Case description
On January 19, 2024, the HACC found former MP Dmytro Koliesnikov guilty of illegally receiving compensation for renting a house in Kyiv. He was sentenced to a 2-year probation period based on a plea agreement.
Dmytro Koliesnikov is a former Minister of Agrarian Policy, former Head of the Dnipro Regional State Administration, and MP of the Verkhovna Rada of VIII convocation from the Opposition Bloc.
According to the investigation, from December 2014 to October 2018, Koliesnikov illegally received UAH 738,000 from the state budget as compensation for renting a room at the Kyiv Hotel. MPs who do not have their own housing in or near the capital are accommodated there. In fact, Koliesnikov had his own apartment in Kyiv. As the MP himself noted in court, in 2009-2010 he and his wife had two apartments in the capital, but then they separated, and Koliesnikov left the apartments to his wife “like a real man.”
Koliesnikov’s actions were qualified under Article 364(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The HACC initially acquitted the former MP, but in August 2023, the appellate instance overturned the verdict and referred the case for a new trial. Koliesnikov agreed to a plea deal.
The parties agreed on a sentence of 2 years of probation, a ban on holding positions in government agencies for a year, and a UAH 17,000 fine. In addition, Koliesnikov pledged to donate UAH 1 million to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
