On 11 July, the HACC delivered a verdict based on a plea agreement with businessman Oleksii Bilenkyi — a participant in a scheme involving the supply of overpriced metal fasteners to Ukrzaliznytsia, which caused UAH 41.4 million in damages.
Bilenkyi was the last defendant to be sentenced in this case. In August 2016, he left Ukraine with his wife and had not returned since, nor had he appeared at court hearings. However, he finally joined the hearing on his plea agreement via video conference.
Under the terms of the agreement, the court sentenced him to a suspended five-year prison term with a two-year probation period, imposed a fine of UAH 17,000, and barred him from holding managerial positions in private enterprises, institutions, or organizations for three years. In addition, under the conditions announced by the prosecutor, Bilenkyi undertook to donate UAH 8 million to the Armed Forces of Ukraine within six months.
Bilenkyi was found guilty of aiding and abetting under three articles: abuse of office (Article 27(5), Article 28(2), Article 364(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), official forgery (Article 27(5), Article 28(2), Article 366(1)), and legalization (laundering) of criminally obtained assets (Article 27(5), Article 209(3)).
Importantly, before the plea agreement, the prosecutor reclassified the main charge against Bilenkyi to a lesser one: from misappropriation of property (Article 191(5) of the Criminal Code), punishable by up to 12 years in prison, to abuse of office (Article 364(2)), which carries a maximum sentence of six years. For the money laundering offense (Article 209(3)), the parties agreed on a sentence below the minimum threshold: instead of the statutory range of 8 to 12 years, Bilenkyi received a four-year sentence.
The court also annulled four rulings of the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv that had authorized the seizure of assets belonging to Bilenkyi and his wife, both in Ukraine and in Bulgaria.
All other defendants in this case had previously entered into plea agreements, and each has fully reimbursed the damages.