Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
A third of the contract to a middleman who didn’t exist? The former director of the state special exporter is suspected of embezzling $43 million: what is known about the case and how does Taras Shyiko figure into it?
The former head of a state enterprise is suspected of embezzling more than 1,1 billion UAH. NABU detectives and SAP prosecutors notified the former director of a weapons special exporter of suspicion. The statement did not name the person, but open sources point to a current top official of JSC "Ukrainian Defense Industry" who already has one anti-corruption case. Who is being referred to?
On 30 October, NABU and SAP notified the former head of a state enterprise within the Ukrospetsexport group of suspicion of embezzling more than 1,1 billion UAH.
The announcement did not include the suspect’s name or the enterprise’s name. However, according to Ukrainska Pravda, it may be Taras Shyiko — deputy general director of JSC "UOP" (formerly "Ukroboronprom"), who at the time of the events headed the state specialized foreign trade firm "Progress." NABU and SAP have not officially confirmed the identity of the suspect.
What is the accused charged with?
According to the investigation, in 2015 the then-head of the enterprise signed a contract with a foreign company that was to receive remuneration for acting as an intermediary in the sale of Ukrainian military products. NABU says the enterprise negotiated with the customer from one of the Middle Eastern countries on its own, and the intermediary did not participate. Nevertheless, in 2018–2019 the head signed acts claiming agency services were provided and arranged for the transfer of funds. The investigators estimate the losses at more than 43 million dollars — 30% of the total contract sum.
If that share is accurate, the contract itself could have been worth at least 143 million dollars — this is the editorial calculation, not an official figure. The actions are qualified under part 5 of Art. 191 and part 1 of Art. 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
What do the registers say?
"Progress" is the oldest domestic special exporter, founded in 1990. According to information on the enterprise’s own website, Shyiko returned to revive it in 2014; he filed his declaration for 2014 as its director.
According to Opendatabot, he was listed as Progress’s head in the registry until 9 August 2023. Therefore, both the 2015 contract and the payments in 2018–2019 mentioned by NABU fall within his period of leadership.
Taras Shyiko’s profile in the PEP public officials database contains declared incomes: 1,54 million UAH for 2018 and 3,83 million UAH for 2019.
NABU did not specify which Middle Eastern country is involved in its statement.
However, in 2020 Defense Express quoted Shyiko as saying the Iraqi direction has again come under Progress’s purview. Does the case concern Iraq specifically? That question remains open.
The topic of “agency” commissions for Ukrainian arms exports is not new. In that same Defense Express article 2020, the author cited a former deputy head of Ukroboronprom saying that already in Yanukovych’s time Progress was being pushed out of the market so that commissions could be redirected to “their” firms — referring to a quarter of the deal’s amount.
Could it be that now, according to NABU, Progress itself paid a middleman 30%? Another open question.
Not the first case?
In March 2026 NABU and SAP notified three people of suspicion, among them a former director of a state enterprise who is now deputy general director of JSC "UOP." According to investigators, in 2014–2019 the special exporter paid for fictitious intermediary services to companies from the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic — in total over 32 million UAH, and they tried to launder another 19 million UAH.
Court documents in that case include Shyiko’s name: the High Anti-Corruption Court set bail for him at 10 million UAH, and the Appeals Chamber suspended him from the position of deputy general director for security for two months in May.
Two other suspects in the March case, NABU reports, also appear in proceedings about the misappropriation of 146 million UAH from the conglomerate’s enterprises. Slovo i dilo links that case to the former head of Spetstechnoexport, Pavlo Barbul. The “fictitious intermediary” scheme, according to investigative reports, may not have been an isolated incident in the industry.
Are these proceedings related? What is the name of the intermediary company mentioned in the NABU and SAP case, and who is its ultimate beneficiary? Has a preventive measure been chosen in the new suspicion, and have funds abroad been successfully frozen?
The StopKor editorial team is preparing inquiries to NABU and SAP, and is also ready to provide a platform for Taras Shyiko to state his position.
We remind readers that the StopKor team wrote about Pavlo Zhuryl’s gambling empire and about how sports clubs, a charity foundation, a fuel business, and public tenders ended up in the orbit of people close to Kostyantyn Havrylenko.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Друга підозра за рік? Що відомо про справу на 1,1 млрд грн і до чого тут екскерівник "Прогресу" Шийко". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: StopKor.
