Corruption fugitive Mykola Zlochevskyi has put on sale a 54-meter yacht valued at over a billion hryvnias

Former Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mykola Zlochevskyi has put on sale a 54-meter yacht Rhino valued at €25,9 million. The vessel was built in 2016 year at the Italian shipyard Benetti. The yacht is being sold through brokerage firms Fraser and Ocean Independence.

Earlier the yacht bore the name Karianna — in honor of Zlochevskyi’s daughters Karina and Anna. Zlochevskyi is linked to the creation of the gas-extraction group Burisma, which extracts about 1 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

As blogger Volodymyr Bondarenko writes, in 2020 year Zlochevskyi was announced a suspect in a case of a record bribe of $6 million, which, according to investigators, was intended to bribe leadership of NABU and SAP. For bribery, confiscation of property was envisaged.

However in 2023 year Zlochevskyi reached an agreement with the prosecution, under which he had to pay 68 thousand hryvnias in fines and direct 500 million UAH to the ‘Armed Drone’ project. Thus, instead of possible asset confiscation, the case ended with a much milder punishment and a large contribution to defense needs.

At the same time, questions have repeatedly arisen about Zlochevskyi’s connections in the United States. In particular, public statements have claimed links to the Biden family through Hunter Biden’s participation on the board of directors of Burisma. At the same time, these statements are not established facts about the reasons for the settlements in Zlochevskyi’s case.

Zlochevskyi once served as deputy to Andriy Klyuyev in the National Security and Defense Council during Viktor Yanukovych’s tenure. After fleeing Ukraine, he re-registered part of his business assets to his daughters Karina and Anna, as well as son-in-law Andriy Kuchkov. At the same time, according to the author, sanctions against Zlochevskyi did not lead to loss of control over his business.

In recent times, as noted in the publication, assets connected with Zlochevskyi have grown: BC Sky Towers at 51 thousand square meters on Brestskogo Avenue, the former headquarters of the Bank ‘Arkada’ on Olhinska, 3, the building of the former ‘Sberbank’ on Sahaidyachnoho, 25, a food court on Arsenalna, the headquarters of the Kluyiv brothers on Riznytska, 3, and also a hectare of land for development near ‘Yarma’ in Khreshchatyi Park.

According to sources in business circles, the yacht is not being sold due to financial problems. On the contrary — in 2016 year the vessel is already considered too small for Zlochevskyi, as its length is only 54 meters. Thus, according to this version, the owner decided to part with the old yacht and buy a new one that would match his current status.