Law enforcement officers are interested in "kickback schemes" for the construction of fortifications and the restoration of infrastructure in the Chernihiv region. First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and her brother Vitaliy Svyrydenko may be involved in their organization.
Let us remind you that Yulia Svyrydenko's native Chernihiv region is currently being rebuilt after the Russian attack in 2022, and fortifications are being actively built on the border with the Russian Federation and Belarus. As our publication's journalists learned, the budgets allocated for fortification and restoration are significantly overstated, already taking into account the so-called "kickbacks.".
According to our source in the Security Service of Ukraine, the person responsible for allocating the necessary budget for development is the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyridenko, and the decision regarding which of the contractors and for what “rollback” will carry out the work is made by her brother, Vitaliy Svyridenko
The “rollback” scheme is being implemented with the involvement of local officials, each of whom has their own “role” and “destiny.” We are talking about the head of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration, Vyacheslav Chaus, his deputy , Konstantin Mehem, and the head of the Department of Capital Construction of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration, Yaroslav Slesarenko.
If we compare the backgrounds of Vyacheslav Chaus and Yulia Sviridenko, we can trace a number of connections: both are originally from Chernihiv, and have repeatedly crossed paths in the civil service. In this context, it is also worth paying attention to the official biographies of Yulia Anatolyivna's parents - officials, whose backgrounds are also connected to Vyacheslav Chaus.
It is therefore not surprising that the appointment of Vyacheslav Chaus to the post of Head of the Regional State Administration took place in August 2021, just at the time when Yulia Svyrydenko held the position of Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine . Also, from the point of view of the analysis of Vyacheslav Chaus's background, it seems logical that after receiving the post of Head of the Regional State Administration, he appointed Konstantin Megem as his first deputy. Vyacheslav Chaus met Konstantin Megem at PJSC “Kyivstar” and later took him with him to JSC “Ukrgazvydobuvannya”.
As we can see, the “company” for the development of budget funds allocated for the restoration of infrastructure and fortification works in the Chernihiv region has long been familiar with each other. So let's move on to the distribution of “roles” and “percentages” of kickbacks. As they say: “who”, “to whom” and most importantly “how much”.
In Chernihiv region, the head of the regional state administration, Vyacheslav Chaus, appointed Konstantin Mehem and Yaroslav Slesarenko as responsible for financing and monitoring the progress of the construction of fortifications. As for the latter, according to our sources in the SBU, he is suspected of embezzling budget funds during the construction of roads in the region.
So far, he has been summoned for questioning as a witness, but in the near future Yaroslav Slesarenko has every chance of moving from the category of “witnesses” to the category of “suspects”. As our sources report, all the necessary materials for this have already been collected. In particular, it was established that Yaroslav Slesarenko received kickbacks in the amount of UAH 37 million in 2023-2024 due to abuse during the construction of fortifications and the restoration of infrastructure in the region.
Regarding kickbacks in road construction, it is worth mentioning another official: the director of the State Enterprise “Agency of Local Roads of Chernihiv Region” Oleksandr Mysnyk. According to our sources, only for the period 2023-2024 Oleksandr Mysnyk became richer by 69 million UAH. It is worth noting that Oleksandr Mysnyk is also a good acquaintance of Yulia Svyrydenko, since it was Oleksandr Petrovych who replaced her as acting head of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration in November 2018.
All technical aspects of winning tenders for the necessary contractor companies are decided by the Deputy Head of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration, Dmytro Grigorovich Synenko. In the team, Dmytro Synenko is called the “cashier” – due to his financial education and experience in the banking sector. Dmytro Synenko’s area of responsibility is the distribution of all contracts in the region, organizing the winning of tenders by loyal enterprises and controlling the collection of “kickbacks”.
At the local level, the head of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration, Vyacheslav Chaus, oversees the process and is in direct contact with the Svyrydenko family. On the part of law enforcement, the process of embezzlement of public funds is "covered" by the Chernihiv Oblast Regional State Administrative Organization, for which it receives 0.5% of the budget funds transferred for infrastructure restoration and fortification.
Our attention was also drawn to the fact that Yulia Svyridenko’s brother, Vitaliy, periodically contacts and exercises “operational control” over Oleksandr Mysnyk and Yaroslav Slesarenko. According to our information, Vitaliy Svyridenko is currently in London, where he ensures the “conversion of kickbacks” to offshore accounts.
