Between flight and suspicion: how Chernyshov handed over land in exchange for apartments worth 15 million
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov’s departure abroad on the eve of being served with a notice of suspicion became last week’s most-talked-about event. The Prime Minister and the President had to justify his actions.
On the eve of court hearings involving his associates, the minister left Ukraine. His relatives followed him abroad. ZN.UA reported that Tymur Mindich, a co-owner of Kvartal 95, travelled to Europe to bring the minister back.
On Sunday, the minister for the return of Ukrainians wrote that he had returned to Ukraine, and on Monday, he went to NABU, from where he emerged with a notice of suspicion.
What scheme the minister features in, and why serving him a suspicion notice was only a matter of time, is detailed in Censor.NET’s report.
The origins of this suspicion became public a year ago, precisely when Chernyshov was expected to leave Naftogaz and occupy the seat vacated by Oleksandr Kubrakov.
One condition for Chernyshov’s comeback then was the post of Deputy Prime Minister (before the full-scale invasion his ambitions even reached the premiership). This was attributed both to his good relations with Tymur Mindich, in whose apartment President Zelenskyy once lived, and to the friendly ties between Chernyshov’s wife and the First Lady.
A vote was almost imminent. Yet on 3 June 2024, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau searched the home of Naftogaz board member Vasyl Volodin and the office of Maksym Horbatiuk, Commercial Director of Ukrgazvydobuvannia, in a criminal case concerning alleged abuse of office and receipt of improper benefit. Volodin had previously served as state secretary of the Ministry of Communities, and his closeness to Chernyshov was underscored by the fact that he brought him to Naftogaz.
Detectives also searched the premises of Yuliia Marchuk and Hanna Drebotii, who are likewise linked to Chernyshov.
Case files indicate that a group within the ministry authorised the state-owned enterprise Ukrkomunobsluguvannia to enter into contracts with CityGazService LLC.
In 2022 Chernyshov’s subordinates issued permits, documents that should have been signed by the minister himself, allowing the company to acquire the entire property complex of the State Agency "Kvity Ukrainy."
As a result, the Ministry of Infrastructure lost control over a land parcel near the Syrets Dendropark and the Rohoziv Ravine. Later, in pursuit of several additional plots, the head of CityGazService allegedly offered a bribe to Oleksandr Kubrakov.
Among other things, last year’s ruling contained the following passage:
"The prosecutor noted that, under the Regulations on the Ministry for Regional Development approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 197 of 30 April 2014 (as amended by No. 850 of 25 September 2019), the working group was not vested with the authority to adopt such decisions; instead, those powers (functions concerning the management of state-owned assets) are vested exclusively in the Minister of Regional Development. She further stressed that the working group’s members gave the state enterprise Ukrkomunobsluguvannia consent to conclude a material commercial obligation with CityGazService LLC within an exceedingly tight timeframe, signalling haste uncharacteristic of these legal relations," the ruling states.
In June 2024, Chernyshov’s appointment still did not take place, largely due to the NABU searches of his associates. A month later, Mykhailo Tkach aired a report claiming that searches of Chernyshov were supposed to happen but, for some reason, did not. Citing four sources, the journalist alleged that the searches were cancelled following a visit by the head of Naftogaz to NABU Director Semen Kryvonos.
The information revealed by the journalist cast a dark shadow over the NABU director, who repeatedly had to publicly deny that Chernyshov’s visit had any influence on the investigation.
Chernyshov was eventually appointed Deputy Prime Minister and took charge of the Ministry of Unity.
A year later, on 12 and 13 June 2025, NABU detectives, with the prosecutor from SAPO’s consent, notified five individuals of suspicion for attempted abuse of office and receipt and provision of improper benefits on a particularly large scale. Among them were two of Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshov’s associates — Maksym Horbatiuk and Vasyl Volodin (the latter having headed the Kyiv Regional State Administration until 2022).
Also suspected were former state enterprise director Alla Sushon, developer Serhii Kopystyra, and his trusted associate Oleh Tatarenko (the scheme’s organizers).
Notably, on 20 June, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on one of the Kyiv developers — Serhii Kopystyra. The court ordered his detention for 60 days, with the possibility of release on bail set at UAH 100 million.
When determining this measure, Kopystyra was advised to refrain from communicating not only with Horbatiuk, Volodin, Sushon, Kasianenko, Hutsul, but also with Chernyshov. The rest of the case materials indicated that the suspicion against Chernyshov was only a matter of time.
As stated by the prosecutor during the hearing in Volodin’s case, developer Kopystyra devised a scheme for the illegal acquisition of a land plot in Kyiv intended for the construction of a residential complex.
"To this end, he approached senior officials of the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development, who created conditions for transferring the land to a state-owned enterprise under their control. This enterprise then unlawfully concluded investment agreements with the ‘preferred’ construction company.
According to these agreements, the developer was to transfer to the state a portion of the future apartments proportional to the value of the land plot," the prosecutor declared in court.
To implement the plan to obtain the land plot for development, contrary to the established legal procedure, Kopystyra involved, no later than December 2021, Minister for Communities and Territories Development Chernyshov, the ministry’s state secretary Volodin, director of the state enterprise Ukrkomunobsluguvannia Sushon, and the minister’s public adviser Horbatiuk," the prosecutor noted during the hearings on Kopystyra’s preventive measure.
"No later than December 2021, Kopystyra devised the initial criminal plan to obtain documents for the development of the land plot at 43 Tarasivska Street in violation of the established legal procedure, with the aim of subsequently constructing a residential complex on the site. This plan involved the registration of ownership rights for the land plot by the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development and the subsequent conclusion of investment agreements between the Ministry and CityGazService LLC, with the contracts to be signed on behalf of the Ministry by Sushon," the prosecutor added.
"To conceal and hide his involvement in the criminal plan developed by Kopystyra, Chernyshov instructed his trusted associate Horbatiuk to communicate with Kopystyra and Tatarenko. Although Horbatiuk was not an official employee of the Ministry, as Chernyshov’s trusted person, he had access to information and documents concerning the land plot and informed Tatarenko about court proceedings related to the land," she stated during the court session.
According to the court hearing, Tatarenko instructed Horbatiuk on which documents to send them and what power of attorney to grant Sushon for representation in court.
The conspiratorial communication took place via WhatsApp and Signal.
"In turn, Horbatiuk notified Chernyshov of this fact, who on 1 February 2022 issued a power of attorney of identical content from the Ministry to Sushon. An extract from the power of attorney register is contained in volume 102, page 62," the prosecutor reported
"On February 1, 2022, Tatarenko informed Sushon about the existence of the power of attorney signed by Chernyshov. This correspondence is contained in volume 5, page 152. On February 4, 2022, Tatarenko sent Horbatiuk a template of the state registration applicant’s statement regarding the state registration of the land plot," the SAPO representative continued reading the case materials.
By February 8, 2022, the land plot was registered to the Ministry of Regional Development according to Kopystyra’s plan.
"On February 8, 2022, Kopystyra, Horbatiuk, and Chernyshov met at the Ministry of Regional Development premises at 9 Velyka Zhytomyrska Street, Kyiv, to discuss further implementation of the criminal plan to obtain permits for development… The correspondence regarding this matter is contained in the Medvediev chat, which included Medvedieva herself; the chat is called ‘Patronat’ and is located in volume 5, page 9. It discusses arranging a meeting between Chernyshov, Horbatiuk, and Kopystyra," the prosecutor noted.
On April 25, 2022, Horbatiuk was appointed as a public adviser to Minister Chernyshov. He held this position until July 2, 2022.
Thus, the scheme was being executed while the country was bleeding from war and losing territory.
In July, the parties proceeded with implementing the plan to transfer the land plot to the balance sheet of one of the communal enterprises. After placing the plot on the communal enterprise’s balance, it was necessary to conduct an inventory of all real estate, issue technical passports, obtain appendices from the State Property Fund regarding assets based on the inventory results, and subsequently accept the assets on the balance with a decision "on further use by the management body."
On July 8, 2022, after Kopystyra approved the plan, Tatarenko conveyed it through Horbatiuk to Chernyshov, Volodin, and Sushon.
"On July 15, 2022, in execution of the pre-agreed part of the plan, the Minister for Communities and Territories Development, Chernyshov, issued Order No. 126, whereby the state enterprise Ukrkomunobsluguvannia was designated as the balance holder responsible for the state property," the prosecution representative stated.
On August 16, Minister Chernyshov issued another order concerning the transfer of property. Horbatiuk forwarded all these orders to Tatarenko.
On September 20, 2022, Kopystyra and Tatarenko met with Volodin at the Ministry for Regional Development, where they once again coordinated their plans. Nine days later, investment agreements with CityGazService LLC were signed for the land plots.
Following this, the land plots were appraised, with their value understated by more than one billion hryvnias.
Chernyshov signed the final documents related to this scheme after his resignation as minister, on November 3, 2022.
According to the prosecutor, under the arrangements, all the case’s participants received discounts on apartments in the future residential complex. Among those named by Chernyshov were Drebotii, Marchuk, and Melashko, who were subject to searches last year. The processing was assisted by the minister’s patronage service representative, Medvedieva.
This is proven both by correspondence and covert investigative actions. Chernyshov’s associates received apartments at the price of one thousand hryvnias per square meter.
For example, an apartment at 148 Zabolotnoho Street cost Chernyshov’s ally Marchuk only UAH 400,000, while its market value was UAH 1.7 million. And this was not her only apartment.
Drebotii paid only UAH 60,000 for her 60 sq. m. apartment, despite its market value being UAH 1.8 million. She acquired another apartment for UAH 40,000, with the property valued at UAH 1.1 million. Additionally, Drebotii was registered for a 90-square-meter apartment for UAH 90,000, which was actually worth UAH 2.5 million. The total discount received by Drebotii exceeded UAH 5 million.
Kopystyra also transferred four apartments at low prices to Mr. Malashko, whose documents were likewise handled by Chernyshov’s patronage service head, Medvedeva. The total discount value under these deals amounted to UAH 6 million.
The investigation assessed the sale of these apartments as "providing improper benefits to Chernyshov" totaling over UAH 14 million. In addition, the investigation considers a gift of a book by Hryhorii Skovoroda, estimated at approximately USD 1,000, as an improper benefit. The book was seized on May 14, 2025, from Chernyshov’s personal library during a search.
On June 23, 2025, NABU served a notice of suspicion to Chernyshov. Without detaining him. The sanctions the prosecutors will request in court remain unknown for now. What will be especially interesting is to hear how the minister will justify his actions during the trial.
Tetiana Nikolaienko, Censor. NET
