On May 9, 2025, the HACC approved a plea agreement between a SAPO prosecutor and Yevhenii Lut, former head of the Mykolaiv Electricity Supply Company, in the case involving former Deputy Energy Minister Oleksandr Kheilo. Lut admitted to transporting illegal benefits twice using his car.
Yevhenii Lut was found guilty under Article 209, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The court sentenced him to five years in prison and barred him from holding certain positions for one year. However, he was released from serving his sentence and given a one-year probationary period.
According to the prosecutor, the SAPO took into account that the plea agreement was initiated by Lut himself, who actively cooperated with the investigation, expressed sincere remorse, and assisted the NABU in gathering evidence for a civil claim to recognize the assets as unjustified.
He pleaded guilty and provided explanations about the circumstances of the case. According to him, on August 3, 2024, Andrii Venhryn, an adviser to the head of Volynvuhillia, called and informed him of the need for a meeting. During that meeting, the director of the Nadiia mine, Pavlo Tanchev, handed him a bag containing $100,000 without explaining its purpose and asked him to transfer it to Kheilo’s confidant — Pylypchuk. Anticipating possible detention, Lut prepared a written explanation by drafting a receipt that stated he had borrowed the money from a friend. As agreed, Lut then handed the funds over to Pylypchuk.
On August 10, a similar situation occurred. Lut noted that he understood the money had been obtained illegally and that he was being used as an intermediary.
According to the plea agreement, Lut also pledged to transfer UAH 9.7 million to the Come Back Alive Foundation to support military aviation for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as USD 150,000, which will be distributed between the Main Directorate of Intelligence and the 3rd Assault Brigade. (This money was found during a search of his car.) A portion of the bail—UAH 1.5 million out of UAH 7 million—will also be allocated to support the 3rd Assault Brigade. In addition, Lut agreed to testify and cooperate in exposing other individuals involved in separate criminal proceedings.
It is also known that on May 5, 2025, the HACC approved the plea agreement and found Serhii Kobyliatskyi, former general director of the state enterprise Selydvuhillia, guilty in this case. However, the verdict itself remains classified.
According to investigators, former Deputy Minister of Energy Oleksandr Kheilo, in collusion with private energy trader Serhii Pylypchuk, Serhii Kobyliatskyi, and Yevhenii Lut, offered the head of another coal enterprise in western Ukraine a $500,000 bribe. In return, coal mines in the western region were to receive unique equipment relocated from mines in frontline areas of the Donetsk region. The cases against Pylypchuk and Kheilo will be heard separately.