The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) is investigating the appointment of security and domestic staff for former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov at “Naftogaz Ukraine” while he was heading the National Joint-Stock Company.
Chernyshov arranged for personal security guards and cleaners to be employed at Naftogaz, and the state paid their salaries. This was reported by Censor.NET and ZN.ua with reference to their sources.
Interlocutors stated that these positions provided salaries of no less than 300,000 UAH per month and exemption from mobilization.
The publication notes that this episode of “employment” at NAC was mentioned in a court ruling, according to which searches were conducted at Chernyshov’s premises in June. However, due to the adoption of a law that abolished the independence of anti-corruption bodies, NABU suspended the investigation of this episode.
Corruption Case in the Ministry of Reconstruction during Chernyshov’s Tenure
Last week, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced suspicions against five individuals in a corruption scheme related to the construction sector involving high-ranking government officials.
In particular, charges of abuse of office and receiving and giving improper benefits on a particularly large scale were filed against Vasyl Volodin, a board member of the National Joint-Stock Company “Naftogaz of Ukraine”; Maksym Horbatiuk, Commercial Director of JSC “Ukrgazvydobuvannya”; Alla Sushon, former director of the state enterprise “Ukrkomunobsluhovuvannya”; and developer Serhiy Kopystyra.
On June 13, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACC) arrested Horbatiuk with the possibility of bail set at 25 million UAH; on June 17, the court arrested Volodin with an alternative bail option of 20 million UAH; and on June 20, developer Kopystyra was given a preventive measure in the form of arrest with an alternative bail of 100 million UAH.
At the time of the crime, Volodin was the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development, and Horbatiuk was an advisor to the ministry’s head Oleksiy Chernyshov, who later became the head of “Naftogaz,” where his associates also moved to work. Currently, Chernyshov heads the Ministry of National Unity.
According to the investigation, the developer devised a scheme to illegally obtain a land plot in Kyiv for the construction of a residential complex. To achieve this, he contacted top officials of the Ministry of Regional Development, who created conditions for transferring the land to a state-controlled enterprise. This enterprise then illegally concluded investment agreements with the “desired” construction company. At the same time, the land and the buildings on it were valued at nearly five times less than their market price, with the difference between this valuation and the market value exceeding 1 billion UAH.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, NABU detectives planned to conduct a search of Chernyshov himself in this case a year ago, but it was canceled at the request of the Bureau’s director, Semen Kryvonos.
Meanwhile, Chernyshov secretly met with Kryvonos, later explaining the meeting as a discussion of Naftogaz’s anti-corruption program. Kryvonos denied any involvement in canceling the searches related to Chernyshov.
On June 23, Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshov, who returned to Ukraine, has been officially notified of suspicion of accepting a bribe.
On June 27, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACC) imposed a bail of 120,002,668 UAH on Oleksiy Chernyshov, along with several procedural obligations.
On July 2, a bail of 120 million UAH was posted for the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of National Unity Oleksiy Chernyshov.
On July 2, 2025, the HACC did not suspend Chernyshov from his position as Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of National Unity.
The government was trying to eliminate the independence of NABU and SAPO because the anti-corruption bodies have started getting too close to the President’s inner circle.
It is known that Zelenskyy not only failed to support NABU and SAPO in the Chernyshov case but actively opposed the law enforcement agencies. In particular, after Chernyshov was formally suspected of corruption, he was not only not dismissed but his continued presence in office was justified in court as important.
To remind, Oleksiy Chernyshov began his path in the public sector on October 2019, when he was appointed head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration. His candidacy was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which had been formed by the ruling “Servant of the People” party.
