Oleksiy Chernyshov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and minister of unity, has been hit with a suspicion notice on Monday for fraud and potentially costing billions of hryvnias – tens of millions of dollars – of state losses.
Thus, Chernyshov became the highest-ranking official in Ukraine to become a suspect in a corruption case.
The probe was initiated by Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
The peculiar circumstances around the case have also generated memes in Ukrainian social networks – for example, Chernyshov did not return from a business trip abroad for a long time; even at a forum he organized, he spoke remotely.
A number of media outlets suspected that he was not returning due to the impending suspicion. Finally, President Volodymyr Zelensky had to comment on the case personally – he said that Chernyshov’s business trip was coming to an end, and that he should return.
Immediately upon his return, the suspicion was handed over. But why?
Who is Chernyshov? Why the Ministry of Unity?
Chernyshov, 47 years old, is an investment banker who entered the power structure in 2019 under Zelensky, when he headed the Kyiv region.
Then, in 2020, after Denys Shmyhal became the new prime minister, Chernyshov was appointed Minister of Regional Development and Housing.Such a rapid career rise is surprising. After all, the ministry, which previously dealt with regional issues, only gained more weight via Decentralization Reform, which began in 2015.
As minister, Chernyshov oversaw key reforms, including the launch of Ukraine’s new administrative-territorial structure and the construction or renovation of 800 social infrastructure facilities under Zelensky’s “Big Construction” program.
Investigative journalist Yuriy Nikolov, in a YouTube video, said Chernyshov is personally close to Zelensky, noting that First Lady Olena Zelenska is the godmother of Chernyshov’s child.
“Chernyshov is really close to Volodymyr Zelensky. He was the only minister invited to Zelensky’s birthday party during the coronavirus pandemic, along with members of Kvartal 95,” Nikolov said.
In the fall of 2022, Chernyshov became the head of the NJSC Naftogaz group of companies, responsible for the country’s oil and gas production.
As the head of Naftogaz, he was praised for strengthening the trust of international partners and improving company management. However, Kyiv Post’s sources said he was also criticized for his lack of leadership, weak replenishment of liquefied gas reserves, and inadequate equipment procurement.
At the end of 2024, Chernyshov was appointed Minister of National Unity. This small ministry was created to coordinate efforts to return Ukrainians from abroad and establish relations with the diaspora, although it emerged amid controversy as it was essentially formed on the ruins of the abolished Ministry for Temporarily Occupied Territories, which led to the termination of many reintegration programs and drew criticism from internally displaced persons from Russian-occupied regions.
The appointment itself also raised questions, primarily because both the old and new ministries are small, and the importance of their tasks (as well as the size of their budgets and powers) is incomparable to NJSC Naftogaz.
Meanwhile, law enforcement had already started questioning people from Chernyshov’s circle.
“A year ago, NABU searched the homes of Chernyshov’s close associates, Volodin and Horbatiuk. These searches postponed his return to the Cabinet of Ministers by six months. Lawmakers then frankly said: Why appoint another minister under suspicion – referring to former Agriculture Minister Solsky,” Tetiana Nikolayenko, a member of the Ministry of Defense’s anti-corruption council, wrote on Facebook.
Kyiv Post previously addressed the Solsky case in detail.
And it became clear to lawmakers and officials that following the thread of Chernyshov’s entourage would lead the anti-corruption authorities to the minister himself.
What are the charges?
The NABU Case No. 52024000000000088, dated Feb. 22, 2024, concerns Chernyshov’s tenure as Minister of Regional Development at the start of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion.
“One of the capital’s developers developed a scheme to illegally obtain a land plot in Kyiv for the construction of a residential complex. To do this, he approached the head of the Ministry of Regional Development, who, together with the State Secretary of the Ministry, the Minister’s adviser, and the director of a state enterprise, created conditions for transferring the land to that state enterprise,” NABU wrote in its official statement.
“They also illegally concluded investment contracts with a ‘friendly’ construction company,” the statement adds.
NABU said that under the scheme, the developer was required to give the state a share of future apartments based on the land’s value. However, the land and existing buildings were deliberately undervalued by nearly five times below market rates, resulting in a potential loss of over Hr.1 billion ($25 million) in real estate value had the contracts gone through.
Law enforcement agencies added that the minister also received a significant discount on apartments in the residential complex.
“For successfully implementing the deal, the developer ‘rewarded’ the minister and certain persons with large discounts on apartments in already built residential complexes. With the discount, the cost per square meter ranged from Hr.1,000 to 8,000 ($20 to $200), while the market price of such apartments was around Hr.30,000 per square meter ($750). Thus, the minister received an illegal benefit in the form of a discount totaling over Hr.14.5 million ($350,000),” NABU wrote.
In fact, the ministry transferred 11.5 hectares of land to one of the construction companies on Tyraspilska Street in Kyiv – a fairly popular area for economy and business-class development. Kyiv Post sources among detectives say the minister may have received a reward from the developer in the form of seven apartments, registered under trusted associates.
Several media reported that Chernyshov’s successor, Oleksandr Kubrakov, began the process of reversing the land deal, terminating contracts signed during Chernyshov’s time. The developer reportedly tried to offer a bribe – 2% of the future residential complex’s area, or several thousand square meters, to stop this.
Eventually, this came to the attention of law enforcement officers and NABU (Kyiv Post sources among the authorities said thanks to Kubrakov). Thus, the case eventually reached Chernyshov.
According to investigative journalist Mykhailo Tkach, who was the first to raise the issue of Chernyshov’s suspiciously long absence, suspicions had been prepared the previous week.
“The top official pretended until the last moment that these were just ‘rumors’ and a ‘smear campaign.’ What happened when we started working on this, we’ll tell later. Thank you to NABU and SAPO for withstanding the pressure. And I congratulate everyone – from detectives and prosecutors to managers with the exposure of the highest official since the founding of these institutions,” Tkach said.
Chernyshov himself, after receiving the suspicion, wrote on Facebook that he had a “constructive” conversation with NABU detectives.
“I had a constructive dialogue with NABU detectives, which lasted more than two hours. I am grateful for the correct and respectful attitude. I assured them that this approach is mutual and confirmed my readiness for full cooperation in the legal process. I am reviewing all the documents provided,” Chernyshov wrote.
Reactions to the case
Opposition lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak wrote on Facebook that there was no option other than forcing Chernyshov to return to Ukraine.
“It is right that at least this way they got out of the situation. Otherwise, it would have hit very hard not only the reputation of the authorities but also the country. Why this circus from the President’s Office happened is unclear,” Zheleznyak wrote.
What’s next?
According to sources interviewed by Kyiv Post, the fact that NABU and SAPO, despite pressure, still moved to issue a suspicion notice to Chernyshov shows that the case is unlikely to be closed quickly.However, Chernyshov himself remains confident and promises to “analyze the discrediting campaign” by the media.
“I return to work in the Cabinet of Ministers: We will implement the agreements in practice. In particular, we will work to preserve the existing support for our citizens in EU member states as much as possible. We will analyze the discrediting campaign based on the facts,” Chernyshov writes.