Case description
Oleksandr Kheilo, former Deputy Minister of Energy, is suspected of promising to transfer equipment from mines in the Donetsk region to mining enterprises in the western region in exchange for a bribe.
Prior to his appointment to the ministry, Kheilo headed the state-owned enterprise Ukrvuhillia. From 2013 to 2022, he held managerial positions at the Krasnolymanska mine, PJSC Energoinvest Holding, and PJSC Centrenergo.
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According to the investigation, Kheilo, acting in collusion with private energy trader Serhii Pylypchuk, ex-director of Selydivvuhillia Serhii Kobyliatskyi, and head of Mykolaiv Electric Supply Company Yevhenii Lut, offered the head of another coal enterprise in the western region a bribe of USD 500,000.
The state-owned enterprise Volynvuhillia approached the Ministry of Energy with an initiative to temporarily receive coal mining equipment from state-owned mines located in eastern Ukraine. The aim was to preserve the equipment and boost coal production at mines in the western region. Between March and July 2024, negotiations took place between an advisor to the General Director of Volynvuhillia and Deputy Minister of Energy Oleksandr Kheilo, Acting CEO of Selydovvuhillia State Enterprise Dmytro Kobyliatskyi, and Kheilo’s trusted associate, Pylypchuk.
The investigation revealed that Kheilo conspired with Kobyliatskyi and Pylypchuk and, through the latter, demanded a bribe in exchange for the transfer of the equipment. Under the terms of the agreement, the amount was to be transferred in five tranches of USD 100,000 at each meeting. In return, coal mines in western Ukraine were to receive valuable state-owned equipment worth over UAH 150 million from a coal enterprise in Donetsk region that was subject to evacuation to the Lviv-Volyn coal basin. The money was handed over via trusted intermediaries in restaurants and parking lots.
Kheilo and his three accomplices were detained immediately after receiving the third tranche. The actions of the defendants were qualified under Article 368(4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Serhii Kobyliatskyi entered into a plea agreement with a SAPO prosecutor. The HACC found him guilty, and the case materials concerning him were separated into a distinct proceeding. Yevhenii Lut also agreed to cooperate with the investigation.
In addition, in August 2024, Oleksandr Kheil was dismissed from the post of Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine.
Interestingly, the wife of a suspect in the case, retired judge Yana Kheilo, who resigned from her position at the Donetsk Court of Appeal in August 2023, declared a total annual income of UAH 2.9 million. She is currently suing the Main Department of the Pension Fund in Kyiv, seeking a recalculation of her lifetime judicial pension.
