Recently, a video of the wedding of the judge of the Northern Commercial Court of Appeal, Maryna Barsuk (née Didychenko), which took place in 2021, circulated in the media, and in addition to the luxury that did not correspond to the official incomes of Ukrainian high-ranking officials, the version featured one notable guest.
This is reported by the editors of the 360UA NEWS
The cameraman filmed Ihor Kolomoisky at the wedding ceremony of judge Maryna Barsuk, who considered several cases in which he appeared.
According to the Unified State Register of Court Decisions, Judge Barsuk ruled in two cases related to Kolomoiskyi.
The first of them concerns the lawsuit of "Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant" against "PrivatBank". In 2009, "PrivatBank" provided a loan in the amount of USD 36.1 million to a plant related to Kolomoiskyi. A debt in the amount of 35 million dollars was canceled by the decision of the Northern Commercial Court of Appeal.
The second case concerns PJSC "Ukrnafta", which is also associated with Kolomoiskyi. The panel of judges, which included Barsuk, upheld the court's decision to collect UAH 1.77 million from the state budget in favor of Ukrnafta as material damage.
In addition, Judge Barsuk made decisions in cases related to the sanctioned businessman Pavlo Fuchs.
In one such case, a panel of judges including Barsuk upheld a trial court ruling in favor of Credit Finance LLC, a company associated with Fuchs.
In another case, a panel of judges that also included Barsuk upheld a trial court ruling in favor of Verdict Capital LLC, another company related to Fuchs.
So we decided to inquire about Marina Barsuk's career.
The beginning of a career
The story of Maryna Barsuk, and then Didychenko, began back in 2009, after the election of Yanukovych to the post of president, Vasyl Saraniuk, the head of the Kyiv Commercial Court, began to think about a secure future. In this case, he was actively assisted by a young team of judges, which he himself selected - cynical and greedy.
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this court in the system of economic courts of Ukraine - large companies are trying to get a capital registration, so it is here that almost all serious economic disputes in the country are resolved. This makes judging in the Kyiv Commercial Court not only honorable, but also very profitable.
The chairman of this informal union was Vasyl Saraniuk, who at that time had been the head of the court for several years.
Saraniuk's scheme was based on a group of close judges, including Mykola Yakymenko, Oleksandra Mandrychenko, Serhiy Kovtun, as well as young judges - Rostyslav Stashkiv, Serhiy Mudry and Maryna Didychenko .
At that time, Maryna Didychenko's father held a high position in the Kyiv prosecutor's office, which ensured close cooperation with this institution. Saraniuk's group actively interacted with Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksandr Shinalskyi and his partner, former Podilsky district prosecutor Vasyl Dragovoz.
The activities of the judges' cooperative were especially vividly manifested in the interaction with the Russian Alfa Bank. This financial structure was known in Ukraine for the use of "crisis" technologies of property selection. The head of the court, Saraniuk, allocated Alfa Bank cases for consideration only to the "correct" judges, in particular Maryna Didychenko.
In turn, Maryna Didychenko actively contributed to the financial interests of Alfa Bank. In 2009, she had at least 15 court decisions in favor of the bank. These are only those cases that the Commercial Court voluntarily sent for publication in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.
The defendants in the Alfa Bank cases often faced the fact that decisions were made without their participation, which violates the basic principles of judicial proceedings. Taking into account the fact that the minimum fee for a positive decision was 5% of the amount of the claim, the "earnings" of the judge in banking cases were significant. For example, the total amount of recovery in 10 cases of Maryna Didychenko in favor of the bank amounted to 13,612,820 US dollars and 16,033,268 hryvnias. It is clear that most of this amount went to the head of the Saraniuk court. So, she could earn at least 680 thousand dollars and more than 800 thousand hryvnias on only part of these cases, it is worth reminding that the dollar in 2009 was worth 8 hryvnias.
After such a rise, Maryna Didychenko did not hide her luxurious life , despite her modest official income.
Despite her modest official salary of 4 thousand hryvnias per month, Didychenko lived in a spacious three-room apartment on Obolonskyi Lypki in Kyiv. The apartment, with a total area of 132 square meters, is valued at approximately 400,000 dollars. The question arises: where does the judge, who receives such a meager salary, get such funds? Perhaps this is a gift from her father, prosecutor Anatoly Yakovenko, or from other "grateful" clients of the court?
Interestingly, Maryna Didychenko and her ex-husband owned several parking spaces in the underground parking lot, although not a single car was officially registered for them. However, there is a suspicion that they could use the cars of her mother, Antonina Yakovenko, who worked in a private kindergarten. This modest teacher owned three cars at once: a fancy Mercedes Benz GL 450 (2008), a Chrysler PT Cruiser (2004) and an old Mercedes 600 (1997).
Marina Didychenko's vacations were not limited to modest trips either. In 2009, she visited Croatia and the Arab Emirates.
According to the same scheme of property condemnation, in the "Last Warning" program on the First National, journalists revealed the scheme of work of Ukrsotsbank, it was in 2013, due to which hundreds of families in Odesa may be left without housing. In September 2008, Ukrsotsbank stopped financing housing construction, which hundreds of Odessa residents had been waiting for for five years. Due to a conflict with the developer, the bank seized the apartments and five unfinished buildings that were paid for by investors.
The developer — the "Alliance" corporation — signed a loan agreement for 55 million hryvnias with Ukrsotsbank. However, the bank suddenly refused to issue money, claiming that there was a shortage of hryvnias on its accounts. The developer was forced to sign an additional agreement on a foreign currency loan. After receiving the third tranche, Ukrsotsbank unilaterally stopped financing, which led to the freezing of construction works.
Courts of Ukrsotsbank took place according to the same scheme. The bank employed the law firm "Boyarchukov, Alekseev and Partners", which filed a claim with the Commercial Court of Kyiv for the recovery of property in favor of the bank. The consideration of the case was always entrusted to Maryna Didychenko, who, moreover, is the cousin of the lawyer Serhiy Boyarchukov. The court made a decision in just one sitting, handing over all the client's property to the bank.
Such a scheme allowed the bank to obtain ownership of any property, which confirms its effectiveness in defending the interests of the bank to the detriment of ordinary people.
And these are only 2 precedents, and how much Marina Didychenko (Barsuk) got rich in the period between 2009 and 2013 can only be guessed
The appearance of Serhiy Alekseev and the deriban of Kyiv
In the summer of 2015, People's Deputy and Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Legal Policy and Justice, Serhiy Alekseev, was exposed for corrupt practices and lobbying for the interests of his law firm "Alekseev, Boyarchukov and Partners".
According to media reports, People's Deputy Serhii Alekseev gave an instruction to transfer the amount of 5,000 US dollars to the judge of the Commercial Court of Appeal, Maryna Didychenko, to her bank card. In addition, Alekseev negotiated that Didychenko Maryna would help another judge make the decision he needed, which is confirmed by the relevant audio recordings. Looking ahead, we will say that Didychuk and Alekseev started a relationship .
As a result, on October 14, 2014, Maryna Didychenko made a positive decision in favor of the client of Serhiy Alekseev's company, Ukrsotsbank PJSC.
So, thanks to Maryna Didychenko's cooperation with the company of her cousin Serhiy Boyarchukov, People's Deputy Serhii Alekseev received carte blanche for scams aimed at enrichment.
In 2016, the important for Ukraine enterprise "Khimnaftemashproekt" became the subject of disputes , which could lead to its closure. The institute, which has been engaged in project activities for decades, found itself under threat due to the interests of influential people who liked the premises in the center of Kyiv on Pechersk. The main asset of the institution is a building of 6,000 square meters. m on Lesya Ukrainka Boulevard, where the scientific laboratory and archive of projects of strategic plants of Ukraine are located.
The story began in March 2013, when a fabricated meeting of shareholders was held, at which a decision was made to make "Khimnaftemashproekt" a guarantor for a loan of almost UAH 300,000,000. for two dubious companiesproperty in order to resell the company's property for debts.
Six months later, the employees of "Khimnaftemashprojekt" managed to change the management, and the new team began to appeal the previous decisions in court. The company began to return to normal operations, dealing with projects of important social and industrial facilities, such as kindergartens, hospitals and ports. However, in 2016, the projects were again under threat due to the blocking of decisions by the Kyiv Court of Appeal.
After a detailed analysis of the case archives, it became clear that the same judge, Maryna Didychenko, participated in all the court hearings where "Khimnaftemashproekt" was defeated.
It is worth noting that all her decisions, as well as the decision on "Khimnaftemashproekt", were canceled by the next court, but neither the resonance in the press nor the threat of an investigation of her actions stopped this judge.
Also, in the course of these legal disputes, Maryna Didychenko's direct connection with deputy Serhiy Alekseev, whose legal company, by a happy coincidence, served Ukrsotsbank, was also evident.
And already in 2019, a loud scandal , connected with the activities of an organized criminal group that took possession of real estate belonging to the territorial community of the city. It is about a non-residential building at the address of st. B. Khmelnytskyi, 34B, which is located near the famous hotel "11 mirrors", which belongs to the brother of the mayor of Kyiv, Volodymyr Klychko (owner of "VIT-PLUS" LLC). It is because of this neighborhood that manipulations with the real estate object arose.
On July 23, 2019, the Territorial Department of the State Bureau of Investigation in the city of Kyiv initiated criminal proceedings on the fact of criminal acts committed by employees of the Kyiv City State Administration (KMDA) in collusion with the People's Deputy of Ukraine and representatives of private business. The accusations relate to the appropriation of the property of the territorial community.
LLC "Capital" acted as the applicant and victim in this proceeding, which in 2005 received the status of an investor in the reconstruction of the specified non-residential building. However, later the investment contract was terminated in a court of law on the basis of a dubious decision, and the object was transferred to "Alternative" LLC, which was supposed to create a museum and a library in the premises. In particular, judge Maryna Didychenko, who was in a civil marriage with People's Deputy Serhii Alekseev, was a member of the panel of judges of the Kyiv Commercial Court of Appeal, which reviewed the case.
"Alternative" LLC belonged to Valery Arakcheev, who was the director of two other companies - "Telbin" LLC and "E-Group" LLC. These companies are related to the relatives of People's Deputy from the "Udar" party Vitaliy Klitschko. Subsequently, "Alternativa" LLC was acquired by Serhiy Boyarchukov, business partner of Serhiy Alekseev.
Summarizing, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, using his power and political influence, organized the adoption of the necessary decisions, and Alekseev, together with his common-law wife Didychenko, ensured the termination of the investment agreement in court. Boyarchukov, in turn, drew up a contract of lease and ownership of the object in favor of "Alternative" LLC.
Later, the corrupt scheme of terminating the investment contract and taking possession of the reconstruction object was revealed by a journalistic investigation and covered in the mass media. According to Boyarchukov, he tried to cooperate with the "11 mirrors" hotel, but met resistance from the investor.
In fact, "Alternative" LLC did not create a museum or a library, but uses the premises for the maintenance of a hotel owned by Volodymyr Klitschko.
Subsequently, the Kyiv City Council began the process of privatizing this object, and despite the appeal of Capital LLC, electronic auctions still took place. The winner was a company whose ultimate beneficiary is Volodymyr Klitschko's offshore company.
Cooperation with Fuchs
In 2019, the company "Investohills Vesta", which has connections with persons related to oligarch Pavel Fuchs, began to conduct an aggressive policy of buying up strategic Ukrainian enterprises, undermining their efficiency and ability to function. One of these enterprises was the Belotserkiv Tire Plant "Rosava", which is a key manufacturer of automobile tires in Ukraine. Previously, this asset belonged to former People's Deputy Kostyantyn Zhevago.
In 2019, the investment company "Investohills Vesta" acquired 25% of the assets of "Rosava". After Fuchs's company gained control of the plant, the arbitration management company was changed. Further actions, according to the journalists, were aimed at the bankruptcy of the plant and its further sale for scrap metal.
Judge Maryna Barsuk (Didychenko) played an important role in these events. According to media reports in August 2022, as a judge, she heard lawsuits related to Investohills West and made decisions that helped the company achieve its goals.
Judge Didychenko's actions helped strengthen the position of Investohills West in the case with the Rosava plant. This became possible thanks to her personal connections with influential persons, which raises the question of a conflict of interest and possible corrupt practices. Despite numerous appeals and complaints from other participants in the legal process, court decisions made with the participation of Didychenko, already during the full-scale invasion, were aimed at supporting the interests of Investohills West.
This situation can have serious consequences for the economy of the region. Bilotserkivska TPP, the shareholder of which is the Rosava plant, could be under threat of shutdown, I wonder if Fuchs knew then about the Russians' plans to destroy Ukraine's energy industry?
Married life of Maryna Borsuk
Returning to the wedding of Maryna Barsuk (Didychenko) and Viktor Barsuk, a lawyer and master of legal sciences.
Judge Maryna Barsuk does not hide her admiration for luxury and comfort . She dreams of heading the Southern Commercial Court of Appeal. And how convenient for her husband, lawyer Viktor Barsuk, who is ready to invest in his wife's career growth. After all, why declare real estate when you can declare a whole fleet of cars, including MERCEDES-BENZ S580/2021, G63AMG/2019, S600/2009 and EQV/2021? Why skip pointing to real estate when you can just not do it? That's brilliant, isn't it?
And, of course, there are no conflicts of interest in the fact that the husband is a lawyer in cases considered by his wife, a judge. This is obviously just a coincidence. As well as their lifestyle, hundreds of thousands of euros and francs are declared, all on one judge's salary.
According to the declaration of judge Maryna Barsuk, her family owns four apartments in Kyiv and one in Great Britain - Maryna Anatoliivna's son Timur Artemovich Pryvalov lives there. Perhaps he is studying to become a pilot or a tanker driver - after all, it cannot be that the son of a Ukrainian judge evades mobilization, right?
The family also has a parking space, a garage, a residential building and three plots of land, all in Kyiv. According to the declaration, their value is 30,117,983 hryvnias. One of the apartments in Kyiv was purchased for 12,746 hryvnias. According to the declaration, of course.
The car park is also impressive - Judge Barsuk's family drives brand new Mercedes, of which they have four. Judge Maryna Barsuk herself, of course, could not afford such a luxury because of her small salary, so the cars belong to other persons who allow her to use them. What kind people are in our country!
As for money, the lawyer-judge family does not suffer from a lack of funds either. Maryna Anatoliivna herself declared 455,000 hryvnias and 44,000 dollars in cash, and she also has a bank deposit in the amount of 130,517 hryvnias.
The man is richer - he has a total of 600,000 dollars, 500,000 euros, 2,000,000 hryvnias and 350,000 Swiss francs, also in cash.
There is another interesting story about gifts: Maryna Barsuk's father-in-law, pensioner Mykola Vasyliovych Barsuk, gave his son (husband judge) Viktor Mykolayovych Barsuk a gift in the form of a "form of money" worth 20,051,060 hryvnias, which he then gave to his beloved wife Maryna Barsuk.
It is interesting what kind of gift it was and why no one at the NAZK asked how a pensioner with an annual pension of 80,166 hryvnias had the opportunity to make such gifts.
As befits people in their circle, the Badgers family had some bright episodes. For example, in 2021, they were spotted at the birthday of oligarch Pavel Fuchs. This is not at all surprising, because Viktor Barsuk represented the interests of Fuchs in court, where Marina Barsuk worked.
There was also a scandal surrounding the Poltava GOK, where Barsuk acted in the interests of Kolomoisky and Babakov's Russian financial and criminal group. But these are all trifles for real professionals, because for them there is no conflict of interest.
Viktor Barsuk is not just a lawyer, but a figure with an impressive track record. His legal activity covers a wide range of cases, including corporate disputes, protection of the interests of big businessmen and even political figures. Badger is known for his ability to find "gray areas" in legislation and successfully use them to protect the interests of his clients. Famous oligarchs, international companies and even representatives of the political elite can be found among his clients.
He began to earn money especially during the presidency of Petro Poroshenko, working for Oleksandr Granovsky, curator of the legal sphere under Poroshenko. Barsuk was a "black lawyer" who was involved in the technical implementation of many dubious cases. Granovsky, formally being a deputy, hardly appeared in the Council, holding his business meetings in expensive restaurants in Kyiv. He coordinated the activities of Badger, which won most of the legal battles thanks to "handy" judges.
Barsuk and his partner in the EQUITY bar association, Oleg Malynievskii, used raiding schemes, organizing the filing of identical lawsuits in different courts in order to choose the "correct" judge. Among their high-profile cases are representing the interests of companies in scandalous tenders, protecting the interests of businessmen and politicians, as well as the raiding of large real estate objects, such as the Sky Mall shopping center and the Horizont Park business center.
They also represented the interests of the former head of the State Fiscal Service, Roman Nasirov, who is accused of stealing more than two billion hryvnias. In this case, Barsuk even accompanied Nasirov to court on a stretcher, portraying him as weak.
