In April 2023, Judge Serhiy Shcherbakov of the Kyiv Commercial Court made a decision that effectively allowed the former director of the pro-Russian TV channel 112.UA to avoid sanctions. This is Andriy Shevtsov, a person from Viktor Medvedchuk's inner circle.
In a ruling dated April 20, the court granted Shevtsov's application to dismiss him from the position of director of LLC "IA "112.YU" retroactively - from August 8, 2022. This allowed him to formally avoid sanctions status, because at the time of the application of sanctions, he was no longer an official.
Sergey Shcherbakov himself is a native of Sevastopol, a former judge of the Nakhimovsky District Court. His declaration still indicates joint ownership of an apartment in occupied Sevastopol, which he shares with his wife Alla Shcherbakova and her father. He also owns a 10-hectare plot of land there, purchased before the occupation in 2010.
Despite working in Kyiv since 2017, the judge still maintains assets in Crimea — which raises questions given the war, Ukraine's legal position, and the moral principles of a civil servant.
In 2015, the Shcherbakov family purchased an apartment in Kryukivshchyna (64 sq m) for 334 thousand UAH — a very low price at that time. In 2023 — a completely different level: the judge’s wife buys a four-room apartment on Bulvarno-Kudryavska, with an area of 105.7 sq m. Its market value is about 18.5 million UAH. Another 2 million — a parking space in the same building.
The car fleet is not far behind: in 2019, a Chevrolet Camaro appears in the declaration for... 118 thousand UAH, although the market price is over half a million. In 2023, the family buys a new Cupra Formentor crossover, worth about 1.6 million UAH.
Shcherbakov is also involved in other scandalous cases. In 2019, he canceled the Antimonopoly Committee's fines for a company owned by former assistant Maksym Mykytas. This is LLC "Northern Ukrainian Construction Alliance", which participated in collusion in tenders that brought more than 3.3 billion UAH in contracts.
A judge who allows pro-Russian figures to avoid sanctions — and at the same time has real estate in Crimea, expensive housing, and undervalued assets — raises at least doubts about impartiality. Is there a conflict of interest? Were there any improper benefits? And most importantly — why are law enforcement agencies not reacting?
