Three years without punishment: how MP Kuzminykh avoids responsibility for a bribe of more than half a million hryvnias (video)

The exposure of a deputy for bribery is no surprise today - there are enough of them in the Verkhovna Rada. However, from time to time, they are still deprived of their mandates. But the story of People's Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh stands out against this background. In 2022, NABU detained him while receiving a bribe of half a million hryvnias. Three years have passed, and Kuzminykh is still at large, not convicted and does not regularly appear in court hearings, writes UNN.

Moreover, the MP once appeared in court without... a passport, in order to formally disrupt the trial. In total, he has already disrupted 22 times the court hearing. Given that a total of 86 court hearings have been scheduled in his case. That is, Kuzminykh ignored almost every 4th hearing.

Avoiding responsibility, ignoring the court, and disregarding voters have all become part of Kuzminykh's political image. How did it happen that a people's deputy, caught with money in his hands, has not yet suffered any punishment? Details are in our video.

Reminder

People's Deputy, Head of the Subcommittee on Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Activities of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health Serhiy Kuzminykh was caught "red-handed" while receiving an illegal benefit of 558 thousand hryvnias. According to the investigation, he received funds for assisting in 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 promises his assistance and adds that he can resolve the issue with all medical institutions in the region.

On January 31, 2022, the then Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova signed a suspicion notice for him. Serhiy Kuzminykh was not detained due to "deputy immunity", but he ignored interrogations, which is why he was put on the wanted list. After a few days of "hiding", the MP was still detained for the election of a preventive measure.

In May 2022, Kuzminykh was chosen as a preventive measure in the form of a bail of 49 thousand 600 hryvnias. Of course, the bail was paid for the people's deputy.

In September 2022, the indictment in the case against Kuzminykh was sent to the High Anti-Corruption Court for consideration on the merits. Currently, the stage of evidence examination is underway.