Vynnyk Ivan Yuliyovych

Tomato businessman, curator of defense millions, and former People's Deputy from BPP

Ivan Vynnyk is a Ukrainian politician, entrepreneur, and People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 8th convocation. He was born on January 3, 1979, in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson Oblast, and received a financial education at the Kyiv International Business School. He began his career as a locksmith, later worked as deputy head of supply at the well-known food company "Chumak," and founded the large LLC "Construction Materials Plant No. 1." In 2014, he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc party by a majoritarian district in Kherson Oblast. In parliament, he gained significant influence, becoming Secretary of the Committee on National Security and Defense and heading the Temporary Investigative Commission to investigate embezzlement in the Armed Forces. He is currently involved in managing the National Association of Defense Industry Enterprises of Ukraine (NAUDI), which coordinates private arms manufacturers.

Written-off millions from PrivatBank, billion debts to Alfa-Bank, and lobbying for censorship

The former deputy's activities have been accompanied by numerous lawsuits, corporate conflicts, and accusations of financial fraud. The loudest financial scandal is connected with millions in unreturned loans: investigative journalists uncovered a scheme where Vynnyk left the state-owned PrivatBank with losses exceeding 35 million hryvnias, transferring the debt company to the British entity "Balestra Limited," which suddenly liquidated just before the bank's nationalization. Additionally, due to huge multimillion debts to Alfa-Bank, the Kyiv Court of Appeal officially prohibited the deputy from leaving the country, and the state enforcement service even seized his pleasure boats. In the political arena, Vynnyk became the target of harsh criticism from the OSCE and human rights activists for actively lobbying the controversial bill No. 9275, which proposed granting parliament the right to block information internet resources and websites without a court decision. Anti-corruption agencies (NABU) also opened investigations regarding his declaration of inaccurate information, and a judicial trail related to his former business obligations still follows the politician.