Case description
The HACC found former MP Dmytro Kriuchkov guilty of misappropriating funds belonging to PJSC Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo and sentenced him to 10 years and 6 months of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The court established that in 2014–2015, Kriuchkov organized a scheme in which industrial consumers paid a company under his control instead of paying the state-owned regional energy supplier for electricity. The verdict is currently being appealed.
According to the prosecution, between December 2014 and February 2015, while serving as Chair of the Management Board of Holding Energy Company Energomerezha, Kriuchkov orchestrated a scheme that allowed his company to unlawfully receive payments that were due to state-owned PJSC Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo. In collusion with Ihor Kornilenkov, then head of the energy company, they signed five debt assignment agreements, transferring claims for overdue payments from major electricity consumers — state enterprise Zaporizhzhia Titanium and Magnesium Plant and Zaporizhzhia Titanium and Magnesium Plant LLC, and PJSC Dniprospetsstal — in favor of Energomerezha.
These agreements violated energy sector legislation by altering the regulated payment structure in the wholesale electricity market. As a result, debtors transferred funds not to Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo, as required by law, but to the private Energomerezha company controlled by Kriuchkov. In theory, Energomerezha was supposed to subsequently settle with Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo, but, according to the investigation, Kriuchkov failed to do so and instead misappropriated over UAH 196 million. Energomerezha wrote off an additional UAH 149 million in receivables by forgiving the debts or applying discounts, thereby reducing the amount it owed to the state energy company. Thus, out of over UAH 346 million, the state company received just over UAH 2 million. These transactions occurred in January–February 2016 after NABU detectives had already begun their criminal investigation.
Since 2016, both Kriuchkov and Kornilenkov were on the run and declared wanted. In 2019, Kriuchkov was extradited from Germany and detained at Boryspil Airport. He was held in custody with the option of bail, which was set at UAH 7 million. In 2021, he appeared at a court hearing under the influence of alcohol.
Kornilenkov remained on the wanted list and, according to investigators, was hiding in Russia. In 2019, he was detained in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea in connection with his being wanted in Ukraine. In 2020, the HACC authorized in absentia proceedings against him. In December 2021, the case against Kornilenkov was closed due to his death.
In June 2025, the HACC found Kriuchkov guilty under Article 191(5) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and sentenced him to 10 years and 6 months of imprisonment, barred him from holding managerial and administrative positions for 3 years, and ordered the confiscation of all his property. The court also imposed special confiscation of over UAH 197 million found in Energomerezha’s accounts. Charges under Article 364(2) were not proven. Although the HACC ordered pre-trial detention as an interim measure following the verdict, it could not be enforced because Kriuchkov, as a father of multiple children, had legally left Ukraine in February 2024 and did not return.
The HACC Appeals Chamber has begun reviewing the appeal. If the appeal is not upheld and the case is not returned for retrial, the verdict will come into legal force.
This is not Kriuchkov’s only criminal case. In January 2024, the HACC issued another guilty verdict against him and his accomplice in a separate case involving misappropriation of funds from PJSC Cherkasyoblenergo and PJSC Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo, sentencing him to 15 years in prison with full property confiscation. That case is also under appeal.
During the investigation, NABU detectives uncovered links between Kriuchkov and the Surkis brothers, beneficiaries of Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo and owners of FC Dynamo Kyiv. In June 2019, detectives searched the football club’s office and seized documents related to the financial activities of Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo. The court deemed these documents important for the investigation, as they revealed corporate structures and relationships between the companies.
The first vice president of Dynamo Kyiv filed a complaint requesting the return of the seized documents, but the HACC twice rejected the motion, ruling that NABU’s actions were lawful. Media noted that storing company documents at the football club premises suggests ties between Kriuchkov and individuals linked to Dynamo’s owners and adds context to the misappropriation scheme.
