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UMCC case

  • Date of commencement of the case: 30/09/2019
  • Instance: HACC
  • Stage of criminal proceedings: Judicial proceedings
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UMCC case UMCC case

Case description

SAPO charges the former acting chair of the management board of United Mining and Chemical Company JSC (hereinafter — UMCC) Ruslan Zhurylo and his deputy, Yurii Pertsev in the resale of raw materials of the enterprise at low prices. According to investigators, the defendants thus caused more than $13 million in damage to the state.

The detectives focused on the period from December 2014 to April 2016. At that time, Ruslan Zhurylo was effectively in charge of the United Mining and Chemical Company, engaged in the extraction of various raw materials. The company is one of the ten largest titanium and zirconium ore producers in the world. The State Property Fund has been trying to privatize the UMCC for a long time, but so far it has not happened.

The NABU detectives found that the defendants in the case sold raw materials extracted at the UMCC (ilmenite, rutile, zircon, and disten-salimanite concentrates) abroad through controlled intermediary companies at reduced prices. These companies sold them at market price to end users in different regions of the world. Since the intermediaries were residents of Austria and the United Kingdom, the profits from the sale remained abroad.

Yurii Pertsev, Ruslan Zhurylo
Yurii Pertsev, Ruslan Zhurylo

Ruslan Zhurylo's actions are qualified under Article 27(3), and Article 28(2), Article 364(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and the actions of Yurii Pertsev are qualified under Article 27(2), and Article 28(2), Article 364(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Pertsev is now outside of Ukraine, and Zhurylo has been mobilized since 2023. The court proceedings against the latter were suspended until his dismissal from military service due to the impossibility of his participation in court sessions. Ruslan Zhurylo is also the defendant in Energoatom’s €6.4 million embezzlement case.

At the time of the commission of the acts incriminated to the defendants, the UMCC was a state-owned enterprise. In 2021, the auction for the sale of the company was disrupted, and in 2024, the UMCC was privatized.

The UMCC is involved in several other corruption investigations. In particular, in addition to this episode, the NABU reported on investigations into the abuses by Zhurylo and Pertsev in 2016–2017. The possible losses for the UMCC as a result of selling raw materials at reduced prices could have amounted to more than $13 million.

In May 2020, NABU and SAPO prevented the misappropriation of 20,000 tonnes of UMCC raw materials worth UAH 80 million by imposing a seizure on them. Earlier, the company's then-management had informed the NABU that a ship was to be loaded with raw materials at the Odesa port for a foreign company without prior payment. 

UMCC also came under law enforcement scrutiny in the case of former Head of the State Property Fund Dmytro Sennychenko. Detectives discovered that in October 2020, Sennychenko appointed a “controlled” head of UMCC, who then signed contracts to supply titanium-containing raw materials to companies affiliated with Sennychenko’s own advisor. The sale at undervalued prices could have caused over UAH 118 million in losses to the state.

UMCC
UMCC
  • Proceeding No.: 52016000000000005
  • Case No.: 760/18987/18
  • Incriminated: Article 364, part 2
Instance Key parties Instance /Key parties:
HACC
30/09/2019

Panel of judges: Fedorov O.V., Zadorozhna L.I., Shkodin Ya.V.

Infographics

UMCC CASE

​​The management of the UMCC, namely Ruslan Zhurylo and Yurii Pertsev, allegedly withdrew more than USD 12 million abroad by selling the company's raw materials at discounted prices.

Zhurylo: Article 27, Part 3; Article 28, Part 2; Article 364, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Pertsev: Article 27, Part 2; Article 28, Part 2; Article 364, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

  • December 2014–April 2016
    Zhurylo and Pertsev sold UMCC's raw materials to controlled companies at reduced prices
  • pic
    January 25–26, 2017
    the NABU-SAPO served Zhurylo, Pertsev, and another UMCC official with suspicion notices. They were all detained
  • pic
    January 27–28, 2017
    the HACC took all the defendants into custody with an alternative to bail: Zhurylo was granted UAH 100 million bail, and Pertsev—UAH 80 million
  • September 13, 2017
    the NABU sent requests for international legal assistance to Latvia and Austria
  • July 23, 2018
    the NABU-SAPO sent an indictment against Zhurylo and Pertsev to Solomianskyi District Court. Subsequently, the materials were transferred to the newly created High Anti-Corruption Court
  • September 27, 2019
    The HACC received the case materials
  • October 25, 2019
    The HACC held the first hearing in the UMCC case
  • March 11, 2023
    Zhurylo was mobilized
  • September 13, 2023
    The HACC suspended proceedings against Zhurylo until his discharge from military service

Decisions from the Register

Case No. Court Decision date Decision type
760/18987/18 HACC 30/09/2019 On the appointment of a preparatory court hearing
760/18987/18 HACC 25/10/2019
760/18987/18 HACC 25/10/2019
760/18987/18 HACC 08/11/2019 On the appointment of a trial
760/18987/18 HACC 08/11/2019 On the appointment of a trial
760/18987/18 HACC AC 18/11/2019 Opening of appeal proceedings
760/18987/18 HACC AC 28/11/2019 Completion of the preparation and appointment of the appeal hearing
760/18987/18 HACC AC 12/12/2019 Decision on partial granting of appeals
760/18987/18 HACC AC 12/12/2019 Decision on partial granting of appeals
760/18987/18 HACC 25/02/2020
760/18987/18 HACC 25/02/2020
760/18987/18 HACC 11/10/2021 Decision to cancel the seizure of property
760/18987/18 HACC 11/10/2021 Decision to cancel the seizure of property
760/18987/18 HACC 13/10/2021
760/18987/18 HACC 13/10/2021
760/18987/18 HACC 20/10/2021
760/18987/18 HACC 20/10/2021
760/18987/18 HACC 24/03/2022 Decision to change the interim measure, On changing the interim measure for the accused
760/18987/18 HACC 15/04/2022
760/18987/18 HACC 15/04/2022
760/18987/18 HACC 15/04/2022
760/18987/18 HACC 15/04/2022
760/18987/18 HACC 24/05/2022
760/18987/18 HACC 07/06/2022
760/18987/18 HACC 19/07/2022
760/18987/18 HACC 24/05/2023
760/18987/18 HACC 24/05/2023
760/18987/18 HACC AC 02/06/2023 On the refusal to open appeal proceedings
760/18987/18 HACC 13/09/2023 On the suspension of court proceedings
760/18987/18 HACC 13/09/2023 On the suspension of court proceedings
760/18987/18 HACC 29/05/2024
760/18987/18 HACC 29/05/2024