A People's Deputy has no right to be a lobbyist: where does the protection of interests end and illegal influence begin?

People's deputies of Ukraine cannot engage in lobbying. And this is not only a matter of political ethics, but also a clear legal norm, writes UNN.

The status of a lobbyist is incompatible with being in public service or an elected position. In addition, a person with an unexpunged criminal record cannot be a lobbyist. And even after the end of parliamentary powers, many countries have a "cooling-off period" – a period of one or two years when former officials are prohibited from engaging in lobbying to avoid conflicts of interest and abuse of power in the interests of private structures, lawyer Volodymyr Bohatyr said in an exclusive comment for UNN.

In essence, lobbying is an officially regulated and open activity that involves: declaring meetings, reporting, restrictions for officials, and a clear distinction between expert consultations and commercial influence. The Ukrainian law "On Lobbying", adopted in 2024, for the first time established a legal framework for this activity, but the institution of lobbying itself remained in a "gray area" for decades, which opened up space for manipulation.

The key difference between illegal influence and lobbying is that lobbying is a transparent and public representation of interests, while abuse of influence is a hidden, mercenary, and illegal influence on decision-making, accompanied by undue benefit

It is precisely on this dangerous line, it seems, that the activity of the head of the subcommittee on pharmacy of the parliamentary Committee on National Health, MP Serhiy Kuzminykh, lies.

Coincidences with "Darnytsia" rhetoric

In fact, UNN's own investigation revealed a striking coincidence between Kuzminykh's public statements and the position of the pharmaceutical company "Darnytsia". This is not only about identical formulations, but also about promoting legislative initiatives that directly correspond to the business interests of this pharmaceutical giant.

In particular, Kuzminykh actively supports and promotes strict regulation of the sale of dietary supplements and a ban on pharmacy marketing. The latter, by the way, has been banned for more than six months, allowing "Darnytsia" to save more than UAH 3 billion in total. At the same time, as noted by the Ministry of Health, the marketing ban did not reduce drug prices, which was the main goal of this restriction. Moreover, drug prices even increased.

Financial trail

Another interesting nuance in this story is Kuzminykh's financial ties with the owners of "Darnytsia", the Zagoriy family. As is known, even before Kuzminykh was elected as a people's deputy, the Kuzminykh brothers' charitable foundation received more than UAH 9.5 million from the Zagoriy family. This fact even became a reason for an inspection by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP). At that time, the head of the NACP department, Serhiy Derkach, stated that there was a potential conflict of interest in the actions of one of the members of the Ministry of Health commission, who has his own fund and received money from the owner of the pharmaceutical giant.

And now Kuzminykh actively supports theses beneficial to the pharmaceutical giant, literally quoting "Darnytsia". This creates an obvious conflict of interest, when a parliamentarian, using his official powers, promotes initiatives beneficial to those who could financially support his activities.

Legislative pressure on the dietary supplement market

Kuzminykh's position on the regulation of the dietary supplement market deserves special attention. He actively supports the introduction of new rules that provide for mandatory registration of all dietary supplements within a short period. Moreover, in his social media posts, Kuzminykh openly accuses pharmacies: of actively selling dietary supplements, of high drug prices, of unprofessionalism. All this looks like outright pandering to pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Risks of lobbying turning into illegal influence

According to lawyer Volodymyr Bohatyr, to avoid abuses, it is necessary to clearly distinguish between legal representation of interests and corrupt illegal influence. This is possible only with transparent control mechanisms, full publicity of officials' contacts with business, and real responsibility for violations.

When a deputy, who has real levers of influence on regulatory policy, promotes initiatives beneficial to a specific business and has personal or financial ties with it, it is no longer about lobbying in the legal sense, but about potential abuse of influence, which falls under criminal liability. And this, according to experts, should be checked by anti-corruption bodies in the case of Serhiy Kuzminykh.