ultimate beneficial owners through Cypriot structures are listed as Anna and Karina Zlochevskyi. Licenses, gas, and old administrative resources Another key point is the origin of the energy empire. Zlochevskyi headed the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources in 2010–2012. That ministry was involved in regulating subsoil use, including issuing special permits to use mineral resources. OBOZ.UA notes dozens of licenses obtained by structures linked to Zlochevskyi. As an example the outlet cites the Proletarske gas field: the structures obtained its license in 2010, and the assessment by the Association of Gas Producing Companies of Ukraine ranked it among the top ten fields with reserves of about 1,5 billion cubic meters. At the same time there is no direct proof of illegal influence by Zlochevskyi on a collegial decision to grant a specific license. That is an important boundary between fact and assumption: a former minister owning a business that uses previously obtained special permits does not in itself prove the licenses were granted illegally. But the economic outcome is clear. The old assets did not disappear after the change of power, Zlochevskyi’s flight abroad, and the criminal cases. They continued to operate, and corporate registration shifted to his daughters and affiliated structures. OBOZ.UA notes that until August 2020 Zlochevskyi himself was the owner of Esko-Pivnich, after which the company, like other assets, was transferred to the daughters. Billions in the gas business — and over a billion on real estate After the verdict the family’s money was not confined to the energy sector. Forbes Ukraine reported that over two years the Zlochevskyi family spent more than 1 billion UAH on real estate objects. These include the Kyiv Food Market building, the Arkada bank office, the former Ukrpidshypnyk factory, and an estate on Sahaidachnoho Street in Kyiv. According to an expert estimate, these assets could potentially generate about $6 million UAH in annual rental income. As early as 2022 a company in the daughters’ orbit won an auction for the sale of property rights to the Arkada bank office, offering 351 million UAH. The ownership structure led through Cypriot Diloretio Holdings to companies whose beneficial owners were Anna and Karina Zlochevskyi. In 2023 real estate housing Kyiv Food Market was registered to the company Ukemoti, and later its owners became Zlochevskyi’s daughters. Forbes also confirmed this company’s link to the ex-minister’s family. So the final picture is stark: the criminal case ended without actual prison time, while the family’s capital continued to work and shift from gas assets into commercial real estate. Not only Zlochevskyi: what happened to the case’s associates Another awkward element of this story is the fate of the people who helped implement the scheme. Olena Mazurova reached a deal with the investigation and received five years imprisonment conditionally with a two-year probation period. Mykola Ilyashenko also did not go to jail. Then the story becomes one of property. According to OBOZ.UA, in 2021 Mazurova’s husband Heorhiy Mazur purchased a Mercedes-Benz G 400 2021 year model, and a house in Koncha-Zaspa of 857,1 sq. m was registered to him. The outlet compares these purchases to the official data on the husband’s financial activity at that time. Ilyashenko’s property list looks even larger. OBOZ.UA reports that after the verdict new real estate objects were registered to him. In 2024 he was gifted two premises totaling about 216 sq. m in the Korona residential complex in Pozniaky, a three-room apartment in the Metropole residential complex, and 12 parking spaces. Separately, a premises of 221,7 sq. m in the underground passage at Maidan Nezalezhnosti was registered to him. In total the outlet counted 19 real estate objects registered to him. These transactions do not by themselves prove criminal origin of the property. But they add another sharp contrast to the story: participants in a case that began with a multimillion bribe did not receive real prison sentences, and some later became owners of significant property. The loudest contrast — not $6 million and not 68 thousand This story resonated not only because of the bribe’s size. Its main problem for public perception is the gap between the case’s scale and the consequences for the main figure. In 2020 the state showed journalists bundles of seized $6 million as proof of a major anti-corruption operation. In 2022 those funds went to defense. In 2023 Zlochevskyi made a deal, pleaded guilty, and received a 68 thousand UAH fine, and also agreed to significant contributions to the Armed Forces. And in 2025 the business registered to his daughters reported 21,6 billion UAH in revenue. That is why the formula “record bribe — and a 68 thousand fine” became so telling. It does not mean the state received nothing: hundreds of millions were indeed directed to defense. But it shows that for a billionaire the criminal outcome can look very different than for an ordinary defendant. Conclusion Zlochevskyi’s story is not just about a bribe of $6 million. It is about how a criminal case ended with a deal, a 68-thousand fine, and large contributions to defense, while the family-linked energy business continued to generate billions. The toughest question here is not whether the funds transferred to the Armed Forces were useful. They were. The question instead is whether the scale of the final punishment matches the scale of the case at the center of which were $6 million, and why after such a criminal proceeding the economic system linked to Zlochevskyi not only survived but shows billion-hryvnia turnover. It is this gap between the $6 million bribe, the 68 thousand UAH fine, and the 21,6 billion UAH annual revenue of the related business that makes Zlochevskyi’s case one of the most illustrative in Ukrainian anti-corruption practice. Read also:

Mykola Zlochevskyi, Yanukovych’s associate caught on a gigantic bribe, bought real estate in Dubai worth tens of millions of dollars