On February 25, 2026, the prosecutor announced the withdrawal of public prosecution in the case against Ukrzaliznytsia official Oleh Zolotariov concerning the organization of procurements at inflated prices.
A prosecutor’s withdrawal from public prosecution is a procedural step taken during trial when the prosecutor acknowledges that the charges brought against the person are not supported by the evidence. This results in the closure of the proceedings unless the injured party agrees to continue supporting the prosecution in court.
In September 2024, in this case, the court ordered a comprehensive forensic economic and commodity examination at the prosecutor’s request. The reason was that the expert opinions examined during the trial contradicted each other.
Today, the court continued hearing the case, and following the results of the examination, the prosecutor withdrew public prosecution. He noted that the experts were unable to determine the value of the equipment, which is a mandatory element for assessing the amount of damage under Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The court also asked the representative of the injured party, Ukrzaliznytsia JSC, whether he was prepared to continue the prosecution against Zolotariov. He replied that he could not make such a decision alone, as it requires collective approval by the company’s management board. The court granted time for the board to convene.
The next hearing is scheduled for March 9 at 11:30 a.m.
According to the investigation, in 2017 Ukrzaliznytsia announced a tender to procure power supply units for passenger cars. Oleh Zolotariov, head of the Regional Branch of the South Western Railway, allegedly set a requirement for all potential participants in the tender, according to which UZ had to approve the drawings of suppliers' products, and thus distorted the conditions of competition. The overpriced procurement resulted in losses exceeding UAH 9.6 million. Moreover, the procured equipment was never put into operation, even more than four years after the procurement.
