On March 30, 2026, the HACC continued the examination of Serhii Labaziuk, who stands accused of attempting to bribe Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration Oleksandr Kubrakov and the Head of the State Agency for Recovery, Mustafa Nayyem.
It should first be noted that, as a defendant, Labaziuk bears no criminal liability for giving knowingly false testimony, and may avail himself of this as a tool to advance his defense position in the case.
The prosecution put its questions to the defendant. During the examination, Serhii Labaziuk stated that it was Oleksandr Kubrakov who had initiated the meeting between Denys Nazimov — Director of URD (Labaziuk's company) — and Mustafa Nayyem. According to Labaziuk, Kubrakov had allegedly wished to discuss the possibility of involving the company in restoration efforts. Labaziuk said he personally coordinated the details of the trip with Nazimov and advised him to present the company's financial and production capabilities.
The meeting did not unfold as planned. According to Labaziuk, Nayyem refused to hear the presentation and immediately turned to the subject of bribes. Speaking in a raised voice, he invoked prior arrangements with Kubrakov regarding “details” — his term for kickbacks — to be paid out of a billion-hryvnia contract. Following this, Labaziuk and Nazimov decided to offer 3–5% of the total sum, explaining that the standard kickback rate of 5–10% was simply beyond what the company could afford.
Labaziuk also explained why he had proposed allowing the officials to place “their own accountant” at the company. This arrangement would have enabled them to take 50% of net profit, which, from a business standpoint, would have been far more manageable than paying a percentage of the entire contract turnover regardless of whether the company actually earned anything.
When the prosecutor asked why neither Labaziuk nor Nazimov had reported the extortion to law enforcement, he cited fear for the business. He argued that refusing to pay would have meant the complete destruction of a company carrying loan and debt obligations and employing over a thousand people. Labaziuk stressed that had he not agreed to the terms, debt repayments owed to his company would simply have been blocked.
Particular attention was paid to a meeting with NABU Director Semen Kryvonos that took place in August or September 2023. The prosecutor asked why, even after a personal conversation with the head of the anti-corruption bureau, Labaziuk had still not reported the crime. His answer was brief: “I did not trust this system.”
In closing, the defendant noted that following the start of the full-scale war, operating conditions in the market had changed fundamentally. His company had begun encountering artificial obstacles and biased treatment from ministries, which he said had left him with no choice but to make difficult decisions in order to keep the business afloat.
At the next hearings, the defendant Labaziuk will respond to questions from his own defense.
