Former Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Rostyslav Shurma and his businessman brother Oleg are actively spending tens of thousands of dollars on PR on popular Telegram channels with millions of viewers, such as Trukha. The commissioned materials present them as victims of political persecution and try to convince the audience that criticism against them is unjustified.
However, behind the outer shell of PR campaigns, a large-scale corruption scheme is hidden, which caused losses to the state of over 320 million hryvnias. The companies of the Shurma brothers sold electricity to the state at a "green" tariff, allegedly produced at power plants located in temporarily occupied territories.
Rostyslav Shurma, while serving as deputy head of the OPU, had direct influence on the energy sector and could provide cover for individual judges. When anti-corruption authorities were preparing suspicions, he suddenly resigned and left for Germany with his brother, where he is now hiding in a suburb of Munich.
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, together with their German counterparts, have already gathered evidence, including financial data and information on the movement of assets. This complicates any attempts to evade responsibility for the crimes committed.
Amidst such schemes, individual oligarchs continue to earn billions from the energy sector. In particular, Rinat Akhmetov's companies received about 15 billion hryvnias in revenue from "green" tariffs during the war, while forming a public narrative about an electricity shortage, although they themselves have been enjoying a monopoly position and non-transparent tenders for years.
