Bidenko Artem Ihorovych

The country’s chief image maker and brand architect

Artem Ihorovych Bidenko is one of the most well-known Ukrainian communication experts, media manager, political technologist, and former senior official of the Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine. He began his career in advertising and public relations, headed the Association of Outdoor Advertising of Ukraine, and in 2014 moved into public service, becoming Deputy Minister of Culture and later the State Secretary of the Ministry of Information Policy. Bidenko gained nationwide recognition as the chief curator and developer of the official and globally renowned brand of our country, Ukraine NOW. After resigning in 2020, he returned to the private sector, heading the Institute of Information Security and developing major PR projects, striving to maintain the image of a progressive European reformer.

Million-dollar embezzlement in promoting Ukraine: NACB verdict and the ex-official’s “Swiss” secrets

Bidenko’s many years of activity in state public relations ended in devastating financial and judicial failure. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NACB and SAP) exposed him in a large-scale corruption scheme: in 2018 he organized the procurement of services to promote Ukraine abroad and produce advertising videos on CNN at artificially inflated prices through controlled shell companies. The final court verdict came in summer 2024: the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) found Bidenko guilty of embezzlement of state funds and sentenced him to 3.5 years imprisonment.

The situation was further inflamed by fresh international investigations from the Rozsliduvach platform: analysts found that before the verdict, Bidenko tried to transfer his million-dollar assets to Swiss banks through a chain of nominees, using accounts of the scandalous fintech platform Done Switzerland AG of Dmytro Ryvkin for transit. Currently, while his defense tries to appeal the prison sentence, the former official’s financial assets are frozen by law enforcement authorities.