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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The state enterprise “Defense Procurement Agency” of the Ministry of Defense 27 of August, following the results of tenders, contracted LLC “Friisberg and Partners International” for a service to search for and select candidates for the positions of independent members of the AOZ supervisory board for 948 thousand UAH.
This is reported in “Prozorro.”
Within three months the firm must develop a candidate search strategy, define the methodology and criteria for their evaluation, and collect applicants’ documents — applications, résumés, motivation letters, education documents, certificates, etc. Based on the analysis of documents, interviews, and candidate checks, AOZ should receive a ranked list of six candidates for interviews.
They are looking for two independent supervisory board members in the areas of: corporate and contract law, procurement, and also audit and finance.
Both candidates must hold a master’s degree or specialist degree, be fluent in Ukrainian and English, have at least 10 years of professional experience, and at least three years of managerial experience in international or leading Ukrainian companies. Also, a candidate cannot hold a state or elected office and must be ready to serve on the supervisory board at least 50 working days per year.
Additional professional requirements are set for both profiles. For the expert in corporate law and procurement — at least three years in senior management positions at large companies or in the public sector, as well as experience implementing public reforms, corporate governance, supporting procurement programs, etc.
The audit and finance expert must have managerial experience in this area within the last five years, including managing public or donor funds, using financial instruments, risk management, and international financial reporting standards. The full list of candidate requirements is on the Ministry of Defense website.
Recall that AOZ’s supervisory board began work 17 December 2024 year. It consists of three independent members and two state representatives. In January 2025 there was a public conflict involving the suspension of Maryna Bezrukova from the position of head of AOZ and the recall of the state representatives on the board who voted for her. Currently on the supervisory board are Stanislav Haider, Taras Chmut, and Lukasz Stolyarski.
The recruitment tender was held on the third attempt; the two previous procurements did not take place. “Friisberg” participated in one of them but submitted a proposal with errors and was rejected because it did not correct all nonconformities in the documents. In particular, it failed to confirm the absence of tax debt and the experience of successfully recruiting top managers, so its proposal was rejected.
In the current tender “Friisberg” was already the sole participant. And therefore received the contract without competition.
The firm had to confirm experience with two contracts over the past 10 years, at least one of which had to be for recruiting top managers for a company with more than 200 employees. “Friisberg” submitted two contracts with JSC “Ukrtatnafta” and LLC “Kremenchuk CHP” for selecting supervisory board members, both in 2024 year.
The Kyiv-based LLC “Friisberg and Partners International” was registered in 2008 year as LLC “BI.EM.” The company’s director and beneficiary is Olena Maisiura. The firm is part of the international network Friisberg & Partners International, which has offices in Europe and the Americas.
In 2022 year Maisiura worked in the Office of the President of Ukraine as head of the organizational activities department. This is indicated on Friisberg’s website.
Maisiura also headed the NGO “Full Life XXI” and has a sole proprietorship. One of the contact phone numbers associated with her sole proprietorship is marked in databases as “associated” with a number of companies. Among them are JSC “Law Firm ‘Reznikov, Vlasenko & Partners’” (formerly “Pravis”), LLC “Magisters,” the law firm “Magister and Partners C.I.S.,” and others.
According to the information Olena Maisiura lists on LinkedIn, in 2004–2008 years she worked as HR director at the company Magisters (Medzhisters).
At that time among the founders of “Magisters” were former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel Yevhen Korniichuk, attorneys Andrew Mak and Serhii Svyryba.
Serhii Svyryba, according to Ukrainska Pravda, was a classmate of the head Andriy Yermak, under whose leadership Maisiura worked in the Presidential Office. Svyryba was also among those who helped Yermak get out of pretrial detention on bail. According to media, Serhii Svyryba provided 6,5 million UAH.
Andrew Mak is a long-time acquaintance of Yermak. On his recommendation he became an unpaid adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky. Mak told this to ‘Babel.’
In addition to ties with Oleksii Reznikov, Olena Maisiura’s social media includes photos with the current Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Budanov and President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Before the contract with AOZ, “Friisberg and Partners International” received contracts from JSC “Ukrgazvydobuvannia” for engineering support, consulting services, professional training, and skills upgrading; the firm also worked with PJSC “Centrenergo” in 2021 year, JSC “Ukrnafta” in 2023 and the Entrepreneurship Development Fund in 2025.
Since 2018 year the firm has received contracts worth 27,68 million UAH.
Oksana Tsokur, “Nashi Hroshi”
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