The NABU and the SAPO have sent to court an indictment against the organizers of the Ukrzaliznytsia “back office,” among them Artem Shylo, former adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine and former first deputy head of a department at the Security Service of Ukraine. The defendants are charged with misappropriating the company's funds during the procurement of cables and transformers and laundering the proceeds.

The first and second episodes — the cable and transformer procurements — are already before the HACC.

First episode. This one involves MP Viktor Bondar. Investigators believe that, together with businessman Ihor Butanov and with the help of UZ officials, he set up a scheme in 2021–2022 to procure cable and wiring products at inflated prices. Using the so-called UZ “back office,” companies under their control won tenders and supplied goods at inflated prices. Losses in this episode exceeded UAH 140 million. The case is at the preparatory-proceedings stage.

Second episode. In 2022, investigators say, the “back office” participants arranged the procurement of transformers for UZ at a price artificially inflated by nearly double. Competitors offering better terms were pushed out. Between 2022 and 2024 the scheme cost the company nearly UAH 100 million. This case is at the trial stage.

Third episode. According to investigators, between 2021 and 2023 the organizers of the UZ “back office” laundered money from corrupt sources. In particular, they allegedly laundered UAH 12 million from the scheme run during the procurement of cable and wiring products for the company. NABU further alleges that “back office” organizer Artem Shylo spent more than UAH 173 million in criminally obtained proceeds on luxury real estate — a penthouse, apartments, houses, and commercial property — registered in the names of people under his control.