The NABU and SAPO are charging the CEO of Pavlohrad Chemical Plant, Leonid Shyman, and marketing director Iryna Kapusta with abuse of office during the procurement of tubes for the enterprise's needs, which PCP managers officially justified by the supposed need to improve the characteristics of the Vilkha missile system.
Pavlohrad Chemical Plant is a state-owned enterprise in Ukraine's chemical industry that produces explosives as well as industrial and household products for civilian use. Leonid Shyman has served as general director and chief designer of solid-fuel rocket engines at the state enterprise since 1999. In March 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers appointed Shyman as General Designer for the development of munitions and explosives. In early June 2025, it became known that the enterprise had a new head, with Dmytro Vashnevskyi becoming acting CEO.
According to investigators, in 2016 the CEO of Pavlohrad Chemical Plant, Leonid Shyman, decided to procure seamless steel tubes for the plant at inflated prices, enlisting his subordinate, marketing director Iryna Kapusta, as well as his personal banker — a Russian citizen residing in Switzerland. It was the banker who sourced the American intermediary firm Petroleum & Materials LLC, owned by an American acquaintance of hers. To guarantee that this company would win the tender, members of the group forged documents in the name of other foreign firms, creating the appearance of fair competition.
Once the sham tender had been held, Leonid Shyman personally signed the contract and ordered a 100% prepayment of $918,000 to be transferred to the American side. However, the plant never received any tubes. The owner of the American company simply appropriated the money, spending it on real estate and a lavish lifestyle for his family.
To conceal the crime from law enforcement, Shyman's accomplices began fabricating letters justifying the absence of the goods by allegedly complex technological processes. Moreover, from 2018 to 2022 the plant simulated a legal battle with the Americans, spending the enterprise's budget funds on it. Ultimately, these actions by Leonid Shyman caused the state to lose more than UAH 28.4 million.
Shyman's actions were classified under Article 28(2) and Article 364(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
In this proceeding, the NABU received international legal assistance from the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Marshall Islands. Based on the international legal assistance materials, it was established that Shyman's banker resides in the Swiss Confederation and worked as a relationship manager at Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG and subsequently at J. Safra Sarasin AG. During 2014–2015, she serviced the bank accounts of Shyman's wife, and the companies belonging to her, including Loreal Impex LTD (Marshall Islands), and provided methodological assistance in registering the company News Foundation in the Principality of Liechtenstein. These accounts hold large sums of money.
This is not the first case against Leonid Shyman. He is also a suspect in a case concerning the supply of UAH 3.3 billion worth of defective mortar mines to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a case concerning the embezzlement of UAH 102.4 million during the procurement of explosive reactive armor for AFU armored vehicles, and a case concerning the procurement of measuring instruments for the plant at inflated prices.
In addition, Shyman and PCP commercial director Valerii Kyrylov are accused in a case involving more than UAH 43.3 million in losses inflicted on PCP through the sale of industrial explosives under a similar scheme. In a separate case, Valerii Kyrylov received a sentence of four years' imprisonment for involving intermediary companies in the sale of explosives produced by the plant.
