The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR), and the Prosecutor General’s Office have exposed a large-scale corruption scheme involving Volodymyr Sivkovych, the former Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC). According to investigators, the former official and his accomplices illegally misappropriated an unfinished Republican Clinical Hospital complex and over 21 hectares of prime land in Kyiv. The estimated value of the property complex stands at 300 million UAH.
Volodymyr Sivkovych and two of his business partners are currently hiding abroad, and have been formally served charges in absentia.
According to case files, the fraudulent scheme was developed and executed over a 15-year period between 2006 and 2021. The organizers engineered an artificial debt for the state enterprise acting as the hospital’s construction customer. The group intended to leverage these debts to seize the entire property complex through bankruptcy proceedings.
To execute the plan, Sivkovych enlisted state enterprise officials and a private contracting firm under his control. The firm signed a 30 million UAH contract to adjust the design and complete construction of the medical complex. However, the contractor intentionally failed to meet its obligations, driving the state developer deep into debt with creditors.
«The perpetrators sold the corporate rights of their design organization, along with the right to claim the artificial debt, to an affiliated well-known developer. Subsequently, the hospital’s property complex was misappropriated in exchange for clearing this debt amount,» law enforcement officials stated.
Law enforcement agencies conducted a series of searches at the residences and workplaces of those involved. In addition to the three key organizers currently located abroad, a formal notice of suspicion was served to their accomplice—a corporate lawyer for the private company who legally facilitated the illicit transaction.
The suspects’ actions have been classified under three separate articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
Part 4, Art. 190 — Large-scale fraud committed by an organized group;
Part 3, Art. 209 — Money laundering of property obtained through criminal means;
Part 2, Art. 364 — Abuse of power or official position resulting in severe consequences.
Legal proceedings are currently underway in court to return the unfinished medical facility back to state ownership. The investigation, supervised by the Prosecutor General’s Office, remains ongoing to bring all perpetrators to justice.