The High Anti-Corruption Court once again failed to hold a hearing in the case of MP Serhiy Kuzminykh, accused of receiving more than half a million hryvnias in bribes, due to his absence, writes UNN.
This time, Serhiy Kuzminykh's lawyer stated that the MP was allegedly hospitalized in one of Zhytomyr's hospitals last weekend. And it is because of this that he cannot be present at the session. Accordingly, the court cannot consider the case without the accused. At the same time, the defense lawyer could not provide the court with supporting documents regarding the MP's hospitalization.
So the consideration of the case is again postponed until next Monday, August 18, 2025.
Meanwhile, the prosecutor petitioned for the forced appearance of Serhiy Kuzminykh at the court hearing, as he has disrupted the consideration of the case far from the first time. However, the court postponed the consideration of the petition until the next hearing. After all, to resolve this issue, supporting documents about the MP's sick leave are needed – without them, the court cannot determine whether Kuzminykh's repeated absence from the session is justified. The lawyer promised to provide the court with the documents "as soon as he receives them himself".
In this context, it is worth mentioning that in the video evidence in the case of Kuzminykh's half-million bribe, previously published by NABU, a person with a voice like the MP's claims that he "has influence over all hospitals in Zhytomyr region." Therefore, we can assume that obtaining any documents from one of Zhytomyr's hospitals regarding the need for Kuzminykh's urgent hospitalization will not be difficult.
In addition, at the session, the defense side declared a recusal of the panel of judges. The lawyer asked not to consider it without the accused, as he was allegedly not familiar with the statement. Ultimately, the court rejected the statement. It should be noted that declaring recusals of judges is a well-known defense tactic aimed at delaying the consideration of the case, because if the statement is granted, the new composition of the court begins its hearing from the beginning.
Add
Earlier, UNN reported that more than half of the hearings in this case did not take place due to the absence of Kuzminykh himself and his lawyers. Out of more than 86 scheduled sessions, 22 were disrupted due to the absence of the accused, and another 31 – due to his defenders ignoring the court process.
As this time, one of the reasons for such a large number of Kuzminykh's "absences" from court sessions was sick leave. In addition, instead of court sessions, Kuzminykh also chose business trips to Moldova "to strengthen inter-parliamentary cooperation" and other parliamentary activities.
Lawyers suggest that systematic absences may be part of a joint tactic of delaying by the defense. And former Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Bahanets believes that such behavior by the suspect may become a reason for changing the precautionary measure to detention.
Recall
Serhiy Kuzminykh, a People's Deputy of Ukraine, head of the subcommittee on pharmacy and pharmaceutical activities, was exposed by NABU in January 2022 for receiving a bribe of UAH 558,000. The process of receiving the bribe was even filmed. According to the investigation, the funds were a reward for Kuzminykh's assistance in signing contracts between private companies and one of the hospitals in Zhytomyr region. The indictment was submitted to the HACC back in September 2022, almost three years ago. Despite this, in August 2025, the process is still at the stage of examining evidence and is accompanied by massive disruptions of sessions by the defense.