List of judges involved in Portnov’s mafia network — investigation
Journalists have uncovered how Andriy Portnov, former Deputy Head of Yanukovych’s Presidential Administration, managed for years to maintain influence over the judiciary and systematically win court cases. They also investigated which judges from the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv and the Kyiv Court of Appeal most frequently heard Portnov’s lawsuits and sided with him.
This is stated in the investigation of "Schemes", Censor.NET reports with reference to Radio Liberty.
"Schemes" examined the archives of the High Council of Justice to understand who and how judges were appointed during Yanukovych’s presidency, including those who still make rulings today, the investigation states. Among them are judges with family ties to Portnov or who were his former subordinates, as well as judges connected to other influential members of the High Council of Justice.
Documents show that in December 2011, the High Council of Justice voted to submit a recommendation to President Yanukovych to appoint Andrii Sekirskyi as a judge of the Commercial Court of Luhansk region. He is the brother of Portnov’s ex-wife, Tetiana. This decision was supported by all members present at the meeting, including Portnov, according to the protocol.
Similarly, in July 2010, all members present at the High Council of Justice supported the recommendation of judge Anzhela Sekirska’s wife for appointment as a judge of the Luhansk District Administrative Court. Portnov was among them. The Sekirskyi family, the investigation notes, continue to work as judges.
In May 2010, the High Council of Justice voted in favor of the nomination of Andriy Portnov’s sister, Olena Isaievska, for the position of judge at the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv. Portnov recused himself. Later, Isaievska became a lawyer and defended her brother in courts, including the Pecherskyi Court.
During the same period, they voted for Tetiana Skochok, who had been Portnov’s assistant when he was still a member of parliament. Her candidacy was submitted for the position of judge at the Kyiv District Administrative Court. All members of the High Council of Justice present, including Andriy Portnov according to the protocol, supported this decision. In December 2022, the Verkhovna Rada approved the complete liquidation of the Kyiv District Administrative Court, but Skochok, like the other judges, retains her judicial status and declares that she continues to receive a salary there.
According to archives, in December 2011, the High Council of Justice approved the nomination of another former wife of Portnov, Inna Belokonna, for a judgeship. She still serves as a judge at the Obolonskyi District Court in Kyiv.
In the investigation, journalists focused on Andrii Parinov, a judge of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal, who in 2019 handled a case brought by Portnov against the Ukrainian Embassy in Canada. Portnov sought to recognize as unlawful the embassy’s actions from March 2016 to July 2018 regarding the submission of "information about the existence of criminal proceedings on the territory of Ukraine" to the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The opposing party in the case requested Parinov’s recusal, citing a potential conflict of interest due to his wife. His wife, Marina Parinova, had worked as head of the judicial reform department in the Main Directorate for Judiciary in Yanukovych’s administration, which was headed by Andrii Portnov. Later, she became his lawyer.
Parinov explained that at the time of the case he was divorced from his wife, so he was not recused. Later, Parinov and other judges of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal sided with Portnov, thereby upholding the previous decision of the Kyiv District Administrative Court to satisfy the former official’s claim.
In September 2010, the High Council of Justice voted in favor of appointing Pavlo Vovk, who had been an aide to Kivalov in the Verkhovna Rada, as chairman of the Kyiv District Administrative Court. Among those supporting this, according to the protocol, were Kivalov himself, Portnov, and Lidiia Izovitova (currently head of the National Association of Advocates of Ukraine and the Council of Advocates of Ukraine).
Serhii Mohyl, nephew of Kivalov, became a judge of the High Commercial Court of Ukraine in 2009. The following year, according to archives, Kivalov, as chairman of the Verkhovna Rada’s Justice Committee, acted as rapporteur for awarding Mohyl with a committee honor "for honest and conscientious work and improving the quality of justice in the state," as well as on the occasion of the anniversary of the establishment of commercial courts.
When Lidiia Izovitova was a member of the High Council of Justice, her children who are judges received administrative positions. According to archives, at a High Council of Justice session, it voted for her son Pavlo Khotenets to become deputy chairman of the Commercial Court of Kharkiv region, and her daughter Olena Izovitova-Vakim to become deputy chairwoman of the Kharkiv District Administrative Court. During the Revolution of Dignity, public organizations referred to her as a "Maidan judge."
The investigation also examined how certain judges in individual courts most frequently heard cases brought by Portnov and sided with him. Specifically, in the Pecherskyi District Court, several such cases were handled by Serhii Vovk, Svitlana Volkova, Iryna Lytvynova, Oleksii Sokolov, and Tetiana Ilieva.
Specifically, Judge Ilyieva heard Andriy Portnov’s defamation lawsuit against the "Lux Television and Radio Company" holding, which owns "Channel 24," and the Prosecutor General’s Office. Portnov challenged mentions of a criminal investigation into his alleged illegal enrichment of 26 million hryvnias—information disseminated by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office without naming him, but later cited in the context of Portnov by Vitalii Shabunin, head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, during a broadcast on Channel 24.
In another case filed by Portnov, Judge Ilieva denied the recusal of Judge Serhii Vovk. Vovk himself sided with Portnov in three cases. For example, he ruled that information published by the Anti-Corruption Action Center in a column on the "Ukrainska Pravda" website in 2023 "damages Portnov’s honor, dignity, and business reputation."
In 2011, media reported that Portnov saved Judge Serhii Vovk from dismissal as a member of the High Council of Justice. "Schemes" found this document in the archives. Portnov was indeed the rapporteur in the complaint case against Judge Vovk and concluded there were no grounds for his dismissal.
Judge Iryna Lytvynova (also deputy chairwoman of the Pecherskyi Court) presided over a case involving Portnov’s lawsuit for protection of honor, dignity, and business reputation, including against the "Priamyi" TV channel, and ruled in favor of the former official.
Using archives, "Schemes" discovered that in 2011, as a member of the High Council of Justice, Portnov reviewed a complaint against Judge Lytvynova and provided a conclusion that there were no grounds for her dismissal.
During cases involving Portnov’s lawsuits for protection of honor and dignity, Judge Oleksii Sokolov sided with him twice. One case involved the TV channel "Priamyi." The other included, among others, the head of "Schemes," Radio Liberty journalist Nataliia Sedletska.
"Schemes" found that Judges Ilyieva, Vovk, and Sokolov served together during Yanukovych’s era in the same judicial panel with Portnov’s sister, Olena Isayevska, mentioned earlier.
Journalists also highlighted several judges of the Kyiv Court of Appeal who heard the most cases involving Portnov and ruled in his favor. These include Maksym Onishchuk, Liubov Polyvach, Viktoriia Shebuieva, and Hanna Kryzhanivska.
According to archival documents uncovered by "Schemes," in 2013, all members of the High Council of Justice present at the session voted to appoint Kryzhanivska to an administrative position — deputy chairwoman of the Kyiv Court of Appeal. Among those voting was Andriy Portnov.
