The HACC approved plea agreements with Volodymyr Oleniuk, director of the Baika farm, and Yurii Ivasiuk, head of Livestock Paryshche A LLC. They were found guilty of fraud and of incitement to give a bribe.

In 2023, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was running a charitable initiative in Ukraine to support farmers in the difficult conditions of the war. The program provided for the free transfer to farmers of specialized equipment for loading and unloading grain bags, allowing them to store their harvest directly in the fields if grain elevators were damaged.

According to the investigation, between January and May 2023 two residents of Ivano-Frankivsk Region, Volodymyr Oleniuk and Yurii Ivasiuk, acting by prior conspiracy, devised a scheme to misappropriate funds from Agrokrai LLC. Passing themselves off as official FAO representatives, they approached an employee of the agricultural firm with an offer of "assistance" in obtaining grain storage bags as part of the humanitarian aid.

To do so, the defendants said, a total of UAH 560,000 in unlawful benefit had to be paid to the FAO leadership. To lend the scheme greater weight, the perpetrators invoked purported arrangements with a senior official who had previously headed the State Agricultural Inspectorate of Ukraine and now worked at the FAO as head of the project supplying equipment to agricultural enterprises.

In reality, the men had no intention of passing the money to anyone and planned to appropriate it. The money was handed over in several portions. The defendants first received UAH 40,000, then a further UAH 15,000. They were detained by law enforcement on May 23, 2023, while receiving the main sum of UAH 505,000.

The defendants' actions were classified under Article 27(4) in conjunction with Article 369(3), and Article 190(3) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The prosecution insisted that their conduct amounted to a cynical manipulation of international aid. Volodymyr Oleniuk and Yurii Ivasiuk not only sought to enrich themselves at the expense of UN humanitarian aid in wartime, but also put Ukraine's reputation with foreign donors at risk.

In November 2025, the HACC delivered a verdict approving the plea agreements and imposing on both defendants the agreed sentence of five years' imprisonment.

The defendants fully and unreservedly admitted their guilt in the offenses charged. They entered plea agreements with a SAPO prosecutor, under which they undertook to cooperate with the investigation and to repay the UAH 55,000 they had appropriated; Oleniuk was also to hand over two of his own vehicles — a Mitsubishi Pajero and a Skoda — for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

On the basis of Article 75 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the court released them from serving their sentences on probation, setting a probationary period of two years for Ivasiuk and three years for Oleniuk. During this period they are required to report periodically to the authorized probation body for registration; to notify that body of any change of residence, employment, or place of study; and not to leave Ukraine without the body's approval.

In determining the sentence, the court also took into account mitigating circumstances — the defendants' sincere remorse, their active assistance in solving the offense, and positive character references. Yurii Ivasiuk is a serviceman who was wounded in combat and holds state awards, including the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, 3rd class. Oleniuk, for his part, is active in volunteer work and provides financial support to the army.

The verdict has entered into force.