Case description
The HACC has found Volodymyr Saienko, Deputy Chair of the Federation of Trade Unions, and his associate Arkadii Krynytskyi guilty of attempting to bribe judges of the Kyiv Appellate Court in order to secure Saienko’s release from pre-trial detention.
At the end of 2022, law enforcement detained Saienko on suspicion of involvement in the illegal disposal of property worth over UAH 138 million. According to investigators, in 2019 Saienko, together with other officials, approved the transfer of a state-owned balneological sanatorium building in Kyiv into private ownership — despite the fact that the facility was not subject to privatization. Moreover, the property was sold at a significantly undervalued price. Saienko was placed in pre-trial detention with the alternative of posting UAH 124 million in bail.
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According to the prosecution, Krynytskyi and Kaptenko attempted to assist Saienko by trying to have his pre-trial detention measure replaced with nighttime house arrest with an electronic bracelet. Saienko allegedly instructed them to find someone with personal connections who could negotiate a favorable decision with Kyiv Appellate Court judges in exchange for a bribe.
The accomplices eventually found a man who agreed under the condition that he would sign a legal services agreement with Saienko, setting a fee of $20,000. In addition, he assessed that the bribe for the judges would exceed $75,000 and said he would begin negotiations only once the required amount was secured.
Ultimately, the plan was to hand over $150,000, purportedly to be passed on to the judges. One of the accomplices, acting on Saienko’s instructions, arrived at a pre-arranged location and received a package containing the $150,000. After receiving the money, the intermediary took a photo of the cash-filled package and sent it to another participant to confirm the “task” had been completed. About an hour later, he got into his Toyota with the package and headed toward the town of Berezan, where he intended to store the funds until their further transfer.
However, while driving along Dniprovska Embankment in Kyiv, law enforcement stopped the vehicle. The entire operation was documented, and the bribe was seized. As a result, the plan was thwarted at the preparation stage.
Volodymyr Saienko did not admit guilt. He claimed he never intended to negotiate bribes with judges, never issued any unlawful instructions, and considered the case politically motivated, aimed at removing him from his position in the Federation of Trade Unions. The other defendants also denied the charges. One stated he had not communicated with Saienko since late 2022 and had only helped find a lawyer for Saienko’s wife. He added that investigators pressured him to confess and testify against others. The third defendant claimed his only role was to give Saienko’s wife a lawyer’s phone number and that he had not been involved in any further events or criminal activity. Defense lawyers argued that the prosecution had not proven the defendants’ guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt." They emphasized that merely mentioning someone’s name in a conversation, without evidence of action, could not be considered proof. Therefore, they asked the court to acquit all the accused.
The HACC found Saienko and one of his associates guilty under Article 369(3) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and sentenced each to four years in prison with confiscation of property. The court also ordered special confiscation of the $150,000. The third defendant was acquitted after the court found that his guilt had not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
