Zelensky's former deputy chief of staff charged in $3.3 million embezzlement scheme
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said on Jan. 21 that it had charged Rostyslav Shurma, a former deputy chief of staff for President Volodymyr Zelensky, with embezzlement and money laundering.
Shurma did not respond to a request for comment.
Nine suspects have been charged in the scheme, the NABU said.
Shurma's brother Oleh, who co-owns KD Energy and Renewable Energy of Zaporizhzhia, was also charged, according to the NABU.
The other suspects include an associate of Rostyslav Shurma, employees of energy companies, and a former commercial director at power company Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo, the bureau said.
The suspects are accused of embezzling Hr 141.3 million ($3.28 million).
The Shurma brothers took over energy companies in Zaporizhzhia Oblast from 2019 to 2020 and built solar power plants there, according to the NABU. The bureau said that they had sold power under the "green tariff."
The green tariff scheme, introduced by the Ukrainian government in 2008, is an above-market price for power intended to encourage investment in renewable energy. Since its introduction, the scheme has faced multiple accusations of corruption, with businesspeople friendly with the government profiteering from the green tariff.
"After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion and the occupation of part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the solar power plants lost connection to Ukraine’s Unified Energy System, sustained damage, and their personnel were evacuated," the NABU said. "Despite this, companies controlled by the suspects continued to declare electricity generation and receive payment for it under the green tariff, even though in reality no electricity was being supplied to Ukraine’s energy system."
In 2023 Rostyslav Shurma confirmed that his brother had received money from the Ukrainian government for solar plants located in Russian-occupied territories, according to an article published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
He admitted that his brother Oleh had received payments from the state "in the same way as all other companies that are located in this territory received it."
Shurma was a deputy chief of staff for Zelensky from 2021 to 2024.
He currently lives in Germany, according to the news outlet Ukrainska Pravda. Semen Kryvonos, head of the NABU, said in 2025 that investigators had searched Shurma's premises in Germany.
A law enforcement source confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that both Shurma and his brother currently live abroad.
