2.5 million for bribery accused: Ukrainians fund comfort of MP Kuzminykh

From 2022 to 2024 inclusive, Serhiy Kuzminykh, a People's Deputy suspected of bribery amounting to over half a million hryvnias, received compensation from the state totaling UAH 2,517,613, UNN reports.

According to the declarations of People's Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh, in 2022, precisely when the MP took a half-million hryvnia bribe, he received from the state:

UAH 478,833 – reimbursement of expenses related to parliamentary activities

UAH 90,000 – compensation for travel costs

UAH 236,200 – compensation for housing rent in Kyiv

In 2023, when court hearings in Kuzminykh's bribery case were already underway, the MP, according to the declaration, received the following compensation from the state:

UAH 644,160 – reimbursement of expenses related to parliamentary activities

UAH 90,000 – compensation for travel costs

UAH 33,650 – compensation for housing rent in Kyiv

And in 2024, the compensation amounts were:

UAH 726,720 – reimbursement of expenses related to parliamentary activities

UAH 90,000 – compensation for travel costs

UAH 128,050 – compensation for housing rent in Kyiv

That is, despite the fact that court hearings in Kuzminykh's half-million hryvnia bribery case have been ongoing for more than 2 years, Ukrainians continue to pay for the MP's comfortable life out of their own pockets. Thus, according to the Law of Ukraine "On the Status of People's Deputy of Ukraine", for all three years, the MP received reimbursement of expenses related to the performance of his parliamentary duties, such as expenses for stationery, the functioning of the People's Deputy's reception office in the district, and travel expenses. Yes, precisely those business trips due to which Kuzminykh repeatedly failed to appear in court. It turns out that Ukrainians sponsored the MP's non-appearance at court hearings at their own expense. The total amount of compensation for these expenses over three years reached UAH 1,849,713. The sum is striking.

As for the compensation for Kuzminykh's travel expenses – for this item, Ukrainians paid UAH 270,000 over three years. It is interesting whether these expenses included compensation for Kuzminykh's travel to court?

And the last interesting expense item is compensation for housing rent in Kyiv for MP Kuzminykh. After all, he does not own property in the capital. Instead, in Zhytomyr, according to the declaration for 2024, the MP lives in his minor daughter's apartment.

And in Kyiv, Ukrainians rent an apartment for him. Over three years, UAH 397,900 had to be spent from the state budget for this. We also note that for 2023, the compensation for housing costs is significantly less than in other years – about UAH 34,000, as opposed to over UAH 200,000 in 2022 and over UAH 100,000 in 2024. It is interesting that other compensation items in 2023 are not lower than in 2022 and 2024.

The situation where the state continues to spend over UAH 2.5 million on the maintenance of People's Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh for three years, despite the fact that the MP is officially suspected of bribery, looks not just cynical — it is a blatant injustice.

At a time when the country is at war, tens of thousands of people have lost their homes, businesses, or stable jobs — citizens are paying out of their own pockets for housing rent, travel, and the so-called "parliamentary activity" of Serhiy Kuzminykh, who, instead of being present at court hearings, regularly reports on business trips and receives compensation.

Recall

People's Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh, head of the subcommittee on pharmacy and pharmaceutical activities of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health, was caught red-handed while receiving an illegal benefit of UAH 558,000. According to the investigation, he received the funds for facilitating the signing of contracts between private companies and one of the hospitals in the Zhytomyr region for the supply of medical equipment.

At the end of January 2022, NABU recorded the transfer of money and published a video about it. In it, a person with a voice similar to Kuzminykh's promises his assistance and adds that he can resolve issues with all medical institutions in the region.

On January 31, 2022, then-Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova signed a suspicion notice for him. Serhiy Kuzminykh was not detained due to "parliamentary immunity," but he ignored interrogations, which led to him being declared wanted. After several days of "hiding," the MP was finally detained for the selection of a pre-trial restraint.

In May 2022, Kuzminykh was chosen a pre-trial restraint in the form of bail of UAH 49,600. Of course, the bail for the people's chosen representative was paid.

In September 2022, the indictment in the case against Kuzminykh was sent to the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) for consideration on the merits. The stage of evidence examination is currently underway. However, the consideration of the case is being delayed. According to information provided by the HACC, out of 86 court hearings, 31 were disrupted due to the non-appearance of the defense, and the MP himself missed 22 hearings.