On July 7, 2023, the HACC found Valerii Kyrylov, Commercial Director of the Pavlohrad Chemical Plant, guilty of abuse of office for selling explosives through intermediaries. He was sentenced to four years' imprisonment. The HACC Appeals Chamber upheld the verdict.

In 2015, Valerii Kyrylov, Commercial Director of the state enterprise Pavlohrad Chemical Plant (the PCP), abused his office to secure unlawful profit for a private company — Zoria Research and Production Enterprise LLC — at the state's expense.

According to the investigation, the scheme worked as follows:

1. When large combines — notably Kryvyi Rih Iron Ore Plant and Central Mining and Processing Plant — ran supplier selection procedures, Kyrylov deliberately submitted inflated bids on PCP's behalf. The private company Zoria simultaneously offered a lower price, so the state plant would lose the tender and the intermediary would win. 

2. When buyers approached the plant directly to purchase explosives without an intermediary, Kyrylov turned them away, claiming that sales were now handled by intermediary firms. Buyers were thus forced to go to Zoria.

3. Kyrylov signed supplementary agreements granting Zoria the right to pay the state plant on a deferred basis. This allowed the intermediary to first collect funds from the combines and only then pay PCP — effectively using state funds as an interest-free loan.

4. Zoria did no actual work. The explosives were transported in PCP trucks directly to the combines' warehouses. The intermediary existed only on paper — to pocket the price difference.

Because of Valerii Kyrylov's actions, the state plant sold explosives to Zoria at a low price, and Zoria resold them to end customers at a substantially higher one. The state enterprise lost revenue, while Zoria gained an unlawful benefit of over UAH 7 million.
 
Kyrylov's actions were classified under Article 364(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The HACC sentenced the official to four years' imprisonment, a UAH 17,000 fine, and a three-year ban on holding positions at state enterprises. The court also granted the prosecutor's civil claim, recovering UAH 7 million in property damages from Kyrylov in favor of PCP.
 
Kyrylov's defense appealed the verdict. Among other motions, the defense sought to release Kyrylov from criminal liability on grounds that the statute of limitations had expired, but the court rejected the defense's method of calculating the term and held that it had not yet lapsed. The term was due to expire on December 21, 2025, but already on December 17 the HACC Appeals Chamber kept Kyrylov in custody, denying the defense's appeals.
 
The verdict and the HACC Appeals Chamber's ruling are currently being appealed at the Supreme Court. Kyrylov's defense lawyer filed a motion to suspend execution of the sentence, arguing that the convict's advanced age and poor health make it impossible for him to remain isolated from society. However, the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court denied the motion.
 
Valerii Kyrylov is also charged in a separate case involving over UAH 43.3 million in damages to the SE Pavlohrad Chemical Plant. The scheme worked similarly: defendants used shell companies to sell products to customers at a markup of nearly 30%.