Case description
The HACC found owner of Ecosolar Invest LLC, Eurosolar LLC, and West Prite LLC Oleksandr Labenskyi, as well as former First Deputy Director of the state-owned enterprise National Cinematheque of Ukraine Hennadii Stanilevych, guilty of the unlawful acquisition of property belonging to the NCU.
According to the investigation, between 2016 and 2019, they organized a criminal scheme under the guise of rehabilitating the financially distressed NCU with the aim of acquiring its assets at an artificially low value. Officials from the Ministry of Culture and the NCU were involved in implementing this plan.
They approved an unlawful rehabilitation plan and ensured that a preselected company won the auction, acquiring the buildings at a significantly understated price. The case concerns 14 buildings and structures on the outskirts of Kyiv, valued at approximately UAH 42 million.
Labenskyi acted as one of the organizers of the crime. Together with another organizer, Babych, he coordinated the actions of all those involved in implementing the plan, engaged controlled persons in the rehabilitation procedure of the NCU and in adopting the necessary decisions, and created artificial grounds for the sale of most of the enterprise’s real estate while increasing its liabilities toward controlled creditors. In addition, they held a controlled auction for the sale of assets, ensuring in advance the victory of the desired buyer, recruited a nominal second participant, and excluded independent bidders from the process. Finally, they financed the implementation of the entire criminal scheme.
Stanilevych, acting as a perpetrator, ensured the involvement of controlled persons in the bankruptcy proceedings of the NCU, created artificial indebtedness of the enterprise to them and other creditors, arranged the postponement of court proceedings and the blocking of a rehabilitation plan that prevented the alienation of state property, initiated the justification of repair needs to increase indebtedness, participated in rehabilitation plans with conditions for alienation of property, and unlawfully diverted funds, depriving the enterprise of the ability to repay debts.
The HACC approved plea agreements with Labenskyi and Stanilevych. Labenskyi was charged under Article 364(2), Article 365-2(3), and Article 366(1) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine; Stanilevych was charged under Article 364(2). Stanilevych was sentenced to four years of suspended imprisonment with a three-year probation period, and Labenskyi to five years of suspended imprisonment with the same probation period. Both were prohibited from holding positions involving organizational, managerial, or administrative functions for a period of three years and were fined UAH 17,000 each. The verdict itself remains classified.
According to the agreement, funds in the amount of UAH 40.26 million from the defendants will be transferred to the United24 Fund for a joint project of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Service of Special Communications, and the Ministry of Digital Transformation — Army of Drones. In addition, the convicted persons undertook to provide incriminating testimony against all those involved in the crime.
A total of eight individuals are involved in this case, including former Deputy Minister of Culture Tamara Mazar and former Ministry of Culture officials Yakubivskyi and Babych. HACC has already convicted several individuals: organizer Labenskyi, perpetrators Stanilevych and Banduryst, and accomplices Radko and Shulhan.
