Court seized additional assets of the brothers of former pro-Russian Ukrainian lawmakers, Viktor Medvedchuk and Taras Kozak, worth Hr 400 million ($9.8 million), the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) announced on July 30.
The assets of Serhii Medvedchuk and Bohdan Kozak, including land, corporate rights, property complexes, and vehicles of four companies in Lviv, were transferred to Ukraine's Agency for Investigation and Management of Assets (ARMA), which is responsible for finding, tracing, and managing assets derived from corruption.
The seized assets also included a concrete production plant and a construction company, according to the State Bureau of Investigation's statement.
In total, over 10,000 square meters of real estate and more than 70 vehicles and construction equipment were additionally transferred to the Ukrainian state, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.
Serhii Medvedchuk and Bohdan Kozak were charged in absentia with defrauding the state of Hr 75 million ($1.8 million) in taxes on June 10.
On June 28, Serhii Medvedchuk and Bodan Kozak's building materials factory in Lviv was officially transferred to the Ukrainian state.
As the factory managers, the accused were involved in a scheme between 2017 and 2022 or 2023 that "deliberately diverted millions of hryvnias," causing the state a loss of Hr 75 million ($1.8 million).
Serhii Medvedchuk and Bohdan Kozak, who had fled Ukraine, as well as two accomplices, directed the funds to their brothers, who used them namely to finance Russia's war against Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigation reported.
Before the full-scale invasion, Viktor Medvedchuk and Taras Kozak were among the key pro-Kremlin politicians in Ukraine and ran a media holding Novyny, which was shut down in 2021 over the accusations of promoting pro-Russian propaganda.
Both men have been accused of treason and collaboration with Russia and stripped of Ukrainian citizenship. Taras Kozak fled Ukraine in 2021, while Viktor Medvedchuk was detained and exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners of war in 2022.
Dmytro Basmat
(Updated: )
