The Supreme Anti-Corruption Court sentenced former head of the State Fiscal Service Roman Nasirov to six years in prison. He was found guilty of abuse of power in the interests of the structures of fugitive former People's Deputy Oleksandr Onyshchenko. Nasirov was taken into custody in the courtroom. The verdict has not yet entered into force and can be appealed. This was reported by Suspilne, the Anti-Corruption Center and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.
The panel of judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, consisting of Ihor Strohy, Lesya Fedorak, and Viktor Nogachevsky, found Roman Nasirov guilty of abuse of office (Part 2, Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) - this refers to illegal decisions that allowed companies associated with Oleksandr Onyshchenko to postpone the payment of rent for the use of subsoil and tax obligations. According to the prosecution, the state has lost more than 2 billion hryvnias because of this.
The court imposed a sentence of six years in prison and a fine of 17,000 hryvnias, which is the maximum sanction under the article. Separately, Nasirov was banned from holding positions in government bodies, local governments, and state-owned enterprises related to managerial functions for three years. After the verdict was announced, the court ordered him to be taken into custody immediately, right in the courtroom.
As for the other defendants. According to journalists, former State Fiscal Service official Volodymyr Novikov was sentenced to four years in prison with the same fine and a ban on holding office. At the same time, the Anti-Corruption Center claims that the court found Novikov innocent, and writes about his acquittal. That is, there are currently conflicting reports regarding the status of the second defendant.
Legally, the verdict has not yet entered into force. Next is an appeal. The Appeals Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice must consider appeals against the verdict by mid-April 2026. If this does not happen on time, Nasirov may escape punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. This is what the Anti-Corruption Center emphasizes, calling timing critically important.
This decision was the culmination of one of the most famous corruption cases of recent years - the so-called "Onyshchenko gas case". The case was heard for more than six years and included more than two hundred court hearings. The essence of the suspicion is that the management of the State Fiscal Service artificially "deferred" payments to Onyshchenko's companies, in fact allowing them to avoid immediate payment of mandatory payments for the use of subsoil.
A separate episode that caused a public outcry during the trial was the defense's attempt to stop the trial, citing Nasirov's mobilization. In April, the defense stated that the accused was allegedly enrolled in a military unit. The basis was a certificate from the military medical commission dated January 30, 2025. The very next day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine canceled this order, indicating that the draft document was issued illegally.
Nasirov is currently in custody under the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice and is formally considered to have been sentenced to six years in prison. But his legal status remains incomplete pending the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice Appeals Chamber. It is the pace of the appeal — and the issue of the statute of limitations until April 2026 — that will be a test not only for the accused himself, but also for the reputation of the anti-corruption system as a whole.
