Why Ukraine's financial intelligence chief is facing an anti-corruption probe
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Detectives from Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau searched the country’s State Financial Monitoring Service as part of an investigation into the agency’s head, Filip Pronin, who is a suspect in a multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme, an official close to the matter confirmed to the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity on June 12.
Ukrainian media first reported that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) had searched the offices on June 10.
Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a lawmaker and deputy chair of Parliament’s Finance Committee, told the Kyiv Independent on June 11 that the searches were connected to an investigation he published last September into how fortification contracts were used to embezzle Hr 200 million ($4.5 million) in state funds.
The anonymous official later confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that the search involved Pronin.
According to Zhelezniak, the Poltava Regional Administration — then headed by Pronin — signed 16 contracts worth around Hr 370 million ($8.2 million) with Enki Construction in February 2024 to fortify an unspecified sector in the war-torn Donetsk Oblast.
With help from an intermediary, the contractors allegedly sold barrier pyramids, timber and other materials at inflated prices. Zhelezniak also reported alleged schemes to avoid paying value-added tax (VAT) through fictitious contracts.
"The searches send an important signal to Ukrainian society and international partners regarding Ukraine’s commitment to maintaining zero tolerance for corruption, particularly during wartime," the anonymous official said.
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Authorities had already searched State Financial Monitoring Service Deputy Head Bohdan Korolchuk in October 2025. Korolchuk previously served as first deputy head of the Poltava Regional State Administration under Pronin and is another suspect in NABU’s pretrial investigation.
NABU Director Semen Kryvonos said in November that the bureau was investigating Pronin’s potential involvement in the scheme. Pronin governed Poltava Oblast from October 2023 until December 2024, when he was appointed head of the State Financial Monitoring Service — Ukraine’s financial intelligence unit. Korolchuk joined the agency less than two months later.
"Pronin and Korolchuk will receive their notices of suspicion for these crimes and others," Zhelezniak told the Kyiv Independent.
"The president should fire him. It’s strange that the person responsible for investigating illicit financial activity is himself allegedly involved in it," he said.
For now, neither NABU nor the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) has officially served notices of suspicion in the case. If charges are brought against Pronin or Korolchuk, the case would fall under the jurisdiction of Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court.
NABU did not respond to the Kyiv Independent’s request for comment by the time of publication.
Pronin’s reputation among Ukraine’s anti-corruption community is poor. Kryvonos said it was "suspicious" that the State Financial Monitoring Service under Pronin had not assisted the bureau’s investigations into alleged corruption in the defense sector, even after NABU sent requests in early 2025.
In the last year, NABU has investigated several high-ranking officials including the notorious former head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, amid revelations of widespread corruption schemes that have shaken President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration.
Anastasia Radina, head of Parliament’s anti-corruption committee, told NV Ukraine last month that the Financial Monitoring Service has only pretended to do its job and has not helped anti-corruption agencies in their work,
"As part of parliamentary oversight, we will certainly ask Mr. Pronin what is preventing him from doing his job this time — his endless trips to warm countries or conscious sabotage," Radina said, alluding to Pronin’s propensity for taking business trips abroad during key NABU investigations.
