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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Reporters from “Stop Corruption TV” investigated the work of the State Medicines Service during Volodymyr Korolenko’s tenure. One of the key stories of the investigation was the conflict around the Kharkiv Pharmacopoeial Center: its director was dismissed, a court ruled the dismissal unlawful, but a few months later the service issued a new dismissal order.
More details in Denis Stradetskyi’s investigation for “Stop Corruption TV.”
The state enterprise “Ukrainian Scientific Pharmacopoeial Center for Quality of Medicines” in Kharkiv is under the management of the State Medicines Service. In February 2026 the service appointed an unscheduled audit covering the years 2024–2025. According to the State Medicines Service’s official response, a report dated 10 April 2026 recorded violations of the law, deficiencies and problematic issues, in particular in the circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors. The service says it informed law enforcement about the findings.
However, the existence of violations at the enterprise does not in itself prove the director Olena Lavoshnyk’s involvement. The dispute over her dismissal sparked a separate conflict.
First dismissal and the court loss
By order of the State Medicines Service dated 8 April 2026, No. 105-K, Lavoshnyk’s contract was terminated early. The cited grounds included the conclusions of an internal investigation and improper performance of the contract terms. At that time the service was headed by Volodymyr Korolenko.
The director disagreed and, through attorney S. Tymbalyuk, appealed the order in court. The court found the dismissal unlawful and reinstated Lavoshnyk to the position from 9 April 2026. The decision emphasized that general references to improper performance of duties are insufficient: the employer had to prove specific breaches of the contract terms. Therefore the dismissal based on circumstances set out in the memorandum of the head of the internal investigation commission, L. Yablonska, dated 26 March 2026, was ruled unlawful.
Second order
It seemed the court ruling should have settled the matter. But on 3 August the State Medicines Service issued a new order No. 295-k “On the dismissal of O. Lavoshnyk.” The next day, 4 August, the Pharmacopoeial Center issued an order to execute it. The document instructed Lavoshnyk to hand over documents and property, and for accounting to make the final settlement. The signature on it was made by the head of the enterprise transformation commission, Lesia Dyachenko.
The second dismissal took place against the backdrop of reorganization. According to the Pharmacopoeial Center’s response, by order of the State Medicines Service dated 25 September 2025 the enterprise is being transformed into a company with a one hundred percent state share, and the procedure is still ongoing. In response to questions about who controls it, the center said that the head of the transformation commission, L. O. Dyachenko, reports to the head of the State Medicines Service.
Intersections and ties
Lavoshnyk herself links her problems to specific people. According to her, attorney Viktor Kvashin had close ties with Olesia Dyachenko’s husband, Oleksii Dyachenko, with whom he studied in the same year. Oleksii Dyachenko is currently a judge of the Kyiv District Court of Kharkiv, and previously headed the legal department of the State Medicines Service.
Lavoshnyk also claims that relatives of Kvashin and employees of his law firm were formally employed at the enterprise. Their dismissal, she says, escalated into a conflict with provocations and allegations of corruption, which became the grounds for her removal. The former director says she once refused to carry out actions requested by the attorney. The same video material also contained the claim that Olesia Dyachenko was employed in Kharkiv after moving from Bucha, although she does not have a related professional education.
Journalists asked Olesia Dyachenko whether possible fictitious employment and the booking of a number of people at the enterprise had been checked, and whether those people were linked to the law firm “Kvashin and Partners.” Dyachenko replied that checks are carried out constantly, and as for the rest she suggested sending a written request and asked within what task the journalists were asking such questions.
Unanswered questions
In the end we have a state enterprise whose reorganization is led by a person subordinate to the State Medicines Service. Her husband previously headed the service’s legal department and is now a judge. Attorney Viktor Kvashin also figures in this story.
The main question remains open: what changed between the first dismissal, which the court found unlawful, and the second? Journalists were unable to get comments from Volodymyr Korolenko: he advised them to contact the press service. Meanwhile, the State Medicines Service itself is being liquidated, and its functions are to be taken over by the new Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Agency.
Also read: new leader or the old system: who will control the medicine market and what is Volodymyr Korolenko’s role?
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Двічі звільнена директорка: конфлікт довкола Фармакопейного центру, який реорганізовує Держлікслужба". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: NARDEP 24.
