Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Zlochevskyi kept his gas empire with revenue of 21,6 billion hryvnias, and for a bribery case of 6 million dollars he got a fine of 68 thousand hryvnias
Declassified correspondence of American diplomats has again drawn attention to the history of former ecology minister Mykola Zlochevskyi and the alleged bribe to close a criminal case. At the same time, companies connected to his family continue to operate in the gas industry, and their combined revenue for 2025 year, according to the provided data, reached 21,6 billion hryvnias.
This was reported by the project “Karty, dengi, ofshora,” Radio Liberty, the Anti-Corruption Center, and journalists who investigated Zlochevskyi’s business ties in Ukraine and abroad.
In April 2014, British investigators froze 23,5 million dollars in the accounts of the Cypriot company Brociti Investments Limited, linked to Zlochevskyi and Burisma. In December, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine under Vitaly Yarema informed the British side that the businessman did not have the status of a suspect. In January 2015, a British court unblocked the accounts because the criminal origin of the funds could not be proven.
According to the project “Karty, dengi, ofshora,” in May 2014 Zlochevskyi may have handed over 7 million dollars to close a money-laundering case. The possible transfer of money was reported to American diplomat George Kent by Deputy Prosecutor General Mykola Danylenko. At that time Oleg Makhnitsky held the post of prosecutor general. However, the court did not establish the fact of this bribe being transferred.
On 1 November 2016, under Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, the Ukrainian proceeding was closed. As Radio Liberty reported, Burisma paid 180 million hryvnias in taxes and fines.
In June 2020 law enforcement detained Zlochevskyi’s intermediaries with 6 million dollars in cash. According to the investigation, the money was intended to close the probe into funds from a stabilization loan of Real Bank, associated with Serhiy Kurchenko. Of that sum, 5 million dollars were allegedly to be received by the heads of NABU and SAP, and another 1 million dollars was intended for the intermediary.
The case involved tax official Mykola Ilyashenko, Burisma manager Andriy Kicha, and former official Olena Mazurova. The criminal proceeding has number 52020000000000473, and the trial took place in case No. 991/1297/22.
In August 2023 the High Anti-Corruption Court approved Zlochevskyi’s plea agreement for a reduced qualification. He was fined 68 thousand hryvnias. In addition, he had to allocate 500 million hryvnias to the “Army of Drones” project and transfer equipment to the military worth more than 160 million hryvnias. The sentence did not provide for imprisonment.
How Zlochevskyi’s gas business structure changed
The former minister’s gas assets were registered to his daughters Anna and Karina through Cypriot companies Diloretio Holdings and Virmanto Limited, as well as investment funds.
According to OpenDataBot, in 2025 the combined revenue of companies connected to the family amounted to 21,6 billion hryvnias. A significant portion of income was provided by the company Esko-Pivnich (EDRPOU 30732144): its revenue reached 13,87 billion hryvnias, and net profit — 2,25 billion hryvnias. The owners are Diloretio Holdings with a share of 89,5% and the Skyfall fund (EDRPOU 44635761), which owns 10,5%.
Another asset is the company Infoks (EDRPOU 14289688), which manages the Odesa water utility. According to the provided data, it is controlled by Zlochevskyi’s family through Virmanto Limited. In 2025 Infoks received 2,21 billion hryvnias in revenue, but ended the year with a net loss of 38,1 million hryvnias.
In 2026 Anna and Karina Zlochevskyi exited the roster of owners of three companies that together hold seven special permits for the use of gas-bearing subsoil. These are Storens (EDRPOU 42228430), Energogaztrend (EDRPOU 44895803) and O-Gas (EDRPOU 42819254).
According to the Anti-Corruption Center, during the re-registration of assets they used structures of lawyer Maksym Arkhangelsky and UAE citizen Mohamed Ahmed Said Rashed Alzeiyoudi. Later the owner became the UAE company Emiravest Energy Group. Its beneficiary was listed as Arkadiy Zavoru, who previously worked at Infoks.
Four special permits of Storens concern fields in Lviv, Volyn and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. At the same time, no evidence has been presented that after the change of owners the Zlochevskyi family retained hidden control over these assets.
Possible ties to the Sky Towers buyer
Journalists also investigated possible links between Zlochevskyi’s business and Kyiv real estate. In April 2026 the unfinished skyscraper Sky Towers was sold for 560,47 million hryvnias to the company Tekh Invest Postach Plyus (EDRPOU 45829595).
The company’s director, Roman Chumak, had previously been linked through other enterprises to a financial structure that later came under the control of Zlochevskyi’s daughters, journalists reported. The direct buyer of the unfinished building was Chumak’s company.
What is known about Burisma’s ties with the United States
A separate line of investigations concerns Hunter Biden’s work, the son of then–U.S. vice president Joe Biden, at Burisma. He sat on the company’s board in 2014–2019. According to U.S. Congress materials, his compensation could have been about 1 million dollars per year. Devon Archer and former Polish president Aleksander Kwaśniewski also served on the board.
To interact with the U.S. State Department, Burisma hired the lobbying firm Blue Star Strategies. Its representatives handled issues related to investigations into Burisma, the company’s reputation, and Zlochevskyi’s visa.
In a letter dated 22 November 2016, American diplomat George Kent warned U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch that Hunter Biden’s work at Burisma undermined Washington’s anti-corruption stance. Documents declassified on 16 October 2026 confirm contacts between American diplomats and company representatives and discuss a possible conflict of interest.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Злочевський зберіг газову імперію з виручкою 21,6 мільярда гривень, а за справу про хабар у 6 мільйонів доларів відбувся штрафом у 68 тисяч гривень". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.