Case description
The SAPO accuses Volodymyr Ivasyk of fraud and incitement to offer a bribe.
Volodymyr Ivasyk is an acquaintance of MP Anatolii Hunko. According to the prosecution, Ivasyk, Hunko, and Ihor Kalinichenko (a lawyer and Hunko’s voluntary assistant) conspired to misappropriate an entrepreneur’s funds.
As previously reported, the HACC found Hunko guilty of incitement to offer a bribe and fraud. The investigation established that in 2023, Ivasyk arranged a meeting between the entrepreneur and Hunko. The entrepreneur was offered the opportunity to lease 1,700 hectares of land belonging to a state enterprise under the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine in exchange for a total payment of USD 221,000. Of this amount, USD 85,000 was to be paid upfront before the land cultivation began. This payment was presented as a bribe, which Hunko allegedly claimed would be shared among himself, the NAAS President, National Police officials, and the Head of Rivne Regional Military Administration, to ensure the entrepreneur’s business would not face obstacles. Ivasyk, leveraging his acquaintances, convinced the entrepreneur of his own “connections” as well as those allegedly held by Hunko with the mentioned officials. In reality, Hunko had no intention of influencing anyone and merely sought to deceive the entrepreneur and take his money.
Ivasyk’s actions are qualified under Articles 27(4), 15(2), 369(3), 15(2), and 190(5) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The case against Ivasyk is being heard in absentia by HACC since he has been placed on an international wanted list. The prosecution established that on August 7, 2023, the day before the bribe was to be delivered, Ivasyk entered Ukraine from abroad and traveled from Zakarpattia region to Kyiv. However, he later allegedly fled the country, possibly to the Netherlands.
