On October 15, the prosecutor concluded his closing argument in the case of MP Serhii Kuzminykh. The prosecution asks the court to find him guilty of trading in influence under Article 369-2(2) of the Criminal Code, sentence him to five years’ imprisonment, and change his preventive measure to detention until the verdict takes legal effect. The prosecutor also asks that the physical evidence, UAH 558,000, be turned over to the state.

According to the prosecution, Serhii Kuzminykh proposed to a NABU undercover agent (cover name Bondarenko) that she provide an unlawful benefit of 30% of the value of medical equipment purchased for the Pavlusenko Hospital No. 2 municipal enterprise. The MP promised to secure wins in the tenders through his influence over the hospital’s head and its medical director, Viktor Pomerlian, who chaired the tender committee at the time. SAPO maintains that Kuzminykh carried the offense through to completion: the MP received the agreed UAH 558,000.

In support of Kuzminykh’s guilt, the prosecutor cited evidence examined in court, including records of covert investigative actions. These describe a November 2021 meeting at which the MP asked for the money by showing a figure on his phone screen. According to the investigation, Kuzminykh knew how the tender was progressing and how it turned out, since law enforcement recorded him telling Bondarenko, “You won.” While discussing the size of the kickback, the MP remarked that 30% was the usual rate, though other counterparties had tried to offer him 40%, the prosecutor asserted.

As the prosecutor argued, the MP controlled the process at every stage, from the tender announcement to the final payments. In particular, he kept in regular contact with the hospital’s medical director, Viktor Pomerlian: when Pomerlian reported plans to procure an MRI system, Kuzminykh said he would come in person to discuss everything. Law enforcement later found letters on the witness’s laptop asking for help securing funding.

According to the investigation, Kuzminykh used his status as an MP to influence Health Minister Viktor Liashko. He asked the minister to include the MRI procurement in the relevant government resolution. When a delay in budget funding emerged in late 2021, threatening to derail the deal, Kuzminykh assured the agent that he would get the contracts extended and that payment would come in January–February of the following year.

The defense asked the court for more time to prepare its argument. The panel of judges adjourned, and Kuzminykh’s lawyers and the defendant himself will present their closing arguments on November 3.

The statute of limitations for holding the MP criminally liable expires in January 2027, after which Kuzminykh will have legal grounds to request that the case be closed without a verdict.