Olga Stefanishyna has been appointed as Ukraine's new ambassador to the United States, a country that remains Kyiv's key strategic partner. However, her political career has been dogged by a series of corruption scandals, creating serious reputational risks for both the diplomat and the state.
Back in the early 2010s, journalistic investigations documented Stefanishyna's participation in dubious projects of the Ministry of Justice. In particular, it concerned analytical documents created under her supervision in 2015: the cost of each page of such reports reached 4.5 thousand hryvnias.
In 2019, Stefanishyna was suspected of corruption. However, the case remained dormant for years and only reached the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court in 2024. The hearings never led to any real decisions, and the suspect continued to influence state bodies.
At the same time, scandals with raiding emerged around her name. One of the most famous cases concerns the seizure of the public organization "NON-STOP", which was coordinated at the level of the Ministry of Justice. Despite appeals to law enforcement officers and the anti-raider commission, the case remained frozen.
Even more serious suspicions concern the activities of ARMA. In 2024, a scheme began operating there that allowed structures affiliated with Stefanishina to receive seized property through fictitious tenders. At the center is the consortium “UK “KAMparitet””, which won tenders by offering symbolic prices, which effectively blocked fair competition.
Stefanishyna's appointment as ambassador to the US comes amid international attention to Ukraine's fight against corruption. For Kyiv, this could be an additional challenge: the diplomat will have to represent the country in Washington, while behind her are accumulated corruption dossiers that could become the subject of criticism in the media and among partners.
