Ukraine's anti-corruption court approves plea deal with former acting head of Presidential Administration Pashynsky over seized oil products
Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court (ВАКС) approved a plea agreement with former acting head of the Presidential Administration Serhiy Pashynsky, who admitted guilt in a 2014 scheme to appropriate seized oil products linked to fugitive oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko. Under the deal Pashynsky will pay about 1.1 billion hryvnia to the state budget and to charitable funds supplying the Defense Forces, plus fines and a one-year ban on holding office.
Key points
- ВАКС approved a plea agreement with former acting head of the Presidential Administration Serhiy Pashynsky in the case concerning seized oil products.
- Pashynsky fully admitted guilt under Part 2 of Article 364 and Part 1 of Article 255 of Ukraine's Criminal Code and agreed to provide incriminating testimony against other participants.
- Total payment obligation: about 1.1 billion hryvnia — 600 million to the state budget within 2.5 years, 400 million to the 'Come Back Alive' fund, and 100 million to the 'Sternenko Community' fund for arming the Defense Forces.
- Principal punishment: a fine of 850,000 hryvnia plus an additional 17,000-hryvnia fine and a one-year ban on holding positions in state authorities and local self-government.
- If Pashynsky fails to fulfill the conditions, SAP will petition the court to revoke the verdict and retry the case under general procedure.
- The case concerns events of March–June 2014 and the misappropriation of about 97,000 tonnes of oil products seized from structures tied to Serhiy Kurchenko; assessed state damages are reported as either 817 million or 967 million hryvnia.
- Asset confiscation was not applied because the relevant legal amendments were adopted only in June 2020, after the crime; the case has five suspects in total.
Why it matters
The approval of the plea deal signals that Ukraine's anti-corruption institutions are willing to pursue former senior presidential officials in high-profile post-Maidan cases. By directing about 1.1 billion hryvnia to the state budget and to charitable funds supplying the Defense Forces, the outcome channels recovered funds directly toward the war effort. Pashynsky's obligation to testify against other participants keeps the wider 'Kurchenko fuel' case open.
What happened
On 24 September 2026 the High Anti-Corruption Court (ВАКС) approved a plea agreement with former acting head of the Presidential Administration Serhiy Pashynsky. Pashynsky fully admitted guilt under Part 2 of Article 364 (abuse of office) and Part 1 of Article 255 (participation in a criminal organisation) of Ukraine's Criminal Code and agreed to provide incriminating testimony against other participants in the scheme. Under the deal he must pay a total of about 1.1 billion hryvnia: 600 million to the general fund of the state budget within 2.5 years, 400 million to the 'Come Back Alive' (Повернись живим) charitable fund within six months — either in cash for weapons procurement or in weapons from an agreed list — and 100 million to the 'Sternenko Community' (Спільнота Стерненка) fund within 30 days for arming the Defense Forces. The court imposed a principal fine of 850,000 hryvnia, an additional fine of 17,000 hryvnia, and a one-year ban on holding positions in state authorities and local self-government. Asset confiscation was not applied because the relevant amendments to the law were adopted only in June 2020, after the crime. The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) stated that if Pashynsky fails to meet the conditions it will petition the court to revoke the verdict and try the case under general procedure. SAP did not publicly name the defendant; Pashynsky's identity was established from the case materials and media reports. The case concerns events of March–June 2014 involving the misappropriation of about 97,000 tonnes of oil products seized from structures tied to Serhiy Kurchenko; investigators assessed state damages at 967 million hryvnia, while SAP cited a figure exceeding 817 million hryvnia.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All sources in the set are Ukrainian and Ukrainian-language, and they centre the story on domestic anti-corruption institutions — ВАКС, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) and NABU — and on the political figure Serhiy Pashynsky. Headlines stress the payments to the state budget and to the Armed Forces / Defense Forces, framing the outcome as a contribution to the war effort, and several explicitly tie the case to the so-called 'Kurchenko fuel' scheme, locating it in the post-Maidan period and the Yanukovych-era origins of the seized products.
Where reporting differs
Sources cite two different figures for the state losses caused by the scheme: SAP's statement that damages exceeded 817 million hryvnia versus the investigation's broader assessment of 967 million hryvnia. Headlines also describe the agreement's 1.1-billion-hryvnia headline figure differently — some present it as going to the state budget and Defense Forces, others break it down as 600 million to the state budget and separate payments to specific charitable funds.
Background
In 2014 a Ukrainian court seized roughly 97,000 tonnes of oil products that had been imported in violation of the law and were linked to businessman Serhiy Kurchenko, who fled Ukraine after the fall of Viktor Yanukovych. According to investigators, the seized products were transferred to the state enterprise Ukrtransnaftoprodukt, which was then placed under the control of businessman Serhiy Tyshchenko, and allegedly sold onward at understated prices to a group of companies tied to Pashynsky's business partner, with revenue accruing to the scheme's beneficiaries. To create the appearance of supplying the Defense Ministry, the state enterprise made commercial deliveries of which investigators say only 1.6% of 'Kurchenko's fuel' actually reached the MoD, while the rest consisted of fuel the same group of companies had purchased in Russia and Belarus. In 2020 a court ordered special confiscation of the oil products and proceeds in favour of the state, but by that date the products and money had already been appropriated by participants in the scheme. On 12 February 2024 NABU and the SBU searched Pashynsky's premises; on 27 February 2024 he left pre-trial detention after 272.52 million hryvnia in bail was posted. On 5 September 2025 ВАКС approved a plea deal with another participant in the same scheme, who received a suspended sentence and agreed to payments to the state budget and the Defense Forces.