Former NBU Head Gontareva Faces Up to 12 Years in Prison and Confiscation of Property in Case Involving Collaboration with Russia
Valeria Gontareva, the former head of the National Bank of Ukraine, is a defendant in a criminal case involving high treason, which was opened in September 2025.
According to the agency, Gontareva’s business partners at the investment company ICU—Makar Pasenyuk and Kostyantyn Stetsenko—are also named in the same case.
It is reported that the investigation is being conducted by the State Bureau of Investigations under the procedural supervision of the Office of the Prosecutor General. According to UNIAN, 13 SBI employees and five prosecutors at various levels are involved in the case.
According to the agency, one of the key aspects of the investigation is the alleged financial ties between ICU and Russian financial institutions, which, according to investigators, allegedly continued after the start of the full-scale war and the imposition of sanctions.
“From 2014 to the present, V.A. Gontareva, K.V. Stetsenko, M.Y. Pasynyuk, and other Ukrainian citizens who have not yet been identified have, intentionally and by prior conspiracy, for the purpose of personal enrichment, committed acts detrimental to the sovereignty, defense capability, and the state and economic security of Ukraine, consisting of economic interactions with companies controlled by residents of the aggressor state and individuals subject to sanctions, thereby assisting the Russian Federation in carrying out subversive activities against Ukraine,” the case materials state.
According to the materials cited by UNIAN, in late February 2018, Homeric Holdings Ltd—which investigators link to Makar Pasenyuk and Kostyantyn Stetsenko—acquired a 35.02% stake in Burger King Russia (Cyprus) Ltd. According to the investigation, the seller of the stake was an entity affiliated with the Russian state-owned bank VTB.
The report notes that the Burger King chain continues to operate in Russia without rebranding, despite the brand owner’s statements about withdrawing from the Russian market.
“Burger King Russia (Cyprus) Ltd. owns a chain of restaurants in the aggressor country—the Russian Federation—and pays taxes that finance the armed aggression against Ukraine,” UNIAN quotes from court documents.
In addition, according to the agency, a separate aspect of the investigation concerns possible abuse of power. Investigators are looking into allegations that, while heading the National Bank, Valeria Gontareva allegedly formally transferred corporate rights to ICU and Avangard Bank to partners but may have actually retained control over these assets.
UNIAN also notes that the media has previously published numerous reports containing various allegations against ICU’s management; however, as of now, no official notices of suspicion have been served in this case, nor has the National Security and Defense Council imposed any sanctions on the individuals involved.
At the same time, according to the agency, the Office of the Prosecutor General has already begun withdrawing some of the international legal requests related to this case, although the size of the investigative team may indicate that the investigation is receiving significant attention.
UNIAN reports this, citing materials from the criminal case and court rulings.
The Office of the Prosecutor General and the State Bureau of Investigation are investigating a criminal case examining possible financial misconduct and even allegations of treason. The focus is on the co-owners of the ICU investment group and former National Bank head Valeria Gontareva. The investigation involves financial ties, international transactions, and the seizure of assets; however, no one has been formally charged at this time.
Earlier, Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Dubinsky appealed to the State Bureau of Investigations, demanding an inquiry into why nearly one billion in proceeds from the seized domestic government bonds of MR-Bank (a former subsidiary of Russia’s Sberbank in Ukraine) were received by private individuals from Avangard Bank rather than by the state.
The Russian Sberbank’s domestic government bonds (now MR Bank), seized by the prosecutor’s office in the amount of 9 billion hryvnias, remained frozen at the private depository ICU and Avangard Bank, both of which belonged to former NBU Governor Valeria Gontareva. Although Gontareva sold her stake in ICU in 2014, financial circles still consider this institution to be within the sphere of influence of the former head of the National Bank.
