The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACC) has sentenced Member of Parliament Oleksandr Yurchenko to nine years in prison for demanding and receiving an unlawful benefit in exchange for amending legislation. The court also ordered the full confiscation of his property and barred him from holding positions in state authorities for three years.
The investigation into the former member of the «Servant of the People» faction had been ongoing since 2020, when Yurchenko chaired the Verkhovna Rada Subcommittee on Household Waste Management. According to prosecution evidence, Yurchenko solicited bribes through an intermediary, Ivan Fishchenko, to introduce specific amendments to legislation governing waste recycling and the «green tariff.» The operation was uncovered during a undercover operation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), where a detective posed as a foreign investor.
Case files include audio recordings of conversations in which the participants discussed transferring funds for legislative adjustments, referring to the bribe payments as «plushky» (goodies). During court debates in 2026, prosecutors from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) finalized the charges: $10,000 was designated directly for the MP, while $3,000 was intended for the intermediary. The materials also documented discussions regarding an additional $200,000 aimed at bribing other members of the parliamentary committee.
«This case is about the sale of parliament’s legislative function, where the MP was to ensure the submission of required amendments while the intermediary organized the financial arrangements to bypass direct cash delivery,» stated the SAPO prosecutor during the hearing.
In September 2020, the HACC initially remanded Yurchenko in custody with an alternative bail set at 3 million UAH. After posting bail a few days later, he was released from the pre-trial detention center, after which court proceedings stretched over several years.
While state prosecutors requested an 11-year sentence, the court handed down a 9-year prison term. Yurchenko maintains his innocence and denies all charges. The verdict will enter into legal force following the expiration of the deadline for filing an appeal, provided no appeal is lodged.