Kolesnikov Dmytro Valeriyovych

Vilkul’s Man, Head of State Property Under Yanukovych

Dmytro Valeriyovych Kolesnikov — Minister of Industrial Policy of Ukraine (March-December 2010), Head of the State Agency for Management of State Corporate Rights and Property (December 2010 – December 2012), member of the Party of Regions. He started his career as a repair locksmith at Kryvorizhstal, then rose to top management in mining and enrichment plants.

State Property and Suspicious Re-Registrations

In 2012, while heading the State Agency for Management of State Corporate Property, Kolesnikov approved the re-registration of two production buildings of the Pipe Institute in Dnipro into a sports and health complex and cafeteria. The Prosecutor General’s Office later qualified this re-registration of state property as an abuse of power with serious consequences.

Vilkul’s Man and Voting Against Sovereignty

In the 2014 elections, he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada on the Opposition Bloc list at #21 as Deputy Executive Director of the "Oleksandr Vilkul Foundation." On January 18, 2018, he was one of 36 deputies who voted against the Law on Recognizing Ukrainian Sovereignty over the Occupied Territories of Donetsk and Luhansk Regions.

Arrest, Immunity, and Case Closures

In October 2018, the Prosecutor General’s Office twice submitted requests to the Rada to lift Kolesnikov's immunity and Vilkul's — both times the Rada did not vote in favor. On September 6, 2019, Kolesnikov was arrested along with Vilkul, but on September 17 they were released — both were taken under personal guarantee by MP Shpenov. Ultimately, the October District Court of Dnipro closed proceedings against both due to statute of limitations — without establishing their guilt.